'You get robberies, you get shootings, you get crime': Group opposes SW Atlanta gas station

ATLANTA - A group of southwest Atlanta residents is opposing a proposed gas station being built on Campbellton Road.

About 20 protestors gathered Monday morning, holding signs and chanting against the gas station that a developer is building at the corner of Campbellton and Harbin roads. 

Southwest Atlanta resident Sherry Williams said she has been fighting this proposal since February. 

"What happens with a gas station? You get robberies, you get shootings, you get crime. Secondly, this was not a transparent process that the city has in permitting," organizer Sherry Williams exclaimed.

The proposed gas station is just steps away from the Mt. Carmel Baptist church. Pastor Timothy Fleming has been the senior pastor there for more than 30 years.

"We have no grocery store on Campbellton Road. There used to be a McDonald's, but they left. We are pleading with city officials to hear the cry of the community," Fleming complained. 

"I was assured months ago that this would not happen by Councilwoman Overstreet. Either she did not know what she was talking about or she was not being truthful," former State Senator Vincent Fort said.

FOX 5 reached out to Atlanta City Council member Marci Overstreet, who made it clear, she too opposes the gas station and emphasizes that the developer went through the city planning department and did not include her.

Still, the grassroots protestors want the project stopped.

"It is not environmentally friendly. The Atlanta Regional Commission and the Centers for Disease control have documented evidence that air quality on the Southside is some of the worst in the city," Ms. Williams proclaimed.

The city is moving forward for now, but these folks will not give up the fight.

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