Mayor Kasim Reed outlined plans Tuesday to use eminent domain to take control of the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter property and build a police and fire station in its place.
Speaking at the Commerce Club, Reed said the shelter is a hub for tuberculosis infection, per information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and said he intends to ask for the business community’s help in building a new facility to serve the area’s homeless.
“What everyone in Atlanta knows is Peachtree-Pine has been a source of challenge for the city of Atlanta for 30 years… It destroys and damages that part of the city and the people that live in that part of the city every single day,” he said. “We have tolerated it in the past for a variety of issues. But I think having the CDC cite the facility as a national center for tuberculosis activity is different than traditional issues.”
Anita Beaty, head of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, says the mayor’s accusations are off-base and pledged to fight any new attempts to seize the property.
“We are completely compliant with everything the county and CDC asks us to do. Everybody who comes in gets tested” for tuberculosis, she said.
On Wednesday, Reed elaborated on his plans and said that he hopes to work with Beaty on a new facility to serve the area’s homeless.
For more on how Reed plans to acquire the shelter, and whether he'll run up against a years-long court battle over its ownership, visit MYAJC.com.
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