What happened when Southwest DeKalb asked who decided?

On this page: What was planned; How it reached the neighborhood without a vote; The sequence; Why Claratel says it ended the plan; Who pays; and Still open

Is this paid with your tax dollars? Yes, through the State of Georgia. Claratel says the plan was about $4.5 million in state money to build the homes, plus about $3.5 million a year to run them. What was spent before the plan ended has not been stated.

Parents, alumni and homeowners around Southwest DeKalb High School did something this month that changed the record in a matter of days. They asked a plain question: how did a building project next to our school move forward without a public hearing, a county vote or a notice in the mail?

Here is what the record shows, in the order it happened. We do not claim that one thing caused the next. We show the sequence and let you weigh it.

What was planned

Claratel Behavioral Health, the public agency once named the DeKalb Community Service Board, planned homes at 3053 Wesley Chapel Road, next to the high school. In its own words, the plan was two single family style homes, each for no more than four adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as autism or Down syndrome, with trained caregivers there around the clock. Claratel says the homes were part of a statewide effort by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to add residential care. (Claratel Behavioral Health, statement, October 29, 2026)

That need is real. When Georgia's budget was signed on May 12, 2026, the state paid for 100 of the 900 new disability waiver slots that had been proposed. Families across Georgia wait years for this kind of care. (Georgia General Assembly, HB 974 as signed)

How it reached the neighborhood without a vote

In DeKalb, a private operator who wants a care home for four to six people in a single family neighborhood needs a Special Land Use Permit, and the Board of Commissioners votes on it in public. (DeKalb County Planning and Sustainability, personal care home requirements, July 2025)

Claratel says it is a public corporation and an instrumentality of the State under Georgia law, and that state instrumentalities are exempt from local zoning. For that reason, it says, the project never went before the Board of Commissioners. That is Claratel's reading of the law. No court or county ruling on it is on our record. (Claratel statement, October 29, 2026; O.C.G.A. 37-2-6)

The sequence

1. September 18 and 30. Claratel says it held Inside Claratel events for commissioners and local leaders, with representatives from Districts 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, and shared information about the Wesley Chapel site. It does not say who attended for each district. (Claratel statement)
2. Earlier in October. Parents, alumni and homeowners learned of the plan and began asking questions.
3. Late the week before October 29. Commissioner LaDena Bolton of Super District 7 wrote that her office learned of the project then. She wrote that residents asked how it advanced without the usual zoning process or public notice, and that the District 3, 5 and Super District 7 offices asked Claratel and state and local leaders for transparency. (Dr. B's Board Brief, October 29, 2026)
4. October 27. The Southwest DeKalb Alumni Association said a planned community meeting was postponed. (Alumni Association notice)
5. October 29, morning. Claratel ended the project. It said construction has stopped, cancelled that evening's meeting at the school, and said its contractors are securing the site and adding erosion control. (Claratel statement)

The two accounts of who knew and when do not match. Claratel points to its September events. Commissioner Bolton's office says it learned of the project in late October. We show both.

Why Claratel says it ended the plan

Claratel says it still has the legal authority to build. It says it ended the project to strengthen communication and relationships with DeKalb County and the community. (Claratel statement, October 29, 2026)

Who pays

Yes, this was planned with your tax dollars, through the State of Georgia. Claratel says the plan was a state investment of about $4.5 million to build the homes, plus about $3.5 million a year to staff and run them. Those are Claratel's planned figures, not a contract on our record, and the building cost and the yearly cost are separate amounts. What was spent before the plan ended, including the land, has not been stated. Residents see this money differently: some see care that families have waited years for, others see a process that skipped them. SourceLine takes no side. The record is here so you can weigh it.

Still open

• What happens to the land Claratel bought.
• What was spent before the plan ended.
• Whether a state agency can place homes like these anywhere in DeKalb with no county vote and no public notice.

Each answer will be posted on the issue page with its source.

On this page: Who decides, from you up and What you can do this week

Who decides, from you up

• You and your neighbors. You asked, and the record moved. Ask Claratel's board, in writing: what will happen to 3053 Wesley Chapel Road, and how will you notify neighbors before your next site is chosen?
• Claratel's board. Nine members are listed. Three hold elected office in DeKalb: Commissioner Michelle Long Spears (District 2), Sheriff Melody Maddox, and Clerk of Superior Court Debra DeBerry. Claratel says Commissioner Long Spears did not attend the board vote to buy the land. Ask: who voted to buy it, and on what date?
• DeKalb County. Claratel says its board members are chosen by the DeKalb County CEO, now Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, and approved by the Board of Commissioners. Ask your commissioner: will the county ask for notice before any state funded care home is placed in a neighborhood?
• The State. The Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, led by Commissioner Kevin Tanner, funds these homes. Your state senator and representative write the law that gives community service boards their status. Ask them: should a public agency give neighbors notice before it builds, even when local zoning does not apply?

What you can do this week

• Enter your address on the Where you live page to see your public agency, what it has decided and the people who decide, by name.
• Follow the issue page for the answers to the three open questions.
• Tell us what matters most where you live. Confirmed residents are counted, and the totals, never names, go to the people who decide.

Claratel's figures are its planned amounts, not a contract on our record. Building cost and yearly cost are never added together. Where two accounts differ, both are shown.