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The controversial PATH trail planned to run between Medlock and Mason Mill Parks in DeKalb County began to take shape last week as work crews clear-cut trees and completed a construction entrance to reach the trail’s proposed location. The Three Forks Heritage Alliance, a neighborhood activist group that has been the most vocal opponents of the multi-use trail, have posted before-and-after photos of the construction on its Web site. The group claims that the county and the PATH Foundation — partners in the $1.6-million project — are violating a stop-work order issued by the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

And it looks like that’s something that’s happened before in DeKalb County and irks one of the board’s members.

From a DeKalb Champion article about the construction:

As construction continued April 10 and 11, it highlighted a continuing trend ZBA member Lundsten referred to during the hearing – that the county is ignoring many decisions made by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Lundsten called the Three Forks case a “home run” to show that the county isn’t even following its own rules.

“How do we get this county to respect the actions of this board?” said Lundsten. “In previous administrations, any action or decisions by the ZBA were final.”

Members of the alliance say the multi-use trail — which has been in the works for more than 10 years — will mar the undisturbed forest that is already popular with residents and parkgoers. They also say the county’s goal to increase connectivity in the area with the trail is unrealistic and poorly planned.

A hearing about the construction is scheduled for Monday at 1:30 p.m. at the DeKalb County Courthouse.

(Photo Courtesy of Three Forks Heritage Alliance)

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Rather ominous screenshot, pasted below, from the Three Forks Heritage Alliance’s Web site. The organization is a neighborhood activist group that opposes the joint PATH Foundation/DeKalb County multi-use trail that is planned to connect Medlock and Mason Mill Parks.

In mid-March, the alliance successfully blocked preliminary construction on the trail. Critics of the concept — which originated under former County Commissioner Gale Walldorff — say the trail will mar the old-growth forest between the parks, fail to connect surrounding areas, and has a price tag that has risen from $750,000 to more than $1.6 million.

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A DeKalb County judge this afternoon ruled that preliminary construction on a controversial trail in DeKalb County is still a no-go.

Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams said today that the county — which is one of the backers of the PATH-designed and -built trail — had been given proper notice that the Three Forks Heritage Alliance, a neighborhood activist group, was filing a temporary restraining order against the project last week.

Today’s hearing in the county courthouse drew nearly 20 opponents of the .8-mile trail that is planned to connect Medlock and Mason Mill Parks near Emory University. Members of the alliance and its supporters filled three rows in the courtroom gallery and donned white shirts to show solidarity for their cause. At one point during the proceedings, the court bailiff removed five alliance supporters after they laughed with bemusement at Chief Assistant County Attorney Duane Pritchett’s claim that there was little “irreparable harm” done when PATH-hired construction crews cut down 24 trees last week to build a service road to the trail’s location deep in the woods.

Jed Appelrouth, a graduate student who says he visits the dense woods to jog, attended the hearing. He opposes the PATH project because he questions its design and the ability to fund it. He also wonders who exactly benefits from the $750,000 trail.

“Everybody I’ve talked to about this project is against it,” he said. “Who supports it? Who’s clamoring for it? I want to see it.”

Another trail opponent standing near Appelrouth agreed and said the benefits trail advocates list — mainly that it would give access to the woods for the elderly and people in wheelchairs — are already there.

“Don’t tell it’s going to benefit seniors — look who’s fighting it,” Charles Tshiko said, gesturing toward a woman next to him who appeared to be a mix of confused and offended. “Don’t tell me it’s for families with their kids. Look at it now.”

One of the main perks the county and PATH say the trail will provide is increased connectivity between the neighborhoods and a larger trail network planned for the future.

John Sumrall, one of the few neighborhood residents who turned out to support the PATH trail, thinks that the opponents of the trail — namely, the alliance — want to claim the park for their own and have merely been more vocal in their arguments. Supporters, he says, just want to see it come to light.

“I’ve observed the benefit [of PATH trails] in other neighborhoods and what they can do,” he said. “Plus, we’re talking about two large parks that are publicly-owned, but [lack] access. The neighborhood has too much traffic so young kids and most other people can’t even ride a bicycle on the street. Fourth, by beginning at Medlock Park it would eliminate [the alliance's] complaint of people parking on the street. Fifth, it’s a great recreational possibility for every citizen from the ages of 3 to 90.”

But until another hearing is held in April, there’ll be nary a peep from the bulldozers and chainsaws on the PATH trail between Mason Mill and Medlock Parks.

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The same judge who halted preliminary construction last week on a controversial PATH trail between Mason Mill and Medlock parks in DeKalb County will hold a hearing Thursday at 11 a.m. at the county courthouse in downtown Decatur to determine whether work can resume. Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams’ ruling was challenged by the county, PATH’s partner in the $750,000 project. William Linkous, the county attorney, says he and PATH officials were not warned of last week’s hearing. The hearing will take place in room 5420 on the fifth floor.

Members of the Three Forks Heritage Alliance, a neighborhood activist group opposed to the trail, are asking their supporters to wear white T-shirts to show solidarity for the cause.

To read more about and comment on the DeKalb PATH trail and what it could mean for other communities, click here.

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A DeKalb County judge today put the brakes on preliminary construction of a trail in Decatur that has raised the ire of residents who live near its planned site.

The PATH Foundation-built trail is poised to connect Mason Mill and Medlock Parks. Members of the Three Forks Heritage Alliance, a community activist group, have criticized the project for what they consider a lack of public input, and are concerned about the potential damage the trail may cause to the mature hardwood forest through which it would run.

According to a resident who lives nearby, tree-clearing work for the trail began on Willivee Place this morning at 7:15 a.m. Crews must first clear a path in order to reach the trail’s future site deeper in the woods, along South Peachtree Creek.

Cutting continued throughout the day until Brian Daughdrill, an attorney for one of two parties involved in fighting the trail, successfully convinced a judge this afternoon to halt the work. A hearing is scheduled for April 9. Crews stopped working after they were served papers by Daughdrill and members of Three Forks Heritage Alliance.

Photos of the preliminary construction and trees tagged for removal appear after the jump.

(Photos by Thomas Wheatley)

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Acres identified as greenspace in 20-county metro area: 170,000

Approximate acreage of DeKalb County: 170,000

Amount of money regional voters have approved for greenspace acquisition since 2003: $2.16 million

Percentage of land in 20-county metro area protected as “greenspace”: 4

Number of acres of trees in metro Atlanta that are lost to development daily: 50

Cost of plot of “greenspace” on DeKalb Avenue area residents want to save from development: $1 million

Price the land was sold for last year: $297,900

Number of condo units planned on the lot: 10

Minimum lot size, in acres, Atlanta Parks and Recreation will purchase: 2

Size, in acres, of the DeKalb Avenue lot: .33

Number of days residents were given to raise that money: 30

Rank of Atlanta, out of 10, for cities with least amount of park space as a percentage of city acreage: 2

Acres of greenspace the Beltline is poised to create: 1,200

Acres of greenspace in Atlanta per 1,000 people: 7.9

Acres of greenspace in Raleigh per 1,000 people: 35.6

Sources: Atlanta Regional Commission, NASA, Trees Atlanta, Beltline, Trust for Public Land, DeKalb County Tax Assessors

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Update on DeKalb Avenue’s last greenspace:

Lake Claire resident Teri Stewart says the city of Atlanta Tree Commission has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. 6:30 p.m. in City Hall’s committee room No. 2. The hearing is in regard to the proposed tree razing slated to take place on the half-acre property at DeKalb and Gordon avenues. Stewart is requesting supporters wear green.

Stewart has also submitted an application to the governors of Alabama and Florida, as well as Gov. Sonny Perdue and the United States Department of Agriculture, to save “Grandmaw Gordon,” the antique pecan tree that sits on the lot. Stewart says the tree is genetically immune to pecan scab, a disease that normally attacks the trees, and that “Grandmaw Gordon” could be studied to bolster the Southeast’s pecan industry.

Update: Peter, a Lake Claire resident who lives near the greenspace, notes in the comments that the hearing starts at 6:30 p.m.

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Just got an update on the half-acre slice of greenspace located at DeKalb and Gordon avenues. Residents of the nearby neighborhoods have banded together to convince the city to buy the property — which is the last piece of greenery along the busy thoroughfare connecting Atlanta and Decatur — or give them time to attempt to purchase it themselves. Residents also want to build and maintain a transit shelter and rest stop for cyclists and pedestrians who pass the greenspace and wait for buses at the nearby MARTA station.

The owner of the property has plans to build a 10-unit Earth-friendly condo development on the land, which he says will boost residents’ property values by acting as a buffer between traffic and the neighborhood.

Teri Stewart, a local art gallery owner who lives just a few doors down from the lot in question, called and said that she filed an appeal with the city of Atlanta Tree Commission on Feb. 5. That appeal puts a freeze on any tree cutting on the property until a hearing is held. No date for that hearing as of now. If any trees are cut, the property owner faces a $1,000 fine per tree, and a one-year building freeze will be imposed on the property. Stewart is also preparing an application she will submit to the commission asking it designate “Grandmaw Gordon,” the majestic antique pecan tree that sits on the property, as “historic” and protected. Neighbors are conducting a 24-hour watch on the property to ensure that nothing nefarious goes down.

We’ll keep you posted on what we hear.

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You’d think that building bike trails wouldn’t be such a controversial issue.

But a planned PATH trail through a mature hardwood forest between Medlock and Mason Mill parks in Decatur has residents irked not only at the idea, but what they call the lack of public input that went into the project. Members of Three Forks Heritage Alliance have proposed alternatives to the trail’s location and asked for a halt to the project that they say will remove many trees lining the parks’ popular natural hiking path. The group has retained legal counsel and consultants and is seeking donations as well.

Commissioner Jeff Rader told residents that no construction would happen until Feb. 1, which — surprise! — is today. We’re watching to see if anything happens.

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Well, that went relatively unnoticed.

On Dec. 7, 2007, the Atlanta Botanical Garden filed a $273,000 lawsuit against the Friends of Piedmont Park and Doug Abramson, the park advocacy group’s president. The garden claims that because of an earlier suit filed by Abramson seeking the garden’s financial records, it had to spend unbudgeted funds — almost $300,000, according to a garden spokesperson — on a legal defense contesting the suit.

In 2004, the garden pushed for a parking deck in Atlanta’s most iconic greenspace to accommodate more visitors. The Piedmont Park Conservancy backed the idea.

FOPP, however, along with many other voices in the community, didn’t like the sound of that, and fought the project with gusto. After a series of lawsuits and a lot of yard signs, a judge in September said it came down to this: The deck’s getting built and the garden doesn’t have to disclose its financial records — it was and is, the judge said, a private, nonprofit entity.

(For an excellent rundown and take on the parking deck debate, click here for former CL staff writer Michael Wall’s “Welcome to Piedmont Parking Deck.”)

The garden says that FOPP’s lawsuit was “frivolous” — a legal imbroglio that was a whole lotta legwork, paperwork and headache. And now FOPP is being handed a $273,000 bill for legal fees, which the garden claims it had to divert from other projects in order to pay.

Click here to read the garden’s lawsuit against FOPP.

And from Doug Abramson at FOPP’s website:

Central to the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s claim for fees is the unwarranted contention that Friends of Piedmont Park was “frivolous” in its attempt to secure a judge’s ruling that the Botanical Garden must comply with open records laws. Frivolous? Hardly. Determining whether the Atlanta Botanical Garden, as a steward of public land, should be treated as a public agency is an important policy question. An impressive group of First Amendment advocates supports our position. Before going to court, Friends of Piedmont Park sought an opinion from the Georgia Attorney General’s office on this issue. Initially the AG supported the position that the Atlanta Botanical Garden is subject to Georgia’s Sunshine Laws and should turn over documents. Later, after our suit was filed and the AG’s office consulted with Botanical Garden attorneys, the Department of Law wrote that “substantial questions remain as to whether the Garden is in fact covered by [the Georgia Open Records and Open Meetings Act].” By no stretch was it frivolous to ask a judge to resolve these “substantial questions.

A call to Doug Abramson’s residence was met by an answering machine. We’ll keep an eye on this one.

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The Beltline study groups have a special place in my heart. They were the first community events I reported here at CL, and are true showings of not only people who care about their communities, but planners who have been working diligently with few resources to make a massive project — even if it is 25 years into the future — a reality. These events are to transit wonks what gun shows are to suburban commandos.

So it is with a skipped beat in my heart that I’m proud to announce the Beltline study groups will start another round of public workshops, the first of which is set for this Thursday, Jan. 10, 6:30 p.m., at the ARC Building on the Zoo Atlanta grounds. Park off Cherokee Avenue near the southern end of the lot, enter through the back gate — say hello to the security guard, she’s a gem — and follow the trail to the building.

It will be an open house meeting, meaning that people can come and go, review the materials, and chat with some of the Southeast section’s project planners.

Other dates follow after the jump. We’ll post them a couple of days ahead of the other meetings as well to remind you.

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Of all the delicious treats the Beltline is poised to bring the city, one of the most delightful is the new Westside Park that will rise from the ashes of an old-ass quarry in northwest Atlanta. It’s planned to be double the size of Piedmont Park, and if you take a look at photos or the artists’ sketches, it’s pretty amazing. (If anyone has a link to artist sketches, please post it in the comments. I’m coming up short.) The dug-out quarry will become, God willing and if the rains come, a new 45-acre drinking-water reservoir. Beltline planners are offering the public a chance to say what they want Westside Park to look like, and you can tell them here.

My ideas: Give Atlanta a park that offers skyline views and an open lawn where people can lounge. And make it isolated from the traffic and commotion, a la Central Park’s Sheep Meadow. During my stint in the city I spent many a Saturday afternoon with amigos in that green expanse, and if it weren’t for the gorgeous views of the trademark buildings of Central Park West, you forgot you were in Manhattan. Also, make the place tie in to transit. Northwest Atlanta’s roads are narrow enough. Avoid having to widen roads by giving people options other than driving to this amenity.

They’ll be taking comments until Dec. 21, and from the looks of the survey, they’re keeping a truly open mind for what this park could be. Can you tell I’m just a wee bit excited?

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For the moment at least, the age-old image of Atlanta as a maelstrom of sprawl appears to be changing.

The Atlanta Regional Commission released a report that says conversion of forested and agricultural land in the 13-county metro area has slowed by 70 percent in the last two years. In addition, the ARC was able to identify nearly 170,000 acres of protected greenspace in the 20-county metro area. That’s roughly the size of DeKalb County, the report says.

The ARC attributes the reduction of forested- and agricultural-land development to the recent housing-market slump and, to a lesser extent, the growing popularity of living intown and mixed-use developments. Instead of cutting down trees and building in a new area, developers will convert or build on previously developed property.

According to the report, voters are also in favor of preserving greenspace — no special ballot measure geared toward greenspace acquisition or protection has been voted against in the 20-county metro region since 2003. Paulding County has the most protected greenspace in the region, at 16 percent, with Rockdale, Bartow, Cherokee and DeKalb following at 8.9, 7.8, 6.5 and 6.2 percent, respectively. An interesting fact judging that a couple of those counties, notably Cherokee and Bartow, are often considered some of the biggest examples of sprawl in the region.

To view the report, click here.

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