MARCH 16 - 29, 2018 • VOL. 12 — NO. 6
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Sandy Springs Reporter
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► Community survey: Should teachers be armed? PAGE 12 ► Battling hunger, one backpack at a time PAGE 21
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March 24-25 | See pages 16-18
Communities of Faith Pages 24-25
City goes to court over vacant house, but neighbors want long-term fix
Clowning around for the college bound
BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
Old Woodbine Road is a classic Sandy Springs cul-de-sac, curving about threequarters of a mile among green yards and fine homes. Near the end, at Number 1115, is a ranch house that Sandy Springs Code Enforcement says is a different sort of Sandy Springs classic: a vacant property that years of court appearances have yet to resolve. On a recent visit, a storage container and several full trash bags were in the driveway, along with two vehicles, though no one answered the door. Neighbors say the container had been there for months and the vehicles, one of which had a Gwinnett County See CITY on page 20
PHIL MOSIER
Getting into the spirit of the “Under the Big Top” theme of this year’s Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber of Commerce gala were Mark Rosenthal, a board member and Northside Hospital executive, and wife Phyllis. The event, held March 10 at Sherwood Event Hall, benefits the Donna Adams Mahaffey Scholarship Fund, which helps send female Sandy Springs high school students to college. This year’s recipients were Alycia Cooper and Tema Mansam. Next year, the fund will select four students for scholarships instead of two.
Coping with a Crisis: Opioid addiction in the suburbs EXCLUSIVE SERIES
After eight O.D.s and a prison scare, a Dunwoody resident helps others on the road to getting clean BY MAX BLAU
C
hris Zollman’s road to recovery started with a swift act of mercy, continued through a treatment program in Sandy Springs, and ended with him quitting drugs. Now the Dunwoody resident devotes his life to helping others walk down the same path — a path that for many is often muddied by shady operators, controversial treatments, and pricey therapies. Six years ago, Zollman was consuming $100 worth of opioids a day and sold
even more to support his habit. He’d survived eight overdoses — the last time, paramedics found him passed out behind the wheel of his car near Bobby Dodd Stadium. The streak would soon be broken: His drug charges carried a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison. “I was either going to get clean or kill myself,” Zollman thought. But a Fulton County judge offered Zollman probation as a first-time offender. “You’re very lucky to be alive,” the judge said. It came with a condition: finish treat-
ment. He was sent up to a rehab center in north Georgia. That was followed by a stay at LifeLine Atlanta, a sober living residence founded by Trey Miller, a Sandy Springs resident who was also in active recovery. Zollman stayed there for six months as he strung together drug-free days earning minimum wage at a local Jimmy John’s. For two more years, Zollman worked at LifeLine, helping out with the new clients. Inspired by LifeLine’s mission, he started thinking about starting his own facility. See AFTER on page 26
Sandy Springs prepares to join hundreds of local governments in suing the opioid industry. See story, page 27 ►
Proposal for new road through park falls flat with residents BY JOHN RUCH johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
Design options to replace Sandy Springs’ Mount Vernon Highway/Johnson Ferry Road intersection with a new street “grid” or a dual roundabout drew mixed reactions from a crowd at a March 8 community meeting. Coloring many of the opinions was widespread opposition to the grid option’s new four-lane cut-through street that would run through what is now a Sandy Springs Branch Library park. “There’s a hundred trees. My wife went out and counted,” said Greg Thompson, who lives on Johnson Ferry near the proposed cut-through road’s southern end, about the park impact. “It’s not neighborhood-friendly.” See PROPOSAL on page 30