By Gerard E. Sherry

Atlanta’s aldermanic board Monday turned down a request by the archdiocese for a special use permit to erect a children’s village on a 25 acre tract on Fairburn Road in Southwest Atlanta.

The 13 to 3 negative vote came despite the approval of the zoning committee, the Atlanta-Fulton County joint planning board, and professional planners in Atlanta. The project would have housed dependent Catholic children of grade school age, the Atlanta boys now residing at St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, Washington, Georgia, the Atlanta girls at St. Mary’s Home for Girls at Savannah.

The plans called for five ranch-style cottages, each holding twelve children and house parents. There would also be a chapel, administrative building, and convent to house the sisters who would operate the village. The buildings would be set back some 160 feet from the Fairburn Road and some 400 feet short of Austin Road.

The three alderman voting for approval of the children’s village were Rodney Cook, J. W. Flanigen, and Richard Freeman. Negative votes were cast by Milton Farris, Jack Summers, Douglas Wood, Robert Dennis, Gregory Griggs, William T, Knight, Jimmy Vickers, Charlie Leftwich, John A. White, J. Ben Moore, Cecil Turner, and Buddy Fowlkes.

Opponents of the proposed village argued that it would lower property values in the area. This was the line taken by Alderman Farris, who said he admired people who were interested in children, but the project should not be put on Fairburn Road, which was a single family residential area. He argued that the use permit would change the character of the neighborhood, and that the people in the area “have the right to be protected.” Aldermen Cook and Freeman defended the zoning committee approval of the village, and suggested that a lot of unnecessary rumors and misunderstandings had been spread among residents of the area affected.

Alderman Freeman pointed to the large number of citizens who crowded into the chambers, and who were said to be opposed to the project. He said that while he had sympathy for residents of the area involved, the project was being misunderstood. Emphasizing the endorsement of the joint County Planning Board and professional planners in Atlanta, Mr. Freeman said nobody seemed against an orphanage, except when it was to be erected in their neighborhood.

Also pointed out was that the children scheduled as village residents were not orphans, but youngsters whose parents were separated or unable to care for them. Examples were given, including the case of several brothers who had lost their mother, and their father was overseas in the army. Young residents of the village would attend parochial schools in the area.

Observers at the hearing suggested that the opposition to the children’s village was based on a combination of political and racial factors. The fact that the village, in conformity with archdiocesan policy, would be integrated had some bearing on the vote.

Real estate interests also were said to have put heavy pressure on the aldermen over the weekend. One alderman who opposed the project confessed to have been deluged with 500 communications, with only one favoring it. However, only 28 zoning notices were sent out to conform with city ordinances. In addition, Alderman Wood, who admitted that he had been in the real estate business in the area concerned for fifteen years, said he felt “such an institution would adversely affect the areas.” Alderman Cook observed that, while the board had every right to overrule its zoning committee, there was a question as to whether it would be overridden on every controversial issue. He added, “I doubt that any of you have seen the plans or specifications (for the village). There’s no place in this city that something of this sort can go without opposition from the neighborhood.”