Will Peachtree-Pine Homeless Shelter Close for Good?

The homeless shelter at Peachtree and Pine streets could shut its doors later this month.

This week, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall granted the owners of the building the right to evict the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless as soon as Oct. 27, according to Atlanta Progressive News.

It's just the latest setback for the shelter, as Creative Loafing reports. Last week, city of Atlanta attorneys said the shelter must pay $237,600 in unpaid water bills or the city will shut off the water to the building by the end of October. If that happens, county health officials would likely condemn the building, the newspaper reports.

The task force is appealing the judge's ruling, according to the reports.

Some people in the community would like to see the shelter closed.

"From the very start Peachtree-Pine has generated tremendous problems for the surrounding community, and at every step of the way they have balked at community feedback with the attitude that they could never go wrong with their cause," the Midtown Ponce Security Alliance wrote on Thursday.

Other people feel differently.

"The issues with the Peachtree-Pine shelter have been going on for awhile," community advocate and Midtown resident Angel Poventud said Friday. "It's really unfortunate that all sides have to put their heels to the ground. The people in the building are getting the least amount of attention. Nobody's talking about them."

The shelter has struggled for years to stay open, in part because it doesn't raise enough money to cover the cost of operations. The shelter owes the city of Atlanta nearly $200,000 for water and sewer service, according to Courthouse News Service. The shelter recently lost a federal lawsuit that claimed the city was conspiring to shut the facility down.

The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless also recently filed a lawsuit against Emory University and Emory Healthcare that claims the healthcare company engaged in a conspiracy to sabotage the shelter. That lawsuit was the fuel for a on Emory University Hospital Midtown, which sits across the street from the shelter.

Emory said that the lawsuit has no merit.