The Georgia Public Service Commission on Wednesday approved a railroad’s request to use eminent domain in one of the state’s poorest counties to build a new rail spur to serve private businesses.

The five-member board unanimously voted to allow Sandersville Railroad to condemn portions of 18 parcels to build 4.5 miles of new tracks near the town of Sparta, about 100 miles east of downtown Atlanta. The decision comes after property owners who could be forced to sell land and other nearby residents who joined the case asked the PSC to overturn a hearing officer’s April ruling to greenlight the eminent domain request.

The case represents one of the most significant tests of Georgia’s eminent domain laws to emerge in years and could set precedent for use of the controversial power. The case has pitted a politically connected Georgia railroad against mostly Black property owners, some whose families have ties to their land dating to slavery.

Eminent domain is when a government or utility forces a private property owner to sell some — or all — of their land for a specific project. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects against abuse of eminent domain and requires “just compensation” for seized property. Georgia law requires a court’s determination that a project serves a “public use,” adding that economic development alone is not enough.

As the state regulator for utilities — including railroads — the PSC has jurisdiction over the eminent domain case.

The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit Libertarian legal group that represents several landowners facing the eminent domain claims, said it will appeal the PSC’s ruling in Fulton County Superior Court. IJ senior attorney Bill Maurer called the railroad’s use of condemnation a “land grab” that only serves private interests.

“Georgia law does not permit a private company to take land through eminent domain unless the land will be put to a public use,” Maurer said in a statement. “Building a rail spur that will only be used by a few private companies, and not the public at large, is not a public use.”

Sandersville Railroad President Ben Tarbutton III said expansions to utilities’ grids and rail networks, such as his company’s proposal, meet the public use threshold.

“We are hopeful that the residents will come back to us and deal with us in good faith as they were before the IJ was involved,” Tarbutton said in a statement. “Regardless, if there is an appeal, we will see it through.”

The potentially impacted property owners also had asked the PSC to at least stay, or pause, the forced land sales to allow the courts to weigh in. Their attorneys argued the Sandersville Railroad case presented novel legal issues that neither the PSC nor the courts have considered since Georgia revised its eminent domain laws in 2006. They also argued some property owners may move from their homes to avoid construction noise and could suffer “irreparable injury” without a pause.

The PSC staff recommended in a public meeting last week that the commission stay the forced land sales for 90 days to avoid twisting the legal system into knots. Hancock County Superior Court has jurisdiction over the land, but Georgia law dictates that any request for judicial review by the property owners would be heard in Fulton County Superior Court.

Instead, the all-Republican commission declined to consider granting a stay.

Before Wednesday’s final vote, Commission Chairman Jason Shaw called it a “difficult case.”

Attorneys for Sandersville previously argued that the project, called the Hanson Spur, will create jobs and opportunity in Hancock County, one of Georgia’s most economically depressed areas. Hancock’s median household income is about half the statewide average, and more than 30% of the county’s population lives below the poverty line. While Georgia’s population has grown in recent years, Hancock has lost more than 10% of its population since 2010.

The project would link a nearby rock quarry to an existing CSX Transportation line, and might be used by other area businesses to ship goods, including grain, wood chips and liquid asphalt. Sandersville Railroad says trains on the spur would travel less than 20 mph and only run during daytime hours on weekdays. The railroad says the spur will boost tax revenues, pump $1.5 million annually into the area economy and create 12 new jobs with average salaries of $90,000.

“It is important for railroads and a variety of other utilities to have certainty when it comes to their ability to provide for our state’s and nation’s infrastructure,” Tarbutton said in the statement. “The Hanson Spur will provide new market access for local businesses, farmers, and loggers, and we look forward to working with the community to bring these benefits to Hancock County.”

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