The Atlanta City Council voted Sept. 3 to approve a controversial rezoning for the Galloway School in Chastain Park.
The ordinance creates a new “Chastain Park Galloway School” special public interest district. The zoning designation allows Galloway to renovate buildings on its 8.2-acre campus surrounded by the city-owned park. It also allows the school to build a new and larger Upper School building where the historic Gresham Building once stood.
The 113-year-old Gresham Building was demolished last month to the dismay of many area residents, historic preservationists and some alumni. The building, a former Fulton County Almshouse, was known for its neoclassical revival architecture and four white columns. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, but the classification does not protect it from being razed.
The vote by the council was 10-2 to approve the new zoning. Councilmembers Howard Shook and Michael Julian Bond cast the no votes.
Before the vote, Councilmember Amir Farokhi said he and other council members had received a “spattering” of emails, including from some opposed to granting Galloway the special public interest district zoning.
He said some of the emails also asked him to recuse himself from the vote for an apparent conflict of interest. Farokhi is an alumnus of Galloway and also served on the school’s board of trustees. His mother was also head of schools for two years and led the effort to get the Gresham Building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
All of this occurred before he was elected to the city council, he explained.
“I conferred with the ethics office and law department, who confirmed that I do not have a conflict on voting on this matter,” Farokhi said. “I have no affiliation with the school … I have no material, personal or other conflicting interest on this vote.”
Councilmember Mary Norwood, who represents Chastain Park, recused herself from all committee discussions on the ordinance. She said she was advised by the city’s legal staff she had a potential conflict of interest. Sources said a Norwood staffer has children attending Galloway.