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July 04, 2005
GA: Prison Expansion Project Stopped
Prison expansion project is halted
CHARLES YOO The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 06/30/05
The state Department of Corrections announced Wednesday that it was dropping plans for expansion of a south Fulton County prison that had drawn strong opposition from nearby homeowners.
Corrections Commissioner James Donald reversed repeated claims he made last year that the expansion of the 200-bed Larmore Probation Detention Center was badly needed due to the number of probationers - more than 10,000 - living in Fulton County.
Homeowners living near Larmore enlisted the aid of their elected officials, many of whom campaigned on their behalf, to fight the expansion. Donald now says the $11 million, 500-bed expansion of Larmore is not needed.
"A thorough examination of the numbers revealed that there was simply no need for this new center in Fulton County," Donald said in the statement. "We must continue to be good stewards of the public's resources and we could not justify continuing this expansion when we have six additional facilities that could take on this mission."
Neighbors were glad to hear about the prison system's plans to stop the expansion of the prison off Stonewall Tell Road near Union City. They had formed a group opposing the expansion and filed a lawsuit to try to stop it.
But Wednesday, they wondered whether the once-heavily-wooded property had been irreversibly damaged. The department clear-cut and leveled the 25-acre property, and an environmental group filed a lawsuit against Corrections in April, claiming sloppy construction at the site was ruining wetlands, small lakes and a Chattahoochee River tributary. In its release, the Department of Corrections said it would return the property to "its natural state," but did not offer details of its plans.
"I really don't know the extent of the actual damage," said Patricia Phillips of the Valley Lakes subdivision, which abuts the Larmore site. "The density of trees we had back there and the topography of the land, all of that has changed."
AnJeanne James, another Valley Lakes resident, said the department needs to clean up the mess it made before withdrawing. But she was glad to hear the the long battle against the expansion appeared to be over.
"I am just elated," James said. "If that's true, I'm totally elated. It's been a long road."
Posted by lois at July 4, 2005 01:38 PM