College Park Mayor Bianca Motley Broom called out members of her own city council once again on Thursday — this time, for their decision to temporarily waive developer permitting fees in the southwest Atlanta suburb, where lawmakers have faced repeated corruption allegations in recent years.
The City Council voted unanimously on Monday in favor of Councilman Joe Carn’s plan to suspend some construction and planning fees through March 31. Former College Park City Manager Linda Miller issued a statement late last year saying that the council voted to fire her in November because she refused to waive permits for a developer, which she said is illegal, according to CBS News.
Carn has called the move the council’s version of a “Black Friday sale,” designed to incentivize development of city projects. It came about two months after the announced reopening of the city’s formerly condemned Chelsea Gardens Apartments complex, now known as The Ivy at College Park.
During Monday’s meeting, other council members questioned who Carn’s resolution would benefit and how much revenue the city would lose. Carn said the waived fees could amount to $76,000 in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
He said it’s his hope that the discount will motivate businesses to invest in College Park.
“We want businesses in our community … to know that we are open for business,” Carn said. “I think this is something that will pay dividends in the long run for the city.”
He agreed to set a $50,000 limit on the amount of fees that can be waived, and to offset that amount with his own “community enhancement” funds.
Motley Broom questioned the timing and financial wisdom of the decision in a video posted on her Instagram account on Thursday. She said the city is already experiencing a $6.5 million deficit that’s roughly $2 million more than it was at the same time during the previous two fiscal years.
“When we decide to forgo another $50,000 in revenue, that decision’s got to be backed by clear benefits and clear outcomes, and I didn’t hear that at the meeting,” she said.
Motley Broom also noted a council members’ remarks that the waived fees would be issued on a “first come, first served” basis.”
“I am so curious to see who’s the first to come and who’s the first to get served,” she said.
This isn’t the first time Motley Broom has raised concerns about council members’ integrity. In 2024, she filed multiple Attorney General complaints against the legislative body for allegedly violating state and local zoning laws after lawmakers voted to rezone a local property to allow construction of a controversial battery storage facility, according to 11 Alive and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Residents of neighboring South Fulton, who worried about the environmental hazards the storage facility could pose, filed a lawsuit to stop its construction later the same year. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in September because it wasn’t filed within 30 days of the zoning resolution in accordance with state law, according to SaportaReport.
Council member Roderick Gay withdrew his support for the facility in September, saying he was “misled” about the facility’s potential financial benefits and tax revenue generation, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Carn, Motley Broom and City Manager Michael Hicks haven’t responded to calls and emails requesting comment.
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