Atlanta ( CNN ) -- Citing safety concerns and the organization 's history , Georgia transportation officials said Tuesday they would not allow a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan to `` adopt '' a one-mile stretch of highway in North Georgia . The Klan chapter wanted to clean a stretch of Georgia State Route 515 in Union County , Georgia , according to paperwork obtained by CNN . The application was filed by the International Keystone Knights of the KKK on May 21 . Keith Golden , commissioner for the state Department of Transportation , wrote the chapter 's secretary that officials determined the mountain roadway , with a speed limit of 65 mph , was not a safe place for cleanup volunteers to work . Golden 's letter to April Chambers cited other concerns . `` The impact of erecting a sign naming an organization which has a long-rooted history of civil disturbance would cause a significant public concern , '' he wrote . `` Impacts include safety of the traveling public , potential social unrest , driver distraction or interference with the flow of traffic . '' The chapter did not immediately respond to messages left Tuesday by CNN . Previously the Klan chapter said it would approach the American Civil Liberties Union if its application was denied . `` All we want to do is adopt a highway , '' Chambers said Monday . `` We 're not doing it for publicity . We 're doing it to keep the mountains beautiful . People throwing trash out on the side of the road ... that ai n't right . '' `` We 're not racists , '' Chambers said . `` We just want to be with white people . If that 's a crime , then I do n't know . It 's all right to be black and Latino and proud , but you ca n't be white and proud . I do n't understand it . '' A kinder , gentler Ku Klux Klan ? 'We do not hate anyone , ' imperial wizard says . A similar request in Missouri set off a legal battle that stretched for years and went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court . A Ku Klux Klan chapter there sought to adopt a portion of Interstate 55 . A federal appeals court ruled the state could not bar the KKK from participating in the program , and the high court declined to review the case , letting that ruling stand . However , the Missouri Department of Transportation eventually kicked the KKK , a white supremacy group , out of the program because members were not picking up trash as agreed , spokesman Bob Brendel said Monday . The state also named the stretch of I-55 after civil rights activist Rosa Parks , according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . Georgia has been participating in the Adopt-A-Highway program for more than 20 years . The program provides advertising for sponsors who agree to clean a stretch of road on a sign posted along the stretch . `` Any civic-minded organization , business , individual , family , city , county , state or federal agency is welcome to volunteer in the Georgia Adopt-A-Highway program , '' the DOT website says . Chambers said the group is more than 100 strong . `` We have a lot of support , '' she said . `` I do n't see why we ca n't ( adopt the stretch of highway ) , '' she said . `` Would it be any different if it was the Black Panthers or something ? Someone always has some kind of race card . '' On its website , the International Keystone Knights of the KKK says it is `` fed up with the Federal tyranny and oppression of Reconstruction , and the time was ripe for Clandestine Armed Resistance . '' The Southern Poverty Law Center , which monitors hate groups , lists the KKK as `` the most infamous -- and oldest -- of American hate groups . '' `` Over the years since it was formed in December 1865 , the Klan has typically seen itself as a Christian organization , although in modern times Klan groups are motivated by a variety of theological and political ideologies , '' the law center 's website says .
NEW : Letter to Klan cites `` public concern '' NEW : Commissioner also says area will not be adopted because of safety concerns . KKK had wanted to clean part of Georgia State Route 515 .