Litigants who claim that a county land bidding process was illegal have asked a judge to quash the sale of nearly 13 acres at Veterans Parkway and Highway 37 East. A writ of mandamus was filed Thursday in Colquitt County Superior Court.

Northlake Development LLC and W. Lynn Lasseter have sued Colquitt County Commission and its seven board members individually in an attempt to halt the land deal with Teramore Development LLC of Thomasville, which plans to build a Publix grocery store on the site. The Moultrie-Colquitt County Economic Development Authority also is named in the lawsuit. 

The property in question, if Teramore’s plans come to fruition, would be the site of a Publix super market complex with additional stores coming into the complex with the food chain giant.

The lawsuit claims that the bidding process was flawed and that a subsequent action by the county to deed additional land to the development authority that will in turn be given to Teramore also is a violation of Georgia law.

On Thursday, the plaintiffs filed a petition asking a judge to declare the sale of the property null and void. It also asks the court to declare the deed of the additional 1.29 acres to the development as a private gratuity that violates Georgia law.

In addition, the plaintiffs asked the court to force the county to rebid the property.

The commission awarded the sale of the nearly 12.88 acres of land to Teramore Development of Thomasville on July 28, 2014. Teramore offered $2.67 million, or $207,211 per acre, for the parcel.

Northlake /Wilwat Properties, the only other company to take part in a second bidding process, tendered an offer of $2.34 million, or $182,080 per acre. 

Wilwat Properties, an Atlanta company that was working with Northlake to purchase the land, is not a party to the lawsuit. In the initial bidding process, Northlake was the highest bidder but the land was bid out then as a parcel. The county then decided to refuse all bids, have the land surveyed and rebid on a per-acre basis.

The suit was filed after the development authority confirmed in June that it would serve as a conduit for an additional 1.29 acres of land at the proposed grocery store site.

The authority took possession of the land with the understanding that it would transfer the land at no cost to Teramore after the company said it had determined the potential tenant needed additional land to make the proposal work. That process was necessary because the county cannot transfer land but development authorities are allowed to do so to promote economic development.

The Publix project would bring with it several other stores, and developers have voiced an interest in other nearby out-parcels if the Publix project comes through.