ATLANTA — A federal appeals court is currently deliberating whether to dismiss an effort aimed at initiating a citywide vote concerning a contentious police and firefighter training center in the Atlanta area. City officials claim the project is mostly completed. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has remained silent on the issue for over 14 months since hearing arguments in December 2023 about whether to overturn a previous court ruling. This ruling permitted nonresidents to gather signatures for the “Stop Cop City” referendum initiative. This facility stands on land that the City of Atlanta leased to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Opponents, having collected over 108,000 signatures in 2023, argue that the lease agreement should be subject to voter approval.
The $115 million, 85-acre project has seen steady construction progress, and according to a spokesperson for Mayor Andre Dickens, training has already commenced at the center. The facility’s classrooms are anticipated to be fully operational by late March or early April. The training center’s construction has sparked significant debate and national attention, intensified by the fatal shooting of a protester by state troopers in early 2023. Opponents contend the center exacerbates police militarization and is environmentally detrimental to a flood-prone, predominantly Black neighborhood. They argue the city’s opposition to the referendum undermines democratic principles, aligning with broader concerns regarding aggressive police responses to protests and the prosecution of numerous opponents on racketeering charges.
Recently, city attorneys have urged the appeals court to dismiss the issue, citing that the training is already underway at the new facility, rendering any referendum on the ground lease ordinance irrelevant to the center’s operation. They argue that, even if a referendum proceeded, its results would be moot, given that the center has already been constructed and wouldn’t be dismantled.
However, attorneys representing four individuals residing outside the city, who have contested for the right to collect signatures, assert that the training center’s existence doesn’t invalidate the fundamental question of whether voters can overturn the city’s 50-year lease with the Atlanta Police Foundation, which manages the facility. They argue that the lease does not conclude with the center’s construction, suggesting that its completion should not render the case moot.
The attorneys for the opponents also emphasize that there is a significant First Amendment issue at stake: Can nonresidents legally gather signatures for a referendum in which they are ineligible to vote? Keyanna Jones, one of the plaintiffs and a former resident near the training center, situated just outside Atlanta’s city limits in unincorporated DeKalb County, stated that petitioning represented one of the few actions available to residents outside the city to challenge the project.
The ongoing debate regarding nonresidents’ involvement in collecting signatures has delayed the city from beginning the expensive, extensive process of verifying the approximately 108,500 signatures submitted to City Hall in September 2023. Should the court dismiss the case, this verification process is unlikely to occur.
Even if the appeals court does not dismiss the case due to the facility’s completion, it could potentially halt the petition process by ruling it unlawful under state law or declare all signatures invalid because they weren’t submitted by the original deadline of August 21, 2023. A ruling that limits which petitions are considered valid could spell doom for opponents’ hopes of gathering enough signatures from registered Atlanta voters to initiate a referendum. A collaborative analysis found that opponents might achieve the necessary 58,231 signatures, provided all entries are counted. However, excluding signatures collected post-August 21, 2023, or those not from Atlanta voters could disqualify 20% of entries, likely thwarting the effort.
