Zoning board denies appeal to halt Atlanta Public Safety Training Center construction
ATLANTA - Opponents of the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center have been denied an appeal of the issued land disturbance permits for construction by the DeKalb County Zoning Board.
The board unanimously found the permits complied with all the requirements laid out by the county, but were unwilling to halt the project over erosion and water quality concerns.
Wednesday, activists who are part of the "Stop Cop City" movement were asking the board to revoke the permit authorizing construction on the 86-acre site.
Opponents say the site violates the Clean Water Act. They are citing a "stop work order" issued on April 6 by DeKalb County after inspectors found the required silt fencing and other erosion control measures were not functioning as designed.
The land development permits issued on Feb. 2 require contractors "to control soil erosion and sedimentation on the Property during construction, including, but not limited to, silt fences, mulch filter berms, and temporary sediment basins."
The order was lifted the same day after the county says the problems were addressed. Work has since resumed on the property.
But opponents argue the development of the site would increase flooding and pollution. They also say that work should be halted until a lawsuit and Wednesday's planning appeal are decided.
Law enforcement drive past the planned site of a police training facility that activists have nicknamed "Cop City", following the first raid since the death of environmental activist Manuel Teran on February 6, 2023. (Photo by CHENEY ORR/AFP via Gett
"This is yet another example of DeKalb County placing the interests of the Atlanta Police Foundation over its own residents," said Keyanna Jones, member of the Faith Coalition to Stop Cop City and Community Movement Builders. "That is why it’s key for DeKalb County residents to tell your DeKalb County Zoning Board to halt this project immediately. It’s crucial that the Board knows our citizens do not want Cop City built."
The board would not take up those concerns because they say their scope is whether the county's planning director acted appropriately in granting the proper permits.
The site has been a source of controversy after it was proposed and approved in 2021 by the Atlanta City Council. Some locals have cited noise concerns, while others said the planned destruction of nature significantly undermines the city’s efforts to preserve its famed tree canopy and would exacerbate local flooding risks.
More officers to be recruited to guard site of future public safety training facility
Some Atlanta city council members have voiced their concerns and anger over the current number of on-duty Atlanta police officers currently guarding the incoming police training center site. A new memo obtained by FOX 5 shows that number is only expected to increase for the next few months.
After multiple violent protests, Atlanta Police Department redeployed officers, detectives, and other specialized divisions to the construction site. The department recently distributed a memo extending the security detail for at least 90 more days.
This week, King Center CEO Dr. Bernice King wrote an open letter calling the planned center "a contentious issue" and encouraged city leaders to "revisit the programming and design of the training center and to identify a more suitable location."
"Ignoring the calls of the community will only multiply the cries," King wrote.
What is the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center?
In addition to classrooms and administration buildings, the proposed $90-million police and firefighter training center would include a shooting range, a driving course to practice chases, and a "burn building" for firefighters to work on putting out fires. A "mock village" featuring a fake home, convenience store, and nightclub would also be built for authorities to rehearse public safety scenarios.
Rendering of proposed Atlanta Police Training Center (Atlanta Police Department )
The property is owned by the city of Atlanta but is located just outside the city limits in unincorporated DeKalb County, and includes a former state prison farm.
Police officials say the state-of-the-art campus would replace substandard offerings and boost police morale beset by hiring and retention struggles in the wake of violent protests against racial injustice after George Floyd’s death in 2020.
Opponents of the training center have been protesting since 2021 by building platforms in surrounding trees and camping out at the site. They say that the project, which would be built by the Atlanta Police Foundation, involves cutting down so many trees that it would be environmentally damaging. Many activists also oppose spending so much money on a police facility that would be surrounded by poor, majority-Black neighborhoods in a city with one of the nation’s highest degrees of wealth inequality.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.