Piedmont Heights families received $12M settlement over Atlanta BeltLine

ATLANTA - More than 20 families will receive some of a $12 million settlement from a federal lawsuit over the Atlanta BeltLine.

After at least six years and two legal disputes some homeowners say they're content with the compromise.

The affected families in this neighborhood will each be compensated per square foot of lost land that was used to create the section of the BeltLine that's now what used to be their backyards.

In 2017, the BeltLine sued landowners to remove "encroachments" on the trail and the families lost. Then they counter sued. Last year, a judge ruled that the U.S. government illegally allowed the BeltLine to take parts of their property without compensation.

Meghan Largent, who represented the families in their counter suit, says they're ready to move on from the "headache."

"Their land was illegally taken and is a Fifth Amendment violation," she said. "One hundred feet of their backyards were taken ... to create a mixed use trail."

The settlement doesn't cover the cost for anything that was on the seized land-- just the land itself. 

FOX 5 asked several neighbors for comment. All denied speaking on camera.