Stone Mountain business owners accuse CSX of trying to force them out of space across from city hall
Stone Mountain business owners say CSX Transportation, which owns property on Main Street and adjacent rail line, has given them 30-days to leave their properties located on Main Street across from city hall, but interviews and a review of records show the situation is nuanced and complicated. Photo by Dean Hesse
This story has been updated.
Stone Mountain, GA — At the Stone Mountain City Council meeting on April 16, there was an outpouring of community support for the Christian Sports Center, Summer’s Hair Boutique, and the Village Car Wash and Detail Shop.
The business owners say CSX Transportation, which owns the property and adjacent rail line, has given them 30 days to leave their properties located on Main Street across from city hall, but interviews with stakeholders and a review of an email thread show the situation is nuanced and complicated.
Stakeholders expressed disappointment and urged the council to act, but it is unclear whether the city can take any action.
Between CSX tracks and Main Street from left, The Village Car Wash & Detail Shop, 890 Main Street, Summers Hair Boutique, 900 B Main Street, Taekwondo, 900 A Main Street and Weeyums Philly Style, 900 Main Street. Mimosa Drive is to the right, Stone Mountain Municipal Building is at lower left and Aztec Cycles is at lower right. Photo by Dean Hesse.
David Jones leases all the CSX-owned properties and Weeyums restaurant. According to Jones, the arrangement began almost 70 years ago. Jones’ grandfather began leasing the property from CSX in 1954. Since then, Jones’ family has continued to improve the property and the buildings.
CSX has continued to own the land, and Jones says he has owned the buildings that have had tenants operating businesses, some of which, like the current owner of the car wash, have been there for over 25 years. According to Jones, he never had a formal lease with the tenants. For him, it was never necessary, as the clause in the lease with CSX said they could ask any tenant to leave within 30 days.
Roughly three years ago, William Dawson, the current owner of Weeyums, and Jones agreed on Dawson buying the lease from Jones. Since Dawson couldn’t pay the agreed-upon price of roughly $300,000, Dawson and Jones entered into a verbal agreement regarding a rent-to-own situation as a way for Dawson to work towards buying the Jones family’s lease.
Dawson and Jones are friends, so the rent-to-own agreement was also supposed to serve as a trial period for Dawson’s assumption of Jones’ role as the primary property manager.
Weeyums restaurant. Photo by Dean Hesse
From then on, Dawson began acting as the month-to-month landlord for the other tenants.
This arrangement was fine until a few weeks ago when CSX contacted Jones and said that the rent on the lease was being increased from $500 to $2,000 a month. Dawson came to a city council meeting to ask the city if something could be done about this, but since he is on CSX land, no solutions were readily available.
Dawson and Jones thought this rent hike was unfair, citing the extreme increase. While protesting the increase, they notified CSX of their deal with each other and the tenants.
CSX responded by threatening to exercise its right to remove tenants from its property within 30 days, prompting the response from concerned citizens.
In a statement provided to Decaturish media partner Atlanta News First, a CSX spokesperson said, “CSX does not have a lease agreement with the business owners currently occupying our property. Our tenant improperly sublet the property without authorization to third parties in a manner that exposes CSX to unacceptable liability concerns. We understand their frustration with this situation, and we have communicated a willingness to find an agreeable path forward with the subtenants once the contractual relationship with our current tenant has been officially terminated.”
The owners of Christian Sports Center, Summer’s Hair Boutique and the Village Car Wash and Detail Shop said they were notified on April 11 that they needed to leave their businesses.
This “notification” took the form of selections from an email thread reviewed by Decaturish, in which Dawson, Jones, and CSX representatives discussed the timeline of the proposed removal and the “termination of the existing agreement.”
Stone Mountain City Manager Darnetta Tyus said the city was not responsible for CSX’s decision to rethink its lease agreements. Tyus went further, saying that the city has no agreement with CSX about this property.
In the email thread reviewed by Decaturish, CSX representative Damien D’anna refers to the property south of Weeyums, which currently houses the businesses, as “much more desirable and valuable to both CSX and the City of Stone Mountain for street/event parking.”
CSX will not be kicking Weeyums out of its location, but upon termination of the existing lease, according to D’anna, will negotiate with “solely” Jones for the Weeyums location.
Neither Dawson, Jones nor a CSX representative was present at the Stone Mountain City Council’s April 16 meeting, where there was an outpouring of support for the local businesses as stakeholders pleaded with the council to “fight for them”
In the email thread reviewed by Decaturish, Dawson seemed to stick up for his tenants, asking for more clarification and an extended timeline, pausing rent payments until then. In the email, he says, “The picture painted at this point is marshals throwing their stuff into the street and bulldozers leveling their establishments…we have built relationships that transcend just being business owners…I hope you can understand why they would resist just being thrown out.”
This story will be updated when more information is available.
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