$50M lawsuit claims Columbus illegally tore down trailer parks. It’s ‘totally false,’ city says

A Tampa, Florida-based property owner is seeking $50 million in damages from the City of Columbus, alleging the city demolished two trailer parks in south Columbus despite the properties being under legal protection.

The city says the allegations are “totally false.”

The property owner, Caleb Walsh, also alleges that the city illegally displaced 60 families and cleared the trailer parks on Old Cusseta Road and Farr Road in order to make way for the new I-185 interchange near Old Cusseta Road that is expected to start construction in the new year.

“Not only to me is this probably the most upsetting thing to have this fight come to this point, but we have not only 250 units now destroyed where affordable housing is removed from that community, but...it’s a violation of our rights as a landowner because the city came in, seized and demolished property without any due process of law,” Walsh said Friday.

Walsh owns the properties under the business name Columbus Partners Community Trust.

One of the demolished properties on Farr Road, known as Fort Benning Estates, was declared unsafe by the city in December of last year.

Residents were forced to leave after city inspectors reinspected the property and found a lack of hot water, no sewage disposal and no trash pickup at the property, despite attempts to get the property owner to address the situation.

Walsh then took the city to state court, and according to WLTZ, told the court that his Columbus Water Works water bills had “skyrocketed” due to high water pressure and that it was the responsibility of the city to fix the infrastructure issues.

He lost the case, and in July 2019, Walsh filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Walsh said that the filing put the properties under federal protection, or a bankruptcy stay, so that no one could interfere with the properties.

“They defied (the federal protection) and preceded and demolished the properties and in my opinion it’s very obvious it’s just because there’s the very large off-ramp project that’s going to be happening there,” Walsh said.

The property at 4325 Old Cusseta Road was the first property cleared over the summer under the city’s Cleaning Up Columbus campaign, in which Columbus Council on June 11 granted the city building inspections and code enforcement department a $1 million budget for demolitions. The property at 527 Farr Road was demolished earlier this month.

Mayor Skip Henderson said the city has an attorney working to respond to the litigation, and the city’s position is that the bankruptcy stay in Florida does not restrict the city from protecting the people of Columbus.

“Our position is this was certainly a responsible reaction to properties that were uninhabitable, that weren’t fit for human habitation, creating a health and a safety issue,” Henderson said.

Thomas Gristina, an attorney representing the city, said in an emailed statement Friday that Walsh’s allegations are totally false and the city has retained counsel in Florida and will “vigorously oppose” Walsh’s motion seeking damages.

“The mobile home park (at Farr Road) was lawfully abated pursuant to an appropriately obtained court order because Columbus Partners Community Trust caused it to fall into complete disrepair in violation of multiple local ordinances and to the point that it posed an immediate threat to the health and safety of its residents and the community,” Gristina said. “The abatement was totally unrelated to any road projects, and the City of Columbus has not disregarded or violated any federal court order. The purported ‘Motion for Damages’ referred to by Columbus Partners Community Trust has no basis in fact or law.“

Walsh said he is seeking the damages to “restore affordable housing to Columbus.”

“The two properties destroyed this year by the City of Columbus provided affordable living options for residents, located near a military base in an area where affordable housing is scarce,” Walsh said in a press release. “We had an ongoing waiting list of prospective tenants for these properties. We are committed to improving access to affordable living options for Georgia residents and we urge to City of Columbus to do the right thing and support our efforts.”

Walsh said he only learned of the demolitions this week, and filed the litigation on November 18.

A hearing for Walsh’s filing has been set for 1:30 p.m. December 16 in the Tampa, Florida Federal Court.