Suwanee To Appeal Judge's Ruling in Developers' Lawsuit

Updated 9:02 a.m., Jan. 17, 2012

Suwanee City Manager Marty Allen said Tuesday that the city will appeal a Gwinnett Superior Court ruling that lets stand a $1.8 million jury award against the city.

Judge Warren Davis ruled Jan. 13 that the city's actions in 2008 effectively prevented developers Settles Bridge Farm LLC from selling their land to Notre Dame Academy of Duluth, which wanted to build a school in Suwanee.

The judge ruled that a moratorium adopted by city officials in 2008 "had the effect of barring the proposed use of the subject property," according to media reports.

The latest ruling is the final step in the trial-level process. In November, attorneys for the developers and the city failed to reach a financial settlement through mediation. No payment is required pending the next legal step.

Settles Bridge Farm LLC is led by former Gwinnett homebuilders Brad Williams and David Bowling. Williams' father, Lake Lanier magnate Virgil Williams, also is involved.

appears to be the difference between the $8 million sales price for the 36-acre tract in the Moore Road area and the $6.2 million purchase price.

The land is zoned residential. When Suwanee officials learned that the school was considering buying the land and building a large campus there, they quickly enacted a moratorium on new construction and later passed a special-use permit that would restrict development on the land.

A key piece of evidence was a February 2008 email from City Manager Marty Allen to City Council members. Allen's email said that residents in the area would likely "go nuts" if a large school was there, and suggested actions should the city wish to "head this off."

In the August trial, jurors found that the special-use permit adopted by the city was a "significant detriment" to the land sale and was "insubstantial" to the public health and general well-being of residents in the area.

Notre Dame Academy officials never applied for the special use permit, testifying that they felt the process would be "futile." The school canceled the sales contract in 2010 and later settled its own lawsuit with Suwanee for $257,000.