Stone Mountain business owners given 30 days to vacate without warning or reason

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A group of Stone Mountain business owners are scrambling after receiving an unwarranted notice to vacate.

Atlanta News First learned the person they call a landlord shouldn’t have been leasing the space, according to the property owner.

Walter Maddox is the owner of Christian Sports Academy located on Main Street in Stone Mountain.

He says he has been at the location for 15 years.

“You can come by here on any given night and pass, and you’ll look through the window and you will see the room filled with kids and stuff,” he said.

Summer Hill, owner of Summer Hair Boutique next door, has been there nine years.

“It came out of nowhere. So, it’s like a punch in the face,” said Hill.

Both were told last Thursday that they have 30 days to vacate the property. The group says it’s a message their landlord told them came from CSX Transportation.

The company owns the property that is located next to the rail line.

“We just need more time. I mean, to be an establishment this long and to have a presence in the neighborhood and say, ‘30 days and you’re gone,’ that’s it? That’s what was handed to us, ‘30 days and you’re gone,’” said Maddox.

None of them received a formal letter to vacate. The group also says they were never told why.

CSX sent this statement:

“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.”

Stone Mountain City Manager Darnetta Tyus says they’re looking into the matter.

“We have work to do in terms of understanding it, and the city will absolutely be willing to engage with coordinated conversation with CSX and our businesses to make sure everyone is whole at the end of the day,” Tyus said.

Maddox says they’re fighting a ticking clock.

“I’m looking, but it just takes more time,” Maddox said. “It’s so unfair – 30 days to just move out of your business, just not fair.”

Atlanta News First reached out to the man who’s been leasing out the space and did not hear back.

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