Judge rules Byron annexation void in lawsuit with Warner Robins

A Peach County Superior Court judge has ruled an annexation made by the city of Byron was unlawful and not in compliance with a 1996 agreement with Warner Robins.

The 14-acre lot at Ga. 247 and Houser’s Mill Road has been at the center of a legal dispute between the cities for years. In 2009, Byron annexed the property, which is the site of a Chevron gas station, and Warner Robins claimed that action violated the 1996 agreement.

“Our contention was, since then, Byron has pretty blatantly violated the terms of that agreement,” said Warner Robins City Attorney Jim Elliott. “They annexed property in an area that the agreement provided they wouldn’t annex. ... As soon as their annexation started, our officials began trying to reach some sort of resolution with the Byron people, and that never went anywhere.”

As part of the 1996 agreement, Warner Robins promised to extend its sewer system to Byron west of Interstate 75 while “the city of Byron agrees that it will de-annex property within the identified area ... and that Warner Robins may annex without opposition from the City of Byron any property within the identified area.”

Judge Tilman E. Self III ruled Byron’s 2009 annexation void in a Nov. 20 judgment set to take effect Jan. 1.

Defendants named in the judgment include the city of Byron; Mayor Lawrence Collins; Councilmen James Richardson, Farrel Bass, Michael Chumbley, Michael Chidester and Mark Waters; Bob Holcomb and Associates Inc.; Shree Hari Properties LLC and Sunmark Community Bank.

Elliott said he thinks both cities entered into the agreement in good faith, but the matter “couldn’t get resolved any other way.”

Collins said the judgment creates more confusion than it resolves and that Byron intends to file an appeal.

“The ruling didn’t address the House Bill 49 negotiations that we’ve had a number of years now involving service delivery,” Collins said. “If we go forward with the appeal, then we’re certainly going to have to raise that as an issue.”

Collins said he doesn’t understand what Warner Robins wants from the litigation because “that’s never really been made clear to me. ... I do believe that we can sit down and work out something.”

“Worst-case scenario for the city of Byron ... we have to recognize certain areas as being in Warner Robins parameters,” Collins said. “It really doesn’t resolve anything except that one tract.”

Warner Robins agreed to reimburse Byron for certain expenses related to the case, according to the judgment.

To to contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Judge rules Byron annexation void in lawsuit with Warner Robins."