Unwilling to wait for a county recommendation on where a new animal shelter should go, more than 50 DeKalb County residents from two separate groups on Tuesday pressed leaders to consider just one site.

Animal advocates and supporters of the Johns Homestead in Tucker agreed that the five-acre site next to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Chamblee offers the best option for a new facility.

The unity came in response to delays from the county commission, who last week appeared to favor putting a new $8 million facility at Johns Homestead on Lawrenceville Highway.

“PDK would be a much, much better and much cheaper location to go to than destroying a homestead that has been here since 1825,” said Mary Ann Roberts, a member of a community group working to turn the 50-acre site into a nature preserve.

County staff are evaluating that site, the PDK site and a former car dealership on Lawrenceville Highway based on cost, time to build and ease of access for residents.

Animal advocates have pushed for a new shelter as part of an overhaul of the county’s animal services, which euthanizes more animals that in adopts from its dilapidated shelter on Memorial Drive.