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Stone Mountain resident urges DeKalb to act on breached Lake Michelle dam; officials say county parcel ownership complicates responsibility
Summary
A Stone Mountain resident told commissioners that erosion and a breached earthwork dam at Lake Michelle have left a seven-acre mudflat and a hazard to children and pets; she said county and other agencies had not taken responsibility and urged the county to deem the parcel abandoned and take action.
At the July 22 DeKalb County Board of Commissioners meeting, Stone Mountain resident Eve Oberlin asked the board to act on long-standing, post-storm damage to Lake Michelle, which she said is now a seven-acre mudflat following hurricane Helene.
Oberlin said the lake’s earthwork dam was breached on Sept. 26, 2024, sending sediment, debris and water through downstream streets and into neighboring Lake Arrowhead. “Lake Michelle is now a massive unstable mudflat with quicksand-like properties, a hazard to children and pets,” she told commissioners.
Oberlin said she and neighbors have tried for 10 months to reach county departments and were repeatedly referred among agencies; she said the parcel with the most extensive damage is listed in county records as privately owned by an elderly man who has not paid taxes for years and whose whereabouts are unknown. She asked the county to deem the property abandoned and take remedial action.
“I watched in real time fish, turtles, and natural vegetation die,” Oberlin said. She added that more than 160 similar earthwork dams exist across DeKalb County and many are likely unmaintained.
Why this matters: The complaint raises public-safety, stormwater and environmental concerns, and it highlights the complexity of maintenance responsibility where private ownership, tax status and multiple agencies intersect. Oberlin asked commissioners to use county authority to clear the hazard and to consider a programmatic review of similar former developer-built earthworks across the county.
What the record says: During the public comment period, commissioners acknowledged the complaint and thanked the resident for raising the issue. No formal motion or vote was taken at the meeting to declare the parcel abandoned or to begin remediation; staff will need to follow up to track legal, land-title and multi-agency responsibility.
Speakers who raised related neighborhood and infrastructure items during public comment included Lance Hammonds (Water's Edge HOA), who thanked county staff for a rapid cleanup on a separate neighborhood issue, and other residents who spoke separately about crime and neighborhood safety.
