Fighting for the farm

As the bohemian theater and gallery Art Farm inches closer to extinction, director and founder Dennis Coburn is preparing to stand ground against bulldozing developers eyeing his shabby-chic compound as prime locale for shiny new condos.

CL reported earlier this month that the owner of the rambling Reynoldstown building that houses Art Farm, Selig Enterprises, has applied to the city’s Zoning Review Board to change the property’s zoning and clear the way for condos — and, in Art Farm’s case, for the wrecking ball.

Although Coburn signed a five-year lease last year to occupy Art Farm’s current space, the contract permits Selig to back out if a development opportunity presents itself. Not surprisingly, one has.

MillTown Lofts, a mammoth and immaculate brick development bordering Art Farm to the west, is planning to expand. MillTown’s developer, Ultima Holdings, is in negotiations with Selig for Art Farm’s plot.

On Jan. 22, Coburn will plead Art Farm’s right to stay on Wylie Street to members of the city’s Neighborhood Planning Unit N. The planning unit must issue a recommendation to the Zoning Review Board before Selig’s rezoning request can be granted — or denied.

“I’m hoping for the best and trying to keep pushing,” says Coburn, who at the very least wants Selig and MillTown to pay some of his moving and other expenses. He says he’s sunk $150,000 and countless hours into the Art Farm compound over the past four years.

“We’re going to just keep the pressure up until these guys finally come to the realization that it would be really much, much smarter just to go ahead and help me do this,” Coburn continues. “We don’t want to lose our arts and culture in this neighborhood.”

The Jan. 22 Neighborhood Planning Unit N meeting is open to the public and will be held at 7 p.m. at Epworth United Methodist Church, 1561 McLendon Ave. For more about Art Farm’s perils: http://atlanta.creative loafing.com/2004-01-01/news_feature2.html.