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Hundreds turn out to protest Sembler development
by Jonathan Cribbs
jonathan@dekalbchamp.com
 Hundreds of DeKalb County residents protested tax breaks for a major retail and residential development in Atlanta’s Brookhaven community on June 8 – part of a growing chorus of opposition that includes residents, education officials and county commissioners.
The County Commission deferred a vote on a resolution from Jeff Rader on June 9 that seeks to oppose the 600,000-square-foot development on Peachtree Road next to Oglethorpe University. The school board is also weighing a similar resolution to oppose the tax breaks.
The loudest opposition came from frustrated and angry residents who packed Chamblee First United Methodist Church to confront Sembler officials in a forum held by state Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Chamblee, who has argued vehemently against the proposed development.
Sembler, a St. Petersburg, Fla., company, is seeking a deal that county officials claim is worth about $52 million over 20 years. The county’s Development Authority, which has ultimate say over whether Sembler is granted the tax break, would own the property and lease it back to Sembler. The authority, a county body, cannot tax itself, so Sembler would essentially be exempt from property taxes for the lease’s duration.
Sembler’s vision for the project, known as Town Brookhaven, includes big-box retail stores, restaurants, boutiques and more than 1,500 residential units, according to its Web site. The company is already in the process of building two residential units and preparing site work for the retail portion, Sembler President Jeffrey Fuqua told the packed church, but the economic recession has jeopardized the rest of the project, and Sembler claims it needs the tax breaks to finish. Fuqua also disagreed with residents and politicians who claim the abatement would take money away from taxpayers.
“These taxes would not be created unless we build the project,” he said. “We wouldn’t have gotten where we are today in the Development Authority process if there wasn’t a net benefit for the county.”
Jacobs said he was most concerned that the county’s top elected body, the County Commission, has no legal say over the deal even though it will affect county and school district revenues. He said he wouldn’t legally challenge a pending bond authorization necessary for the deal to progress if Sembler officials agree to go before the commission.
“At the end of the day I want elected officials to make that decision. Period. End of story,” he said to loud applause.
The General Assembly created development authorities, including DeKalb County’s, in 1974 to promote trade, commerce and job growth. The quasi-governmental body can package bond financing for companies based on the number and types of jobs produced. Residents and Rader also questioned the authority’s judgment. Eugene Walker, a school board member, chairs the authority, and a woman claimed Sembler donated $18,000 – legally – to Walker’s school board election campaign. Fuqua didn’t dispute it.
Rader also questioned the experience of people on the authority. Several members do not have economic development pedigrees, he said.
“We need top-drawer economic development authority [members],” he said.
The authority could vote on the Sembler deal as early as June 18, though county officials said that timetable may be slowed.
The development will also create about 1,100 jobs – a boon in a floundering economy, Fuqua said.
“I would be more worried about how you get those 10,000 jobs [DeKalb County has lost] back than Sembler getting an abatement that we create,” he said to Jacobs.
The development will create more than $160 million in tax revenue for the county, much of it from sales tax, Fuqua said, though Jacobs and Rader said a good amount of that goes back to the state or is unreliable. Jacobs also said he was concerned what would happen if the project goes bust, and the Development Authority is left with the property.
Sembler officials said the land and the property would likely be worth much more than the county invested in it.
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