Urge Decision Makers to Invest in the South River Forest

The success of the South River Forest concept requires that decision makers make a protracted effort to invest in neglected communities and the environment in southeast metro Atlanta. Now.

Investment by local government begins with the commitment to providing the quality-of-life improvements and sustainable economic opportunities that come with the preservation of the natural environment.

Stop the Swap: Legal Battle to Save Intrenchment Creek Park

The citizen’s lawsuit versus DeKalb County and Blackhall Studios is the last chance to reclaim 40 acres of public land that was traded to a developer for private gain.

 

Protecting Public Land at the Prison Farm & Intrenchment Creek Park

Communities in the upper South River watershed, specifically south and southeast Atlanta and south DeKalb County, systematically experience unfair exposure to pollution and its effects on health and environment as well as unequal environmental protection and quality through actions of the Atlanta City Council and DeKalb County Commission.

Read the SRF Coalition’s public statement regarding Atlanta’s plan to develop the largest police and fire training facility in the nation at the historic Atlanta Prison Farm property.
Article: The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Development Team is Misleading Stakeholders Regarding Environmental Assessments & Avoiding Due Diligence

In October 2020, the DeKalb County Commission approved the swap of 40-acres of Intrenchment Creek Park to Ryan Millsap, private developer and owner of Blackhall Studios.   The reason behind the Commission’s unprecedented action that would pave (pun intended) the way for the development of a public park was simply convenience – the park acreage sought by Millsap is located directly across Constitution Road from the existing Blackhall complex.    

In November of the following year, 2021, kowtowing to election year political pressure from the Atlanta Police Foundation, the Atlanta City Council reneged on a 2017 commitment to protect and preserve the 330-acre Old Prison Farm greenspace. The legislation received the unanimous approval of the Council and is forever recorded in the Atlanta City Design, Aspiring to the Beloved Community adopted into the Atlanta City Charter in November 2017. The preservation of this greenspace represented the largest investment in the natural environment and quality of life improvements the surrounding communities had ever experienced.   

Environmental fallout from these two destructive political decisions will choke the river and have destructive impact on the health and quality of life of residents in surrounding communities, perpetuating long standing environmental injustice that has consumed the affected communities for decades.  

The injustice of the actions taken by the DeKalb County Commission and Atlanta City Council is made more egregious and frankly, insulting, when vulnerable environmental justice communities are forced to accept harmful developments in exchange for meager “mitigations” or minor concessions that allegedly will reduce the impacts of environmental destruction and pollution.

Community disinvestment spreads like an infectious disease and will never stop unless we take action now! All citizens – regardless of race, socio-economic status, or geography are entitled to a healthy environment.