strongernow
06-16-2004, 01:13 PM
Jail expansion agitates south Fulton
By CHARLES YOO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/14/04
A growing number of African-American professionals who are buying their suburban dream homes in south Fulton County are demanding that their communities not be a dumping ground for unwanted development.
Eric Morton, an independent filmmaker, said he and his neighbors in the Valley Lakes subdivision were stunned recently when bulldozers began toppling the forest next to their homes to expand a state prison.
The state Department of Corrections plans to spend $10.9 million to expand the 200-bed J.C. Larmore Probation Detention Center to 700 beds. In preparation, crews began clearing the 25-acre forest separating the neighborhood from the complex.
Morton said while he and his neighbors knew there was a prison nearby, it was hidden. They insist the expansion be done elsewhere. Some say the area was chosen because it is predominantly black.
"South Fulton is not a dumping ground for Georgia. We're not going to allow this," said Valley Lakes resident AnJeanne James, a 39-year-old mother of four and a psychology Ph.D. candidate at Georgia State University. "This is environmental racism."
Largely middle-class and African-American, the region is seeing signs of growth that passed it by in the 1990s when metro Atlanta counties boomed. Since 1999, more than 3,500 homes have been built in eight subdivisions off High Point Road. The prison sits behind the communities on Stonewall Tell Road.
"A more affluent community is beginning to come into that area. With that affluence might come more of a willingness to take positions to oppose the decisions by local governments that those folks see as being detrimental to their quality of life," said Jim Durrett, the executive director of the Urban Land Institute.
More than 1,500 people have signed a petition to denounce the prison expansion. Neighborhood leaders are aiming for 5,000 signatures.
The outcry got the attention of U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-Atlanta), who last week prodded the state Department of Corrections to delay construction for 30 days so the state can study the situation.
South Fulton Commissioner Bill Edwards also is getting behind the residents. But how the prison project got this far with few in the surrounding communities knowing about it is partly the doing of the Fulton County Commission.
The commission deeded the property to the state in 2002 and approved the expansion project in 2003. Edwards voted for the project but has since changed his mind.
"My experience says they wouldn't have done it in Roswell," Edwards said, referring to the predominantly white and affluent city north of Atlanta.
Escape fuels debate
He said voting for the project seemed like a good idea because the county had been under a court order to alleviate jail crowding and the expansion provided a way to comply with the order.
Residents were angry when a man convicted of theft and possession of a concealed weapon escaped from the detention center last week.
In yards throughout the area, signs are sprouting: "For Sale By Owner — Ask Why." When asked about the signs some residents said they don't actually want to sell their homes, but to tell people what's going on.
State prison officials emphasize that they are not building a prison but a probation detention center, which is considered an alternative to long and costly prison sentences. The centers mostly house people who are convicted of drug and property crimes and sentenced to three to six months.
The idea is to give offenders "a taste of incarceration without going to a state prison," said Brian Owens, assistant to state Corrections Commissioner James Donald.
Owens said the facility would be surrounded by barbed wire and would have to accept some violent offenders. But he added that most sentences for serious violent crimes require mandatory time in a state prison.
Scott said a jail or detention center built in their midst would ruin the renaissance the south Fulton neighborhood has begun to see.
"When you make an investment of a home, it begins a very good thing for this area. This will stymie that. It could be a tremendous setback for what you want to do in this area," he said.
By CHARLES YOO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/14/04
A growing number of African-American professionals who are buying their suburban dream homes in south Fulton County are demanding that their communities not be a dumping ground for unwanted development.
Eric Morton, an independent filmmaker, said he and his neighbors in the Valley Lakes subdivision were stunned recently when bulldozers began toppling the forest next to their homes to expand a state prison.
The state Department of Corrections plans to spend $10.9 million to expand the 200-bed J.C. Larmore Probation Detention Center to 700 beds. In preparation, crews began clearing the 25-acre forest separating the neighborhood from the complex.
Morton said while he and his neighbors knew there was a prison nearby, it was hidden. They insist the expansion be done elsewhere. Some say the area was chosen because it is predominantly black.
"South Fulton is not a dumping ground for Georgia. We're not going to allow this," said Valley Lakes resident AnJeanne James, a 39-year-old mother of four and a psychology Ph.D. candidate at Georgia State University. "This is environmental racism."
Largely middle-class and African-American, the region is seeing signs of growth that passed it by in the 1990s when metro Atlanta counties boomed. Since 1999, more than 3,500 homes have been built in eight subdivisions off High Point Road. The prison sits behind the communities on Stonewall Tell Road.
"A more affluent community is beginning to come into that area. With that affluence might come more of a willingness to take positions to oppose the decisions by local governments that those folks see as being detrimental to their quality of life," said Jim Durrett, the executive director of the Urban Land Institute.
More than 1,500 people have signed a petition to denounce the prison expansion. Neighborhood leaders are aiming for 5,000 signatures.
The outcry got the attention of U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-Atlanta), who last week prodded the state Department of Corrections to delay construction for 30 days so the state can study the situation.
South Fulton Commissioner Bill Edwards also is getting behind the residents. But how the prison project got this far with few in the surrounding communities knowing about it is partly the doing of the Fulton County Commission.
The commission deeded the property to the state in 2002 and approved the expansion project in 2003. Edwards voted for the project but has since changed his mind.
"My experience says they wouldn't have done it in Roswell," Edwards said, referring to the predominantly white and affluent city north of Atlanta.
Escape fuels debate
He said voting for the project seemed like a good idea because the county had been under a court order to alleviate jail crowding and the expansion provided a way to comply with the order.
Residents were angry when a man convicted of theft and possession of a concealed weapon escaped from the detention center last week.
In yards throughout the area, signs are sprouting: "For Sale By Owner — Ask Why." When asked about the signs some residents said they don't actually want to sell their homes, but to tell people what's going on.
State prison officials emphasize that they are not building a prison but a probation detention center, which is considered an alternative to long and costly prison sentences. The centers mostly house people who are convicted of drug and property crimes and sentenced to three to six months.
The idea is to give offenders "a taste of incarceration without going to a state prison," said Brian Owens, assistant to state Corrections Commissioner James Donald.
Owens said the facility would be surrounded by barbed wire and would have to accept some violent offenders. But he added that most sentences for serious violent crimes require mandatory time in a state prison.
Scott said a jail or detention center built in their midst would ruin the renaissance the south Fulton neighborhood has begun to see.
"When you make an investment of a home, it begins a very good thing for this area. This will stymie that. It could be a tremendous setback for what you want to do in this area," he said.