SRWA Files Complaint Alleging “Cop City” Land Use Violates City’s Comprehensive Development Plan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2024

SRWA Files Complaint Alleging “Cop City” Land Use Violates City’s Comprehensive Development Plan, Announces June 12 Press Conference

ATLANTA, GA — On June 10, 2024, South River Watershed Alliance (SRWA) and other organizations filed a complaint with the Atlanta Regional Commission and GA Department of Community Affairs outlining numerous violations of the Comprehensive Development Plan process by the City of Atlanta.

The complaints argues that the City of Atlanta violated Rules of Georgia Department of Community Affairs, specifically (Chapter 110-12-1-.01 Purpose) and (Chapter 110-12-1-.02 Requirements) by deliberately failing to disclose in the 2020 Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) Update, 2021 CDP, Plan A (Administrative Update), and 2022 Phase 2, Plan A “Full Update” changes to the 300-acre Prison Farm land parcel as described at length in the 2017 and 2021 CDP as the “anchor” of the planned 1,200 South River Forest. Furthermore, by continuing to retain and represent in official public documents related to the 2024 CDP, the City continues to violate the Purpose and Requirement sections of the Rules of Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

The organizations submitting the complaint have announced a press conference on June 12th at 6:30 PM to provide additional details on the nature of the complaint:

What: PRESS CONFERENCE FOR SRWA’S COMPLAINT AGAINST THE CITY
When: 6:30 PM
Where: The Trolley Barn, 963 Edgewood Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

“Community involvement is the most essential element of the Comprehensive Development Plan process,” states South River Watershed Alliance’s president, Jacqueline Echols. State regulations require that “each element of the comprehensive plan must be prepared with opportunity for involvement and input from stakeholders and the general public, in order to ensure that the plan reflects the full range of community needs and values” (Chapter 110-12-1-.02 Requirements).

The 2021 Comprehensive Development (CDP), Plan A, released November 2021, is currently available for public review and comment as part of required 2024 community outreach. What is missing from Plan A however, is documentation of the community involvement process that coincides with the decision by the City of Atlanta to destroy the last remaining 300-acre parcel of public greenspace in the entire city. The importance of and commitment to South River Park is touted time and time again in 2021 CDP, Plan A as “our last chance for a massive urban park in the city.”

“The claim that destroying the single largest public greenspace investment remaining in Atlanta would result in zero public outcry from communities, not even from those that will be directly affected every day, 365 days a year, is not only unbelievable, it is insulting,” states Echols.

For more information on the complaint, visit the SRWA blog.

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