3-2 vote goes for Community Share Ministries PRD zoning change for Piedmont Highway property

A call to help children is taking its next step as a zoning change needed to begin construction of the first homes of SafeHaven Ranch got approved in a narrow vote by the County Commission on Tuesday evening.

Commissioners voted 3-2 for the change from A-1 to PRD for the acreage that was previously a family-owned farm, transferred to the Polk-Haralson Baptist Association, and now is owned by Community Share Ministries.

Jason Slaughter’s SafeHaven Ranch project is on a 15-year, multiphase plan to build out the facilities on the Piedmont Highway property, which if funding comes through for construction will begin with a five-home central location to provide upward of five boys per house a loving family to care for them as they grow and excel.

The public hearing over the request and subsequent discussions brought out a maximum-capacity crowd to the County Commission’s meeting room at the Polk County Police Department. The room only holds 110 people, and it was almost standing-room only for much of the work session on Tuesday evening as supporters of the project ultimately gave a brief cheer for its approval.

These homes will be individually addressed to allow for SafeHaven Ranch to fall short of the minimum number of youth in a home before Department of Human Services regulations fall into place.

A discussion about that requirement opened the dialogue during the work session, and whether it was something that was applied to the entire property, or to individual dwellings.

That issue was also among the concerns raised by dissenters over the property change, along with issues neighbors have complained about with work already underway at SafeHaven Ranch on portions of the property to help generate revenue toward the construction project on the first phase.

Roadways already exist on the property, along with fencing, greenhouses and bee hives, among other parts of the property.

Slaughter, who heads up Community Share Ministries in Cedartown, began moving forward on the project with a groundbreaking ceremony held in 2021.

“We’ve been in this community for 14 years, serving the homeless and displaced… This ministry has never been in debt. I thank God for that. We’ve never taken any money from the government. We’re a 501(c)3, and I’m thankful for that too,” Slaughter said.

Over the past 12 years, Slaughter said that 70 children have been in the home run by the Baptist Association and later Community Share Ministries without any issues from the Department of Family and Children Services or the state in general. Some he noted have found forever homes within the walls of the residence where the Corn family once lived. The couple were unable to have children, and donated the home and land for the use of helping children without families have a loving and caring home available to them.

WATCH: Tuesday’s County Commission Work Session (in full, Monthly+ subs only)

Slaughter added during the public hearing that he didn’t believe the Commission’s role was the determine whether or not they could keep children as an organization, since they have already been doing so via the home on the property for more than a decade.

“Two years ago, I requested through the state – here again trying to go through the law – and I inquired about having a license to keep children in the home,” Slaughter said. He went onto explain that via email, he received notice from the state that so long as SafeHaven Ranch doesn’t have more than five placements in each home, they won’t be required to have a license via the Department of Human Services.

“If there is anything else that we are supposed to do that we missed, we are happy to do it,” he added.

He also said that he believes the PRD zoning change is a positive outcome for the neighboring properties, since it will require SafeHaven Ranch to follow strict guidelines for construction, creating buffer zones, and in maintaining the property values of those surrounding.

Among other areas he addressed during the public hearing was oversight of the organization, with discussions already underway to have an oversight committee as part of the SafeHaven Ranch board.

“I’m all about it, I’m transparent,” Slaughter said. He even offered a County Commission seat to ensure proper oversight.

Tabitha Blankenship, a house parent at a similar organization, also came before the board during the public hearing to speak about the positive benefits of a program like SafeHaven Ranch. She explained the positive role that her family has played for the children under her care, and how several of the placements in their household over the past year have changed her life in positive ways as well.

“These boys have family as well as an extended family,” she said. “The parents, grandparents, or whoever place them in these homes remain involved in their lives because this is a private placement.”

WATCH: County Commission votes on SafeHaven Ranch zoning request (Monthly+ subscribers only)

Sheriff Johnny Moats even came back before the Board of Commissioners to lend his support to the project’s request for the zoning change, noting that many in Polk County need this kind of opportunity for their children to have better lives, especially those who are being raised by grandparents who can’t afford and can’t physically handle raising children anymore.

“This is a great thing, it is a lot like our Sheriff’s youth homes,” Moats said.

The real argument began when neighbors against the property’s zoning change came before the board to talk about issues they have with the project.

Among those was Jimmy Chambers, who at one point called Commissioner Linda Liles a “liar” when Liles said she would be happy to have SafeHaven Ranch next to her own home if it were requested.

He owns property right across from SafeHaven Ranch and noted that “I’m mad about it.”

“I don’t believe Jason would do his friend like that,” he said. “I’m fed up with Polk County… I’m going to tell y’all one thing: if you vote for this… would any of y’all have this in your front yard?”

Liles responded “I would” and then Chambers called her a liar.

“I’m not a liar,” she said. “I think a lot of people know me they know I’m not a liar. I have confidence in this project. I know Jason, and I know the Sheriff -” before she was cut off and asked by another dissenter if there was “any point of even saying anything since you know these people personally?”

Chambers did continue with his dissent and noted that he believed property values were going to crater due to the zoning change and new building.

Additional complaints were lodged by Roxanne Jones, who lives close by as well and complained about workers on the property leaving gates open and her horses getting out, about future noise caused by construction, and property values declining due to the new building as well. She also complained about the lack of turn lanes being established to ensure the safe entry and exit of new families who will be living at SafeHaven Ranch.

Deceleration lanes haven’t yet been required for the project’s entry and exit point onto Piedmont Highway. The stretch where the future homes will go up is located in an area where the speed limit is 55 mph on the two lane highway heading out of Cedartown and toward Alabama.

Calmer arguments against the project were posed by two local officials who had their concerns over the state licensing issue over the number of children per residence on the property.

Our House Women’s Shelter Director Kelsei Poulin and Lacey Tuck from the Polk School District came up with a united request for the Commission to look further into state law. Their concerns over the licensing issue posed by SafeHaven Ranch’s current plan and whether should be governed as a single entity, or individual houses. That would cause a problem with the five child requirement only being allowed for one household each based on the initial plan and no licensing – or have to go through the state.

They also raised concerns over potential issues caused by a lack of oversight from the state over a facility that houses youth, especially for the safety of children under the care of families living at SafeHaven Ranch. They aren’t calling into question the good intentions of Slaughter or his organization, but noted that state regulation and oversight would provide protections for all parties involved.

Commissioner Jordan Hubbard also raised his concerns about the zoning change setting a precedent that he believes the Commission has avoided in past decisions.

Zoning changes for a residential assisted living facility in the Lime Branch area in 2022, and another in the Taylorsville area proposed last year for a private residential mental wellness clinic were both previously denied.

Hubbard – who voted against the zoning change request along with Commissioner Chuck Thaxton – did want it noted for the record he thought it was a dangerous precedent to set before it was approved.

Commissioners Gary Martin, Ray Carter and Liles all approved of the zoning change to PRD.

With that approval came some stipulations: all conditions specified by the Department of Transportation has to be filed before approved operation, applications should follow all Department of Human Services regulations involved in the licensing of such childcare institutions and have to file documentation for the development involved in DHS; roadways, sidewalks and utilities are all under the ownership of SafeHaven Ranch and they’ll be responsible for their maintenance as well, all required revisions of the PRD have to stay with the property, and will remain so for as long as it is SafeHaven Ranch as well.