A series of errors by the city of Smyrna led to the approval of a new recycling center in an unpublicized location, a decision that has angered nearby residents who don’t want the facility in their backyard.
Last month, the city council agreed to spend $435,000 for the new recycling facility, which is one street over from the current site. But due to a clerical error, the location of the approximately 1-acre site wasn’t listed on the city’s agenda when the vote was taken.
Residents who live near the new site say they were upset to find out about the purchase after it was approved. They want the city to consider a different location — one that doesn’t border residential homes and isn’t adjacent to a park.
“This is a bad idea on so many levels and it wasn’t even done responsibly,” said Angela Ellis, whose home is directly behind the new location. “You don’t put garbage next to a house or where kids play.”
The proposed site, formerly the home of an oil company, is just off South Cobb Drive on a road leading into a residential neighborhood. Neighbors are worried about the increased noise and traffic from the recycling center. City council members say they looked at other sites but liked this one because of the central location.
This isn’t the first time the city of Smyrna has drawn criticism from residents for foggy land purchases.
In 2008, the city spent millions in taxpayer money to buy, renovate and operate a blighted apartment complex. Just one year after sinking $2.5 million into upgrades, the city changed course and sold the site for about half the purchase price to make way for a new environmentally friendly elementary school.
In 2010, the city decided to purchase another apartment complex financed with $15.9 million in taxpayer-backed bonds. Those apartments, at the corner of Windy Hill and Old Concord roads, were demolished by the city to clear the way for future redevelopment. But if the property isn’t sold by February, taxpayers will have to start making payments on the bonds.
In all three cases, some critics say the city wasn’t transparent enough about plans to purchase the property.
Councilman Charles “Corkey” Welch, who represents Ward 4 where the recycling center is located, said a clerical error led to the purchase site being listed as “Ward X” on the agenda. He said council members didn’t catch the error when reviewing the documents. The address of the site, which will be purchased using penny sales tax funds, was read aloud during the meeting before the vote was taken.
“A couple of people made errors, me being one,” Welch said. “But there was no intent to mislead anybody.”
Georgia law allows governments to negotiate real estate deals in private, but requires a vote be taken in public before the deal is binding. During the open meeting, the property must be identified and the terms of the deal disclosed.
“To the extent there are mistakes pertaining to acquisition or real estate or other information of keep public importance, it undermines the public’s ability to know and its confidence in its government,” said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.
A group of residents have petitioned city council members to reconsider the new location. Hand-made signs hang throughout the neighborhood. Welch said the city has not yet closed on the property. Once the deal is final, he said he will work with neighbors on site on a plan to develop a “state of the art” facility.
But for neighbors like Pete Ryder, who has lived in his home since 2005, any facility will be a hard sell.
“An industrial area is where it goes,” he said. “It doesn’t go in our neighborhood.”
About the Author
