An environmental group is asking a federal court to change or halt the construction of Atlanta’s public safety training center due to alleged sediment runoff pollution. The South River Watershed Alliance (SRWA) filed a lawsuit on Aug. 1 against the City and the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF), the facility’s private planner, in U.S. District Court […]
Tag: Atlanta Police Foundation
Posted inColumns
Healing the divide: Matt Westmoreland and Liliana Bakhtiari offer hope
The plans for a new public safety training center have polarized Atlanta into two camps – those for and those against. That was evident during a confrontational Atlanta City Council meeting that began at 1 p.m. June 12 and lasted for nearly 17 hours with an overwhelming number of speakers passionately arguing against what they have labeled as “cop city.”
Posted inLatest News
Officials investigate training center pollution complaints as permit dispute heads to court
Facility planners say it is passing inspections and that protesters are to blame for one instance of damaged erosion controls.
Posted inLatest News
Christmas gifts to training center committee ran afoul of ethics rules, City says
Christmas gifts given to the public safety training center’s advisory committee by the Atlanta Police Foundation ran afoul of ethics rules.
Posted inColumns, John Ruch
With so much unknown about training center plan, everyone’s a protester
With all the heat these days on who’s right and wrong about Atlanta’s public safety training center, it’s remarkable how little we know about what the plan actually is.
Posted inLatest News
Training center maps suggest outside property used to meet green space requirements
Planners of Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center appear to be counting properties outside its legal boundaries to meet a lease-required amount of green space.
Posted inColumns, John Ruch
City Hall in confusion over training center advisory committee vacancies and administration
Membership, vacancies and administration of the public safety training center’s advisory group are all causing City Hall confusion and mystery.
Posted inLatest News
Training center permit appeal opposed by state environmental official, review committee chair
The appeal of the Atlanta public safety training center’s land-disturbance permit is being opposed by a state environmental official and the head of the plan’s review committee.
Posted inLatest News
Environmentalists and DeKalb commissioner ask court to halt training center work pending permit appeal
The resident appealing the land-disturbance permit for Atlanta’s public safety training center is asking a court to halt all site-clearing until that appeal is heard.
Posted inColumns, Maria's Metro
Seeking peaceful green solutions for training center in South River Forest
The controversy over building a public safety training center on the site of the old Atlanta Prison Farm continues to fester.
Posted inLatest News
City ethics office to review Christmas gifts to training center advisory committee members
The City ethics office will review Christmas gifts given the public safety training center advisory committee to see if they are OK under the law.
Posted inLatest News
Group questions legality of public safety training center’s runoff and footprint
Construction of Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center may be legally barred by a pollution-runoff cap, according to an attorney for an environmental group that is also questioning the legality of the facility’s footprint.
Posted inColumns, Maria's Metro
South River Forest civic engagement work can help bridge divide
The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the Nature Conservancy publicly kicked off its South River Forest Community Engagement process at a meeting Saturday morning at DeKalb County’s impressive Sugar Creek Golf & Tennis Center off Bouldercrest Road.
Posted inLatest News
64 groups and businesses sign on to oppose public safety training center ahead of City Council resolution
Sixty-four organizations and businesses have signed onto a “Decree of Nonsupport” for Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center plan as part of a City Council member’s intent to introduce an opposition resolution.
Posted inLatest News
Public safety training center committee touts accomplishments with no mention of construction secrecy
The advisory committee for Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center has issued its first community update after eight months of meetings, an email that touts its accomplishments while not mentioning such big issues as the start of pre-construction and secrecy debates.
Posted inColumns, John Ruch
The public safety training center deserves a real public review
As the Atlanta public safety training center advisory committee presents another ridiculous soap opera episode of scrutinizing its own members more than the City’s secretive plan, the public shouldn’t fall for tuning out. For planners, this is no accident or failure; in a sham process, it’s a success beyond the wildest dreams of distraction to have the public fighting itself rather than questioning authorities.
Posted inLatest News
Officials fed up with training center secrecy release permit application, plan opposition resolution
Some elected officials fed up with the secrecy of Atlanta’s public safety training center planning have released its supposedly confidential site preparation permit application and reportedly are working on a City Council resolution opposing the project.
Posted inLatest News
Public safety training center committee attempts to remove skeptical member while construction remains secret
The advisory committee for Atlanta’s public safety training center has started a legally questionable process of kicking off a member for publicly criticizing its work. The DeKalb County official who appointed that member opposes the move and questions why the committee is not circulating information about the now secretive final site plan and construction permit applications.
Posted inLatest News
Public safety training center protests are followed by arrests, advisory group meeting cancellation
Several days of intensified protests against Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center culminated May 17 in several trespassing arrests at the site and the no-notice cancellation of a community review committee’s meeting.
