Superior Court hearing is set for March 17 to

determine whether developer P.K. Dixon's lawsuit

against the city of Fayetteville will continue.

The

court will hear the city's request that the case

be dismissed without a trial.

Dixon

filed suit in August 1998 after withdrawing his

request for annexation and rezoning to allow a

150-home subdivision, a nature preserve and

industrial park on his 370-acre tract at the

south end of Burch Road, off Ga. Highway 54 on

the west side of town.

Dixon's

plan to extend the cul de sac at the end of Burch

Road to gain access to his property brought

neighborhood opposition and a recommendation from

the Planning Commission that the City Council

deny his request.

After

a series of negotiations between city officials

and Dixon, no alternative method of access could

be found. Dixon withdrew his request and filed

suit claiming that when developers built the

Burch Road cul de sac, they closed off an old

country road that connected his property with

Hwy. 54.

Fayetteville's

motion for summary judgment contends that there

is "no genuine issue to be tried."

"Burch

Road has never extended onto petitioner's

property," the city's motion says.

Access

onto Dixon's property before the cul de sac was

built in 1992 "has been blocked by trees,

gates and locks over at least the last 14

years," says the city's motion.

The

motion asks that the court declare summary

judgment dismissing the suit and that the court

"find that there exists no public road over

[Dixon's] or [the city's] property."

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