Don and Sally Garrett oppose the Sandersville Railroad’s plans. Institute of Justice
- A retired Georgia couple battles a railroad company that wants their land.
- The Garretts family have owned the land since the 19th century and are not about to back down.
- The pair are part of a group fighting the Sandersville Railroad’s plan to use the Eminent Domain process.
A retired Georgia couple has started a battle against a private railroad company that is trying to use state power to steal land their family has owned for generations.
Don and Sally Garrett are among a group of landowners who have teamed up with the nonprofit Institute for Justice in hopes of stopping the Sandersville Railroad from using significant lands, a process that allows a state to confiscate land.
The Garretts have inherited the land their family has owned since the 1800s, and Don isn’t about to back down. “This is more than just land for our family — it’s where we’ve shared memories and built lives for generations,” he said. “We’re not going to let Sandersville just come in and take it away from us.”
Sparta is a small rural town in Hancock County, Georgia, home to just 1,300 people. According to census data, 70% of the county’s population is black and nearly one in three lives in poverty.
The Sandersville Railroad wants to build a rail siding to more easily transport the materials used to make concrete from the Hanson Quarry, a rock mine operated by Heidelberg Materials, a German building materials company formerly known as HeidelbergCement.
The company filed an insider-viewed petition with the Georgia Public Service Commission on March 8. It called for the agency to condemn the Garretts’ land through a process known as the “Eminent Domain.”
The company said in its petition that parcels from 18 nearby lots would be needed for the Hanson Spur, the railroad line it plans to build. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year and will take about 15 months.
However, this would mean that the inhabitants of Sparta would have to contend with more dust and dirt due to the increased transport capacity.
The Guardian reported in early April that some residents were already fighting the company’s attempt to seize their land, with the help of Jamie Rush, a senior attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Janet Smith, a retired teacher and Army veteran who has been active in the fight against the railroad, told The Guardian: “Our community is already a landfill site, so we’re going to fight it to the end – there’s no compromise.”
A map shows the Sandersville Railroad plan for the Hanson Spur. Institute of Justice
US states sometimes delegate power over significant domains to private entities, and according to the Institute for Justice, private companies may wish to acquire land for purposes other than public use.
Should the state of Georgia grant the Sandersville Railroad the authority to take over the Garretts’ land, the couple must be adequately compensated, according to the Justice Department. But it’s not about money – the Garretts just want to keep their land.
The Institute for Justice has accused the railway company of abusing significant power. Bill Maurer, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, said in a press release, “Taking people’s private land and giving it to a private company for the benefit of a private company is not only wrong, it is unconstitutional and violates Georgia law.” “
He added: “The authority to use significant domains is limited to public purposes and the public will not use this railroad – a private company this is. Neither the Constitution nor the laws of Georgia permit this type of abuse of significant domain power.”
Blaine and Diane Smith are also part of the group fighting back against the railroad’s attempt to seize land their family has owned for a hundred years. “We refuse to let a private company take over the land that we want to leave for our children and grandchildren,” Blaine said.
Blaine Smith’s cousin Marvin Smith and his wife Pat have also joined the fight to keep the land of their great-grandmother, who was born there as a slave, in their family.
Blaine and Marvin Smith own separate properties that would be affected by Sandersville’s pursuit of significant domain.
The cousins’ grandparents became owners of the land in the 1920s and always told their children to cherish and keep it.
The Institute for Justice told Insiders that other local residents who may be affected by the proposal could join the fight – but that for now only the Garretts and the Smiths are part of the lawsuit.
And the only option for the Sandersville Railroad project is to boost the quarry by taking away portions of some residents’ land, which officials at the institute say is inappropriate.
“Their stated ‘reason’ is that it takes trucks off the road in Sparta, but we don’t take that at face value,” a spokesman for the Institute for Justice told Insider.
Blaine and Diane Smith are also opposed to the railroad’s plans. Institute of Justice
Ben Tarbutton III, a Sandersville Railroad representative, said the company “disagreed with the claims made by the Institute for Justice.”
He said the stub would make only one round trip per day, creating new jobs and tax revenue “for one of Georgia’s poorest districts.”
“The spur does not require anyone’s home to be taken away and does not prevent any property owner from using their pastures, hunting grounds or cultivation on their property,” Tarbutton said.
“Using significant domains is not our preferred approach, but given the Garrett and Smith families’ unwillingness to engage, we welcome the PSC’s clarity on the matter and look forward to their decision.”
Betsy Sanz, litigator at the Institute for Justice, said, “We look forward to assisting these landowners in their fight against this unconstitutional land grab.”
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