The latest annexation request

for the Deer Pointe development west of Fayetteville is no more, at least

for the time being.

With the City Council making it clear that no action would be taken on

the request until current litigation involving the property is settled,

developer Bob Rolader informed the city late last week that he wished

to withdraw his annexation and rezoning request, although he reserved

the right to resubmit it after the legal issues are cleared up.

Mayor Kenneth Steele mentioned Rolader's withdrawal at Monday night's

City Council meeting, but there was no council discussion or comment beyond

that.

The 873-acre property on Ga. Highway 54 at Lester and Huiet roads continues

to be mired in controversy, as a federal lawsuit against the former owners

of the site leaves its future ownership in question.

Current land owner Dan Stinchcomb has been accused of conspiring with

Amir Virani of Signa Investments Inc. to buy the land from Virani in a

1999 "fire sale" to avoid having the land seized to satisfy

an $18.9 million civil judgment from a previous suit, according to court

records.

Rolader, who does not own the property and is not in any way connected

with the lawsuit, faxed a letter Thursday to City Hall requesting his

petition be "withdrawn without prejudice."

Morton said he spoke with Rolader Wednesday after requesting an

update on the legal proceedings and how long they might take. Rolader,

who said he found out about the lawsuit only a couple of weeks ago, agreed

that it might be best to take the current request off the City Council's

agenda for the time being, Morton said.

Rolader can resubmit his request after the litigation is settled, according

to Morton.

He paid $18,000 in application fees, and if he submits the request again

within a specified time frame, the city will likely not require him to

pay those fees again, Morton said. The time frame under which that would

apply has not yet been determined.

Rolader told The Citizen yesterday morning that he believes his project

will proceed as soon as the court matters are concluded.

"This is just a temporary stumbling block for this project,"

he said. "As soon as this land is no longer attached to this court

case, we'll be back before the city again."

Rolader also stressed that he has no connection to the lawsuit itself,

as he came on board after the land was purchased as the developer only.

"This is simply another job for me," he said, adding that the

issues in the lawsuit have no bearing on the merits of the annexation

and rezoning request. "We'll just let the lawyers handle it."

That's essentially the attitude of the city as well, Morton pointed out.

"As with any annexation, we're on the defensive," he said. "We

don't have to approve anything, but since there is no moratorium on annexation,

we consider each request on its own merits."

This is the third annexation request concerning this property since 1987.