Atlanta Mayor Dickens to form task force to bolster community input on Atlanta Public Safety Training site

ATLANTA — Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is establishing a new task force to further engage the community on plans for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center site as well as the surrounding green space including the former Atlanta Prison Farm.

The City of Atlanta is also relaunching www.ATLTrainingCenter.com with additional information about plans for greenspace enhancement and protection and facts on the purpose and vision for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

The task force will supplement the work of the Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee which will continue to provide direct dialogue with neighborhoods adjacent to the site of the future Training Center.

The approximately 40-member South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force will be tasked with providing recommendations to the City in four key areas related to the Training Center and future greenspace site:

• Parks & green space
• Visioning, memorializing, and repurposing the former Atlanta Prison Farm Site
• Sustainability and resilience
• Police, fire and E-911 training curriculum

The City will also engage the task force for their input on issues including:

• Ongoing community engagement;
• Additional community uses of the site; and
• Consideration of the site for potential memorials or other community recognition.

Mayor Dickens plans to name the task force members in March and seek an initial set of recommendations by July.

Officials say Community input has already greatly improved plans for the Training Center. Through engagement with the Community Advisory Stakeholder Committee, the City said it has made several updates to its plans, including:

• Adding a minimum 100-foot tree buffer along the residential-facing aspects of the facility
• Adding additional community uses including a pavilion and accessible meeting spaces
• Moving the planned firing range to the southern portion of the site, closest to the    industrial park and away from residential areas
• Removing explosives training and ordnance disposal from the site
• Adding several measures to decrease acoustic impacts of the site, including adding additional baffling around the firing range
• Moving the main entrance to Constitution Road to alleviate vehicular traffic on Key Road
• Adding sidewalks along Key Road for pedestrian traffic
• Adding security cameras, license plate readers, and streetlights around the site; and
• Adding public parking to the site for trail and green space access