Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge city action after drifting, racing tied to auto-hangar on Harris Street
Summary
Neighbors and church members told the Mableton City Council that a new auto-hangar event venue on Harris Street has generated loud, dangerous drifting and racing that they say threatens public safety and disrupts church services. Speakers asked the council to review licensing and zoning and said they had given the clerk evidence including videos.
Residents of a small Harris Street neighborhood told the Mableton City Council on Feb. 12 that a new auto-hangar event venue at the end of their street is generating repeated illegal speeding, drifting and loud exhaust noise late into the night — and they urged the city to act.
The public-comment speakers said the business, which lists its city business license type as “entertainment, meeting and special event organizer,” has hosted drifting and “doughnut” events that bring hundreds or thousands of cars and spectators into the area. Joanna Connor, who identified herself as “a resident of Mableton,” said she has documented the activity and provided video links, and told the council, “I'm just afraid that's gonna lead to someone getting killed in that building.”
Teacher Brielle Toomey described traffic and safety hazards for neighbors and her elderly grandmother. “These cars have been videoed by residents in the neighborhood running stop signs and passing one another at extreme speeds,” she said, and added that the loud backfires from modified exhausts “sound like gunshots” as late as 1 a.m. Kathy Evans, whose church is on Harris Street, said the building has minimal frontage and that the noise and traffic disrupt church services and make it difficult for elderly members to enter and exit safely. John Toomey described a near-miss involving a 4-year-old: “That Camaro never stopped, and that girl about got hit.”
Speakers told council members they had contacted Cobb County during the county review process; Connor said a county special-land-use application for a wrecker/auto salvage yard had included reasons it would be denied before that county application was withdrawn. Several speakers said the venue maintains an Instagram account under a name they cited and urged the council to review the license, zoning status and any pending county records; they provided videos and asked the city to prevent harm to residents and churchgoers.
The transcript shows the public comments were acknowledged by the clerk and the council resumed the regular agenda; no formal council enforcement action or referral on the item was recorded on the Feb. 12 docket. Council members and staff discussed zoning and permitting elsewhere on the agenda, including a broader transition of zoning services from Cobb County to the City of Mableton, which the community commenters cited as relevant to enforcement and permitting timelines.
The residents who spoke were Joanna Connor, Brielle Toomey, Cathy (Kathy) Evans and John Toomey; each gave specific incidents, video sources and safety concerns. The record indicates the city clerk accepted supplemental materials from at least one speaker for the council’s consideration.
Questions remain about the venue’s current local zoning status and whether the county or the city will pursue enforcement; speakers said a county land-use application was submitted and later withdrawn, and that business licensing listed “entertainment, meeting and special event organizer” rather than a motorsport use. The transcript does not record any immediate follow-up motion, referral to staff, or formal enforcement vote during the meeting.
Residents may pursue follow-up with the city clerk or code-enforcement staff; the transcript shows the council moved on to other agenda items after public comment.
