A legal battle over the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, which has been on pause for more than a year, resumed this week after the U.S. Court of Appeals asked lawyers for the city and opponents of the facility to write briefs on whether a referendum issue is now moot considering the facility is near completion.
The city of Atlanta argues the issue is moot because the 85-acre facility in unincorporated DeKalb County is “now substantially complete” as of December 2024. Police officers, firefighters and first responders already are training at the facility and it houses police horses and K-9 units, according to the city’s filing.
If the decision is in the city’s favor, it would end a district court ruling that allowed non-Atlanta residents to collect signatures as part of the petition drive aimed at forcing a referendum on the training center. A ruling for the opponents would send the case back to the district court.
The legal battle began back in July 2023, when a group of DeKalb County residents who live near the training center sued the city arguing their First Amendment rights were violated because they were initially not allowed to collect signatures for the petition drive.
The district court granted them an injunction, which was later appealed by the city and resulted in the case going to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments were held in December 2023, but there has been no movement in the case since — until the appellate court asked both sides two weeks ago if the case is now moot.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
In a court filing submitted Monday, attorneys for the DeKalb residents argued that construction isn’t finished and, even if it was, that wouldn’t override their First Amendment argument.
“The only question presented in this case concerns who can collect signatures. That question is not moot,” the attorneys wrote.
Attorneys Jeff Filipovits, Gerald Weber and Wingo Smith also said that since the ground lease between the city and the Atlanta Police Foundation is active for the next 50 years, the issue is not resolved with the construction of the facility.
Attorney Robert Ashe, who has represented the city through the referendum-related litigation, said no referendum can erase the built-out facility.
“Even if the Petitioners collected enough signatures to trigger a referendum, repeal of the ground lease ordinance would not remove the Public Safety Training Center from the site,” he wrote. “Nor would repeal of the ground lease ordinance invalidate the lease to the Atlanta Police Foundation.”
Filipovits argues that the state court should rule on the referendum’s validity.
“To date, the City has not counted signatures, nor has it declared the referendum to be invalid for any other reason. No Georgia court has been asked to rule on whether the referendum is valid,” attorneys for DeKalb residents wrote.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The city’s brief also notes that Atlanta City Council approved the ground lease in 2021, yet DeKalb residents didn’t file their lawsuit until July 2023.
If the referendum fails and the appeals court rules the issue as moot, opponents of the facility have said they plan to file another petition seeking to amend the city’s charter in order to prevent the training center from operating.
As of August 2024, the city had spent nearly $2.2 million on legal representation and consulting related to the pending petition verification process.
The city’s brief argues that even if the referendum took place, “any outcome … would be merely academic at this point,” since the facility has been built.
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