After a long losing streak, the City of Atlanta’s BeltLine project got its second-straight dose of good news last week when Fulton County Superior Court Judge John J. Goger approved the city’s $120 million bond sale.

Hunton & Williams partner Douglass P. Selby is co-bond counsel to the city. The BeltLine is a proposed network of new parks, trolleys and bike paths encircling the city. It would be built on land that is now mostly abandoned railroad corridors.

The bond validation came a few weeks after the Georgia Legislature agreed to a ballot referendum this fall on whether to allow school boards to participate in certain bond sales. The Supreme Court of Georgia had struck down an earlier BeltLine bond sale, calling it unconstitutional because most of the money would go to the BeltLine, not schools. The BeltLine was one of several so-called tax-allocation district (TAD) financing projects affected by the ruling.

After the ruling, the city of Atlanta scrambled to compile a scaled-down package in which bonds would be backed only by City of Atlanta and Fulton County taxes, Selby said. Without the backing of Atlanta Public Schools taxes, the bond package was reduced to $120 million from $200 million.

If this fall’s ballot referendum is successful, the city of Atlanta plans to pursue additional bond sales which will be backed by school taxes, Selby said. With school board participation, the size of future BeltLine bond sales would increase dramatically. In Atlanta, as in most Georgia communities, up to half of all property taxes are levied by school districts.

However, the city has an additional hurdle to cross, even if the referendum is successful. The Legislature reserved the right to make changes to the underlying law, the Redevelopment Powers Law, if voters approve the referendum.

“It’s likely the Legislature would adopt some sort of enabling act to implement the powers that the voters approve,” Selby said.

The $120 million bond sale, slated for this fall, is the first of what’s expected to be multiple tranches, Selby said. The first series will be used to acquire land for parks, transit rights-of-way and other matters. The city has estimated the total cost to build the BeltLine could reach $1.7 billion over 25 years.

Howell & Associates attorney George L. Howell is also co-bond counsel to the city. Murray Barnes Finister partner Teresa P. Finister is counsel to Wachovia, the lead underwriters. The City of Atlanta attorney is Elizabeth B. Chandler.