Developer in deep over lake's draining
Clayton County homeowners sue
The street signs greet you like a gentle summer breeze blowing off the lake. Lakeside Drive. Beach Road. Lakeshore Drive.
Homeowners Sophia Thomas and Deborah Ybarra are dismayed that Lake Tara has been nearly completey drained by a developer.
There's only one thing missing.
The lake.
Its shimmering waters once covered 24 acres and gave the Clayton County community of Lake Tara its name.
That was before a developer drained 22 acres of the lake, leaving about 100 homeowners with swampland, marsh and their street signs to remind them of what once was.
''No one ever said the lake was going away,'' says Deborah Ybarra, who built her four-bedroom home in Jonesboro because of the sprawling lake that used to be behind the family's house.
The story of the disappearing lake involves an eclectic cast of characters:
There's the sheriff, who had the lake built in 1936 and proclaimed it would always be a part of the Lake Tara community.
There's his grandson, a developer who eventually acquired the lake and says he had no choice but to drain it.
And there are angry residents, who say they were promised a ''lifetime'' of fishing. They've filed a lawsuit contending the lake belongs to them ?— not the developer.
''When my daddy bought property here in 1956,'' says Eddie Hobby, ''he was told the lake was supposed to be there forever.''
Residents thought so, too.
The Lake Tara community was developed by E. L. Adamson, the Clayton County sheriff who served from 1928 until his death in 1938.
It's not clear how the sheriff got into the subdivision development business, but he envisioned the lake as the heart and soul of Lake Tara, which was its own city for three years.
After Adamson died, the lake was passed on to his son, Frank.
Then, in 1994, Frank Adamson's son, Michael, an Alpharetta developer, acquired the lake via a quit claim deed ?— a shortcut in transferring property ownership.
Everything was fine until March 2004, when Adamson suddenly began draining the lake.
Four days later, only two acres remained.
The Ybarra family was heartbroken.
Deborah Ybarra so loved that lake ?— and the wildlife it attracted ?— that she would spend spare time taking pictures of it all.
Three-by-five color pictures hang on the walls throughout her $139,000 home on Lakeview Drive.
''Last year, we had blue and white herons, wild turkeys and deer,'' Ybarra says. ''This year, they're all gone ?— except for a few geese.''
Eventually, frustrated homeowners turned to the courts for help.
Six homeowners, including Ybarra, and her husband, Guadalupe, filed a lawsuit in Clayton County Superior Court. They maintain that Clayton County officials erred when they granted Adamson a quit claim deed on the lake.
As part of their lawsuit, residents want the lake refilled.
Michael Adamson's attorney, Matt Mashburn, says his client had no choice but to drain the lake because of potential flooding an earthen dam posed for downstream neighbors.
But Ed Fiegle, manager of the state's safe dam program, said the state didn't order Adamson to tear down the dam and drain the lake.
Now, Clayton County Superior Court Judge Stephen Boswell has been called on to help resolve the issue.
First, Boswell must decide who should hear the case.
Mashburn wants the case moved to Gwinnett County, where Adamson lives.
Kyle King, the attorney representing the Ybarras and others, disagrees. He maintains the case should remain in Clayton County.
Meanwhile, as legal proceedings wind their way through the courts, 16-year-old Jamie Thomas wonders if his trips from Alabama to visit his mother, Sophia, will ever include fishing again.
''There used to be people on the lake fishing,'' he says, ''but last summer there were some men digging trenches and water was being drained out.''
Clayton County homeowners sue
The street signs greet you like a gentle summer breeze blowing off the lake. Lakeside Drive. Beach Road. Lakeshore Drive.
Homeowners Sophia Thomas and Deborah Ybarra are dismayed that Lake Tara has been nearly completey drained by a developer.
There's only one thing missing.
The lake.
Its shimmering waters once covered 24 acres and gave the Clayton County community of Lake Tara its name.
That was before a developer drained 22 acres of the lake, leaving about 100 homeowners with swampland, marsh and their street signs to remind them of what once was.
''No one ever said the lake was going away,'' says Deborah Ybarra, who built her four-bedroom home in Jonesboro because of the sprawling lake that used to be behind the family's house.
The story of the disappearing lake involves an eclectic cast of characters:
There's the sheriff, who had the lake built in 1936 and proclaimed it would always be a part of the Lake Tara community.
There's his grandson, a developer who eventually acquired the lake and says he had no choice but to drain it.
And there are angry residents, who say they were promised a ''lifetime'' of fishing. They've filed a lawsuit contending the lake belongs to them ?— not the developer.
''When my daddy bought property here in 1956,'' says Eddie Hobby, ''he was told the lake was supposed to be there forever.''
Residents thought so, too.
The Lake Tara community was developed by E. L. Adamson, the Clayton County sheriff who served from 1928 until his death in 1938.
It's not clear how the sheriff got into the subdivision development business, but he envisioned the lake as the heart and soul of Lake Tara, which was its own city for three years.
After Adamson died, the lake was passed on to his son, Frank.
Then, in 1994, Frank Adamson's son, Michael, an Alpharetta developer, acquired the lake via a quit claim deed ?— a shortcut in transferring property ownership.
Everything was fine until March 2004, when Adamson suddenly began draining the lake.
Four days later, only two acres remained.
The Ybarra family was heartbroken.
Deborah Ybarra so loved that lake ?— and the wildlife it attracted ?— that she would spend spare time taking pictures of it all.
Three-by-five color pictures hang on the walls throughout her $139,000 home on Lakeview Drive.
''Last year, we had blue and white herons, wild turkeys and deer,'' Ybarra says. ''This year, they're all gone ?— except for a few geese.''
Eventually, frustrated homeowners turned to the courts for help.
Six homeowners, including Ybarra, and her husband, Guadalupe, filed a lawsuit in Clayton County Superior Court. They maintain that Clayton County officials erred when they granted Adamson a quit claim deed on the lake.
As part of their lawsuit, residents want the lake refilled.
Michael Adamson's attorney, Matt Mashburn, says his client had no choice but to drain the lake because of potential flooding an earthen dam posed for downstream neighbors.
But Ed Fiegle, manager of the state's safe dam program, said the state didn't order Adamson to tear down the dam and drain the lake.
Now, Clayton County Superior Court Judge Stephen Boswell has been called on to help resolve the issue.
First, Boswell must decide who should hear the case.
Mashburn wants the case moved to Gwinnett County, where Adamson lives.
Kyle King, the attorney representing the Ybarras and others, disagrees. He maintains the case should remain in Clayton County.
Meanwhile, as legal proceedings wind their way through the courts, 16-year-old Jamie Thomas wonders if his trips from Alabama to visit his mother, Sophia, will ever include fishing again.
''There used to be people on the lake fishing,'' he says, ''but last summer there were some men digging trenches and water was being drained out.''
