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On Tuesday, the LaGrange City Council approved a request to abandon a portion of the lower end of Rome Avenue. 

The request was made by the Rail District, which owns property on both sides of the dead end of Rome Avenue. Only one occupied residence is on the street several houses north of the abandoned portion. The rest of the homes are vacant.

The owner of the Rail District requested to join the parcels on opposite sides of Rome Avenue in order to put a storage building. Community Development Director Alton West explained that a storage building is considered an accessory to a main structure. The property on the east side of Rome does not have a structure on it at this time, so it would not be able to put a utility building on the property otherwise.

Only one other parcel exists south of the Rail District properties but when the property records were searched, nothing came up for the parcel.

“On the property records, it’s still a parcel, but nothing comes up on the report, but we will look into that,” said City Attorney Jeff Todd, explaining that the city can’t cut off the roadway for an existing property owner.

Todd said the abandonment could be approved by the council contingent on verifying the ownership of the southmost parcel. The city would also retain utility rights through the property.

The area south of Rome Avenue is owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation and would potentially be used for the expansion of Hamilton Road.

The abandonment was approved by the council 4-1, with only Councilman Leon Childs in opposition. Childs said afterward that he voted against the measure because the property is owned by developer Phillip Abbott, whom he believes is gentrifying the area.

Councilman Mark Mitchell was absent from the meeting due to having open heart surgery, which Mayor Jim Arrington said went well and he was in recovery.