Lawyer says group had no legal right to cancel Atlanta Tea Party

Michael Sullivan, an attorney familiar with the cancellation of the Atlanta Tea Party, said in a radio interview that the group who canceled the event had no ownership interest in the property (via Jason Lee at the American Thinker).

Les Morris, a spokesman for the mall said in a statement: “Gwinnett Place Mall is not public property, but is privately owned. In order to preserve the shopping experience for all guests, it is our standing policy not to permit political protests or rallies on mall property. To clarify the timing of our decision, mall management was not notified of the event or contacted for approval on event plans until just last week.”

But according to Sullivan, George Thorndyke is the sole owner of the Macy’s parking lot where the event was scheduled , and Simon Property Group has no ownership interest in the parking lot. “There were a set of declarations of covenants and restrictions that were placed on the mall when it was originally built in 1984, but those covenants state very clearly by their own terms that they would expire after a period of twenty years if they were not affirmatively renewed. That 20 years expired in 2004 and the covenants where not affirmatively renewed.  So you’re dealing with a Mall that doesn’t have any covenants or restrictions restricting general use in place,” Sullivan said during the interview.

“What is in place on the properties is a reciprocal parking agreement that provides that the other mall property owners have a right to the use of certain portions of Mr. Thorndyke’s parking lot. But what makes it reciprocal is Mr. Thorndyke likewise has the right to use certain portions of the parking lots off of his property. […] There’s nothing in that agreement that gives either property the right to restrict uses of the other’s property”

Simon was able to shut down an event at a location that they had virtually no interest in. Their only claim was to parking – and even that was reciprocal. In addition, a mall official informed me that the mall will be closed at 6:00 PM on Independence Day, and the Tea Party wasn’t even scheduled to start until 7:30 PM.