Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is establishing a new task force to engage the community on plans for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center site.
Dickens said he intends to name the task force members in March and seek an initial set of recommendations by July.
The City of Atlanta is also relaunching www.ATLTrainingCenter.com. The site will be updated with additional information about plans for greenspace enhancement surrounding the former Atlanta Prison Farm.
The approximately 40-member South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force will provide recommendations to the city in four key areas including: creation of parks and greenspace; memorializing, and re-purposing the former Atlanta Prison Farm Site; sustainability; and the police, fire and E-911 training curriculum.
The task force will supplement the work of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee. The committee is continuing to have direct dialogue with neighborhoods adjacent to the site of the controversial training center, which opponents have derisively named “Cop City.”
Dickens said community input has already improved plans for the training center. Through engagement with the Community Advisory Stakeholder Committee, the city has made several updates to its plans, including:
- Adding a minimum 100-foot tree buffer along the residential-facing parts of the facility;
- Adding additional community uses including a pavilion and accessible meeting spaces;
- Moving the planned firing range to the southern portion of the site, closest to the industrial park and away from residential areas;
- Removing explosives training and ordnance disposal from the site;
- Adding several measures to decrease acoustic impacts of the site, including adding additional baffling around the firing range;
- Moving the main entrance to Constitution Road to alleviate vehicular traffic on Key Road;
- Adding sidewalks along Key Road for pedestrian traffic;
- Adding security cameras, license plate readers, and streetlights around the site; and
- Adding public parking to the site for trail and green space access.
The city-owned South River Forest property located in DeKalb County has been a flashpoint of controversy and tragedy. In January, activist Manuel Teran was shot by law enforcement clearing the property of protestors. More than a dozen activists have been charged with domestic terrorism.
Despite outcry from activists, environmentalists, and neighbors, the training center is still on track. Last week, a Fulton County judge denied an injunction to halt construction on the site.