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Amsterdam Walk redevelopment clash: Va-Hi residents decry sign removal

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Updated  April 25, 2024 5:41pm EDT
Virginia Highland
FOX 5 Atlanta

Amsterdam Walk protests signs stolen

Some neighbors have fought the large-scale redevelopment of Amsterdam Walk for weeks. Their grassroots efforts have involved these signs but now they accuse the people behind the project have taken them in some cases from private property.

ATLANTA - Work is underway to redevelop a shopping center near the Atlanta BeltLine into a mixed-use complex, but some who live in the adjacent Virginia-Highland neighborhood are fighting it. 

FOX 5 reported about that earlier this month, but those same neighbors now accuse the company behind Amsterdam Walk of taking signs they created from private property. That now has Atlanta police investigating. 

"To me, it felt like a middle school kid having their lunch money stolen," said Sandra Givelber. 

Those signs oppose the plan to redevelop Amsterdam Walk, which sits along the BeltLine next to Piedmont Park. Givelber is helping lead the fight to stop the large-scale redevelopment, but she was surprised by what was caught on camera. 

"It felt very petty and, frankly, just dumb," she said. "Like when I saw the video, I was like, ‘This is so ridiculous.’" 

Neighbors spent thousands of dollars printing the signs to share their views. According to the master plan, the development would feature five buildings with shops, restaurants and 900 apartments. One of the buildings is slated to be 17 stories. 

"We are completely for a revamp of Amsterdam Walk, it needs it," Givelber said. "It looks a little tired, but we would like something smaller." 

Givelber thinks their opposition and petition has hit a nerve. She believes the person who took the signs is tied to the project. 

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Virginia-Highland residents have put up signs protesting the redevelopment plan for Amsterdam Walk near the Atlanta BeltLine. (FOX 5)

Halpern Enterprises sent FOX 5 this statement via email:  

"We were made aware of a number of signs placed within the Amsterdam Walk property without permission. Property management was notified and asked to remove the signs. The removed signs are available to be returned to the owner. We are not aware of any sign being removed from private property, if that is the case, it was unintentional." 

Givelber does not buy that whoever took these signs did not know this was private property. Now the police have gotten involved. 

"They were definitely in the yard, near the houses or near a garage," she said. "Clearly, private property and clearly homeowners' signs." 

Management says the signs are available to be returned to their owner, but the neighbors say they should put them back where they found them. 

Since this happened on Monday, more neighbors have asked for signs.