April 07, 2008
MILTON -- A 325-student Christian school planned for Hopewell Road that made headlines before it even got to council has been withdrawn by its developer.
The Alpharetta Methodist Christian Academy (AMCA), which is to be modeled after Thomas Jefferson's famous Virginia estate Monticello, is now being moved to a new location outside Milton. Though rumored to be moving to Cherokee County, Lodestone Development CEO John "JT" Adams would not confirm where the school was headed.
The non-profit school first made headlines in November 2007 when it sent a letter home with students that appeared to urge parents to vote for specific candidates in Milton's election to ensure the school plan would receive a favorable reception on council.
And while that certainly created an uphill battle for the project, Adams said his company withdrew the plans the for school because of time restraints.
AMCA has a lease with Alpharetta First United Methodist Church on Cumming Street that expires in May 2009, he said, and the school site picked out in Milton required variances that would have taken time to work out.
"We felt it would take several months," he said. "And we were not at all certain it would be approved."
Greg Jones' home is directly adjacent to the proposed school site. He sent out flyers in opposition to the school to neighbors after learning of the plans.
He said the school was "fabulous looking," but just not right for Hopewell Road.
"To me, it just seemed like someone was trying to put a large, square peg into a small, round hole," he said. "You look around here, there are horses grazing, there's just nothing of that [a Monticello-style estate] magnitude. It is a very dramatic looking facility."
Anna Anton owns a horse farm across the street from the proposed school site. She said Adams took the time a year ago to inform her about the project, and it assuaged her fears.
"I was always surprised and a little sorry that he didn't reach out to property owners in the community and share his vision," she said. "It didn't need to be an oppositional thing."
Adams, a Milton resident, said he was saddened by the process because he thought a well-designed Christian school would be an easy sell in his home town.
"What's interesting to me is that this became about bricks and mortar instead of trying to educate our children," he said. "If we can't approve our school in our community there is a lot wrong with our world view."
But Anton said it was never about the actual project. Instead, neighbor concern seemed to stem from a lack of concrete information on the school.
"It just wasn't really handled right," she said. "If you don't give people the information, they fill it in themselves."
- www.northfulton.com
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