Residents oppose new Campbellton Road gas station

ATALNTA - Residents in southwest Atlanta have been fighting city planners and a private developer for more than 2 years. They say they don't want another gas station on busy Campbellton Road. To add insult to injury, the developer is now trying to get a liquor license for the gas station.  

The Shell gas station has been built but is still not open. Residents say it should never open because it violates two city ordinances, and they don't want it here.  

"We don't want it. We don't need it. Take it somewhere else," former state Sen. Vincent Fort said.  

For more than 2 years, residents like Fort have vehemently opposed another gas station on Campbellton Road. Neighborhood residents say their community deserves better, but it is overrun with gas stations and liquor stores.  

"From one end of Campbelton Road, there are probably about fifteen gas stations. We don't need another one, number one, number two, they are environmentally toxic.  

The increase in crime at the gas stations is unacceptable," NPU-R member Sherry Williams.  

Residents have picketed the project for months. The gas station is right across the street from a church. Opponents even secured an attorney to file an appeal, but the plaintiff abruptly dropped out a week before the case was going to court.  

Residents insist the gas station violates two city ordinances, but nothing is being done to halt the project.  

District 11 Council member Marci Overstreet says she is against the gas station too and has tried to convince the owner not to open it.  

"What I ask him is, ‘Could we work on another business there?’ And he says gas stations is his family business. The problem now is that he's requesting beer and wine," the council woman said. 

The License Review Board will vote on the gas station's liquor license request on May 21.  

Residents say they will continue the fight. 

"No one seems to care about the taxpayers, the only people making money off of this is the developers," Ms. Williams concluded.  

Several residents say they will take this issue to the full council next week in hopes that someone will listen to their concerns.   

The developer told FOX 5's Aungelique Proctor he is aware of the opposition but has invested a lot of money in the project. He referred FOX 5 to his attorney for further comment.