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Residents urge council to address short‑term rentals and school bus depot fueling station
Summary
Two residents used public comment to press the council on separate neighborhood concerns: the proliferation of short‑term rentals and worries about a school bus depot fueling station proposed at 440 Veterans Memorial Highway. Speakers asked the council to pursue regulation and community engagement.
Two members of the public raised neighborhood concerns during the May 12 City of Mableton council meeting: growing problems from short‑term rentals and community impacts from a school bus depot fueling station.
Nick Damondi, who identified himself as living near a proposed bus depot location, thanked council members for past support resisting the bus depot and asked that the city use community signage to promote events at the amphitheater. He then urged the council to pursue a comprehensive rental ordinance, saying short‑term rentals “are cropping up like a blight” in working‑class neighborhoods and describing ownership structures that he said obfuscated accountability. Damondi said one property near his home was the subject of a criminal investigation: “2 houses down from me, short term renter, bought the house. It just got busted by Cobb County PD for running a prostitution ring out of it.” He asked the council to take up the rental issue to protect stable neighborhoods.
Cassandra Brown, representing the Mableton Improvement Coalition and a District 4 resident, addressed the proposed school bus depot fueling station at 440 Veterans Memorial Highway. Brown said residents have repeatedly raised the issue with the mayor and the school board but saw little movement and asked the mayor and District 4’s council member to press the Board of Education to minimize neighborhood impacts if the fueling station proceeds. She specifically asked for engagement on aesthetics and mitigation measures and asked the city to advocate for a community‑sensitive approach.
What the comments mean: Both speakers asked for council action — Damondi asked for a comprehensive rental ordinance to address problematic short‑term rentals, and Brown asked the council to work with the school board to shape any fueling‑station plans to reduce neighborhood impacts. City staff did not respond with immediate new actions during public comment; council members later discussed related agenda items but did not record a formal motion tied to these public‑comment requests.
Ending - Both topics were public‑comment items rather than agenda items. Council members acknowledged the concerns; staff and council indicated ongoing coordination with the school district and county where appropriate and noted that zoning, licensing or ordinance changes would require further study and formal agenda consideration.
