Residents in area are watching plans closely
All 5 families in block are willing to sell homes
Joe Black and most of his Germantown neighbors have ventured down this road before — monitoring a proposed development behind their homes on the east side of Miller Farms south of Poplar.
Ten years ago, Poag and McEwen — wanting to expand Saddle Creek South onto a vacant tract known as the Arthur Property — even offered to buy the five homes in the block between Poplar and the Norfolk-Southern Railway. Economic problems stymied the development and that deal.
“We’ve been sitting here in limbo ever since,” said Black who has lived on the corner of Poplar and Miller Farms for 30 years.
The recent announcement of the Germantown Town Center, a $200 million mixed-use development proposed by Atlanta-based Carter, resurrected the homeowners’ hopes someone will offer to buy their homes rather than encroach on their land, impact their property values and potentially cause flooding to their neighborhood.
John Elkington, one of the key players for the development, doesn’t think purchasing the five houses is likely.
“I just don’t see that right now,” he said Monday, adding their development is a different plan with less density and not accentuated toward the neighborhood like the Saddle Creek South expansion.
Virginia Wiggins, who has lived on Miller Farms with her husband, Robert, for 32 years, said residents continue to hold out hope and expect to find out more at a Tuesday evening Planning Commission meeting.
“All five of us on this (east) side are willing to sell,” she said by telephone.
Sean Riley, owner of the middle property among the handful of homes, is a newcomer compared to others. His wife and two young children moved to the house in February 2015.
They never saw the sign on Poplar saying the vacant land stretching from Poplar south to the Norfolk-Southern Railway was for sale. Despite moving there two years ago, he, too, is willing to sell.
“To me, it seems best for them to do a clean break and have that whole side of the (street),” Riley said, adding that Miller Farms would provide the boundary between the development and the residences on the west side of the street in the Timbers subdivision.
Elkington said that, unfortunately, “you need a willing seller and a willing buyer,” repeating his position that purchasing the five properties is unlikely.
Black said he talked to a representative and said he is willing to sell for the same price as the tentative offer made by Poag and McEwen 10 years ago. He has dealt with two floods and worries a change in the topography and surface that accompanies the development will exacerbate the chances of another.
“If they don’t buy my house, I’m going to be stuck,” Black said of his chances to find a willing buyer with the history of flooding and the adjacent office-retail development.