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Byh Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer
ATLANTA—Catholics who support building a parochial school in
west Cobb County are urged to attend the Cobb County Board of Commissioners
meeting at 9 a.m. Sept. 19, arriving no later than 8 a.m.
The board will be holding a revote on the “special land use
permit” (SLUP-18) that the Archdiocese of Atlanta seeks to build a
1,000-student Catholic elementary and middle school at a 40-acre site at the
intersection of the new West Cobb Loop Road and Villa Rica Road.
Cobb commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of SLUP-18 last October.
However, a group of neighbors who oppose building the school at that site took
the Cobb County Board of Commissioners to court. Their contention was that
Commission Chairman Bill Byrne had a conflict of interest when he voted in
favor of SLUP-18 because of a past business relationship he had with an
attorney who represented the archdiocese.
In a consent order Aug. 14, signed by Superior Court Judge Walter
J. Matthews, the neighbors and the board of commissioners agreed to abide by
the outcome of a revote on SLUP-18. “The parties have stipulated that
there are no genuine issues of material facts in dispute,” he wrote.
Judge Matthews said that Chairman Byrne did not have a conflict of
interest when he voted to approve SLUP-18 and, at most, had an appearance of
impropriety. Byrne had taken reasonable measures to sever business and legal
relationships with the attorney in question, the judge said.
In the consent agreement, the neighbors agreed to the matter being
sent back to the Cobb County commissioners for a revote and to abide by the
outcome of the revote. At the same time, Chairman Byrne voluntarily agreed not
to participate in the revote.
The archdiocese, which received a favorable 4-1 vote last Oct. 28
at a meeting attended by an overflow crowd of Catholic supporters, now has to
gain a 3-1 vote in favor of SLUP-18 in order to build the school at that site.
“The issues are the same and three of the commissioners are
the same,” said George Barrie, president of Catholic Construction
Services, Inc.
District 1 has an interim commissioner William Buckner, who
succeeded Louie Hunter. Hunter, who voted against SLUP-18, has resigned from
his position,
In addition to now needing three of four votes, the archdiocese
has lost a favorable vote, Barrie pointed out.
“To our disadvantage, (Bill Byrne’s) voluntary
abstention was a positive vote we know we lost.”
Barrie said that the support of Cobb County Catholics is critical.
He urged residents to call their district commissioner and state that they are
in favor of SLUP-18 or to send an e-mail message expressing their support.
Residents should give their address and state the number of voters in the
household.
In addition, he said, Catholics who favor the school should plan
to attend the commissioners’ meeting to show their support visibly.
“We went through a heated debate a year ago with a few
opposing immediate neighbors. I really think it is a small but organized group
of neighbors. We had the Cobb County staff’s support throughout the
debate,” Barrie said.
The archdiocese would like to move St. Joseph’s School from
its current site at 81 Lacy St. in Marietta to this new location. St.
Joseph’s has an enrollment of 475 students and a waiting list for most
grades. The school has outgrown its physical location and has no room for
expansion.
Currently there are more than 19,000 Catholic families registered
in Cobb County parishes. These families are served by St. Joseph’s School
and by Queen of Angels School, Roswell, which was built for 500 students. Each
school is at capacity.
“There is a great need for Catholic education in Cobb County
and, in particular, in west Cobb County. When the application process begins
every January we have many more applications than we have openings,” said
Laura Riley, principal of St. Joseph School.
“It is heartbreaking to have to tell so many parents that we
do not have the room to educate their children at this facility. Our present
buildings were never meant to hold the number of students which we now have. A
larger school facility will allow St. Joseph School to offer its proud
tradition of excellence in Catholic education to more families.”
Parishes in Cobb County include Holy Family, Marietta; St. Ann,
Marietta; St. Joseph, Marietta; Transfiguration, Marietta; St. Catherine of
Siena, Kennesaw; and St. Thomas the Apostle, Smyrna. St. John Vianney, Lithia
Springs, has many parishioners who live in Cobb County.
The county’s planning and zoning staff have said the proposed
school is consistent with the land-use plan for west Cobb County and
recommended that the zoning be permitted. The county Department of
Transportation also gave the project its approval.
“We think the location is excellent” with two main
arteries converging at the entrance to the school facility, Barrie said. The
site is sized correctly with good topography.
The archdiocese pointed out last year that the proposed school
would benefit Cobb County directly. Parents of children in Catholic schools
continue to pay public school taxes even though they are not receiving a direct
benefit. Cobb County spends approximately $5,700 per year per student. The
1,000 students at the proposed Catholic school could translate into a windfall
of $5.7 million to Cobb County for children it would not be responsible for
educating.
The archdiocese last year agreed to place a $200,000 physical
security bond to restore downstream properties in the unlikely event of water
damage. The archdiocese also agreed to provide extra protection against storm
water runoff, pay for 50 percent of the cost of a traffic light, increase
buffers from 50 to 100 feet and place the fence on the school’s side of
the buffer. The archdiocese will not allow cell towers, lights on athletic
fields or future commercial developments on the site. They also agreed not to
lease the fields to third-party users.
If the archdiocese receives SLUP-18, it hopes to build a
145,000-square-foot school by 2002.
Cobb residents may contact their commissioners as follows:
For District 1 (northwest Cobb), Commissioner William Buckner,
call his assistant Harveda Moon at (770) 528-3313 or send e-mail to
bbuckner@cobbcounty.org;
For District 2 (southeast Cobb), Commissioner Joe L. Thompson,
call his assistant Renee Nichols at (770) 528-3315 or send e-mail to
jthompson@cobbcounty.org;
For District 3 (northeast Cobb), Commissioner Samuel Olens, call
his assistant Janice Ross at (770) 528-3317 or send e-mail to
solens@cobbcounty.org;
For District 4 (southwest Cobb), Commissioner G. Woody Thompson,
call his assistant Jackie Wilson at (770) 528-3311 or send e-mail to
wthompson@cobbcounty.org.
The meeting will be held at 100 Cherokee St., Marietta, off
Marietta Square. The meeting begins at 9 a.m., but space is limited and
supporters are encouraged to arrive between 8 and 8:30 a.m. to help assure a
seat in the hearing room. |
