Atlanta’s Mechanicsville community concerned about land to be used for homeless shelter

Residents in Mechanicsville, where the property sits, are concerned about its future.

Originally posted by Molly Oak on 11Alive.com on 5/30/24

ATLANTA — Atlanta community members are concerned about a potential development coming to their Mechanicsville neighborhood.

On Wednesday, the Atlanta City Council Finance Executive Committee voted to approve a land swap with Atlanta Public Schools. According to the agenda item, the property will be used to help advance the City’s strategy to address homelessness by providing housing options for people experiencing homelessness in Atlanta.

In the meeting, the Mayor’s policy advisor for housing said they’re in the early design stages, and the priority right now is to first get control of the property and address the encampments.

Councilmember Jason Winston then clarified this vote is just for the land swap.

“Anything about land use will go through another committee, and that will be for another conversation,” Winston said. “Simply, this right now is about the transaction that’s happening between APS and the City of Atlanta.”

However, residents in Mechanicsville, where the property sits, are concerned about its future.

“There’s a lot of traffic in and out of there, there’s a lot of drug deals that’s coming in and out of there, there’s people that need help,” said David Holder, the president of the Mechanicsville Civic Association.