Druid Hills Civic Ass'n, Inc. v. Federal Highway Admin.

Decision Date16 September 1985
Docket Number84-8924,Nos. 84-8894,s. 84-8894
Citation772 F.2d 700
Parties, 15 Envtl. L. Rep. 21,082 DRUID HILLS CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, et al., Defendants-Appellees. NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION in the United States, Plaintiff- Appellant, v. FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

David F. Walbert, Atlanta, Ga., Irwin Goldbloom, Washington, D.C., Elizabeth S. Merritt, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Harrison B. Wetherill, Jr., Washington, D.C., for appellant.

Roland Matson, Sr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Terry Adamson, William Boone, Asst. U.S. Atty., Atlanta, Ga., for appellee.

Mary Aunita Prebula, Terrence B. Adamson, Atlanta, Ga., for amicus curiae.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before HENDERSON and HATCHETT, Circuit Judges, and ALLGOOD *, District Judge.

HENDERSON, Circuit Judge:

Druid Hills Civic Association, Inc., et al., in No. 84-8894 and National Trust For Historic Preservation in the United States in No. 84-8924 appeal the November 14, 1984 order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia denying their motions to enjoin construction of the Presidential Parkway (Parkway), a proposed 2.4 mile highway running east from the I-75/I-85 stub in downtown Atlanta to Ponce de Leon Avenue, an east-west arterial that is part of the Olmsted Park network in Atlanta's Druid Hills Historic District. On appeal, the appellants contend that the district court erred in finding that the named appellees complied with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. Secs. 4321-4347 (1982), section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966, 49 U.S.C. Sec. 303 (1982), 1 and section 18 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968, 23 U.S.C. Sec. 138 (1982). 2

FACTS AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3

For a better understanding of the current litigation, it is necessary to detail the history of the tract comprising the proposed Parkway. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) acquired approximately 219 acres as right-of-way for two multi-lane highways, one oriented north-south (I-485) and one extending east-west (Stone Mountain Tollway). The land, known locally as the Great Park, was cleared of dwellings and other structures and has been vacant ever since. In 1971, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia enjoined construction of I-485 pending completion of an environmental impact statement (EIS) by the GDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). 4 The GDOT prepared an EIS which was approved by the FHWA. The Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) nevertheless rejected the EIS in 1973 because it did not satisfy the requirements of section 4(f).

As a result of strong opposition to the Stone Mountain Tollway, Governor Jimmy Carter appointed a commission to examine the project and make recommendations. The commission recommended against building the Tollway until an assessment could be made on the effect of the impending construction of the MARTA 5 east rail line. Governor Carter accepted the commission's recommendation in December, 1972.

In 1973, the City of Atlanta withdrew its support for I-485 and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) deleted the project from its Regional Transportation Plan in 1974. The State Transportation Board removed I-485 from the interstate highway system plan in 1974, which action was approved by the FHWA in 1975. In 1977, the GDOT began to dispose of all I-485 properties north of St. Charles Avenue but retained all the right-of-way south of that point for future transportation improvements in the east-west corridor.

Over the succeeding years, numerous alternatives for the use of the Great Park were developed. In 1974, Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson proposed the "Great Park" concept, a plan that included a variety of recreational and cultural facilities. In 1975, the City of Atlanta retained Arkhora Associates to prepare a reuse planning study for the Great Park. Arkhora's conceptual plan advocated a passive open space consisting of recreation areas, cultural facilities and housing. To meet transportation needs, the Arkhora proposal recommended that the I-75/I-85 stub be connected to DeKalb Avenue. The GDOT opposed the recommended action because it did not use the existing right-of-way to meet transportation needs and thereby failed to address the legal consequences of using the land for a non-transportation purpose. In 1977, the ARC adopted the Decatur Parkway Connector and Decatur Parkway, a road connecting the I-75/I-85 stub to an improved DeKalb Avenue, as part of its Regional Transportation Plan.

Atlanta Great Park Planning, Inc. (AGPP), a public nonprofit corporation, was formed in 1975 to study and plan for reuse of the property. AGPP's board of directors included representatives of ten neighborhoods, the Cities of Atlanta and Decatur, DeKalb County and the State of Georgia. A report published in 1977 acknowledged that the Great Park could serve not only as a major recreational area but also as a stimulus for economic development and cultural revitalization but withheld recommendation pending further study. In 1978, AGPP retained H. Randall Roark to study housing opportunities in the right-of-way. In addition to its housing proposals, Roark's study, published in 1979, adopted the transportation, open space and economic development recommendations contained in the Arkhora plan and the AGPP's 1977 report. The GDOT did not support the Roark plan for the same reasons that it opposed the earlier Arkhora proposal.

In 1978, the GDOT retained Evan L. Marbut and Associates, Inc. to prepare a park and road development project for the area. The Marbut Plan consisted of four-lane north-south and east-west roadways through the existing right-of-way, with the east-west road terminating at Moreland Avenue. Remaining right-of-way was to be developed as a park. The GDOT approved the plan, but the City of Atlanta and AGPP opposed it because it was excessively oriented to transportation.

John C. Portman, Jr. developed a land use plan for the Great Park in 1979 at the request of Governor George Busbee. Alan M. Voorhees & Associates, a transportation planning firm retained by Portman, recommended that the I-75/I-85 stub be connected to DeKalb Avenue by way of a tunnel. The plan also called for housing units and cultural, recreational and open space uses, including the proposed Carter Presidential Library.

In 1980, the Georgia General Assembly created the Great Park Authority to examine the various proposals and to develop a master plan for use of the property. The Great Park Authority retained Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff for transportation advice. The authority report presented to the 1981 General Assembly incorporated the firm's recommendation that the I-75/I-85 stub be connected to DeKalb Avenue along one of three proposed connecting routes and also included a park and housing facilities. The General Assembly took no specific action on this proposition.

The current design came into existence in the early 1980s. After leaving office in 1981, President Jimmy Carter began to formulate plans for a presidential library, museum and policy center (the Complex). President Carter regarded the Great Park property as an ideal location for the Complex because of its proximity to the central business district and metropolitan Atlanta universities, its relative seclusion and its accessibility to the interstate highway network.

In 1981, Andrew Young sought election as mayor of Atlanta. He ran in part on a platform of opposition to any roadway through the Great Park. After his election, Mayor Young reversed his position and in 1982 supported the so-called Mayor's Plan, the basic proposal sought to be enjoined in this litigation. The Mayor's Plan includes the Jimmy Carter Complex, a thirty-acre park surrounding the Complex, and a 2.4 mile highway consisting of a pair of two-lane roadways, one eastbound and one westbound, which circumscribe the Complex and park. In addition, the City of Atlanta is developing a housing plan for use of the remaining acreage. The Complex and roadside park would be located on existing right-of-way but further land acquisition would be necessary to build the highway.

Throughout the first half of 1982, the Mayor's office presented the plan to the Great Park Authority, the ARC, various neighborhood organizations, neighborhoods and concerned citizens. On July 6, 1982, the Atlanta City Council approved the Parkway plan by a vote of ten to nine. The plan was then analyzed by the ARC to determine if it should become part of the Regional Transportation Plan. In September, 1982, the ARC voted to amend its Regional Transportation Plan by replacing the proposed Decatur Parkway Connector and the Decatur Parkway with the Presidential Parkway. The ARC nonetheless acknowledged that the Decatur Parkway provided better traffic distribution by encouraging alternative routing.

In August, 1982, the FHWA placed a notice of intent to prepare an EIS in the Federal Register. On April 21, 1983, the FHWA, the lead agency for the Parkway project, signed the draft EIS. Approximately 1,000 copies of the draft statement were distributed to agencies, organizations and individuals. The draft EIS allocated four pages to a discussion of the building of the Parkway, but only two sentences to the alternative of not building it. Other alternatives, including previous plans for the area, a road extending only to the presidential library, a road terminating at Moreland Avenue, intersection improvements on existing streets, a two-lane Parkway and traffic improvements in the Ponce de Leon Avenue/Scott...

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