Fresh Loaf

Members of the Three Forks Heritage Alliance, the community group that has fought a PATH trail between Mason Mill and Medlock Parks in DeKalb County, are surely cheerful today. A judge has blocked work on the controversial multi-use trail.

From the AJC:

A DeKalb County Superior Court judge on Wednesday issued a restraining order that bars PATH and its contractor, Lewallen Construction, from working on a mile-long route between Medlock and Mason Mill parks. Work must cease because the pro-ject is “illegal,” Judge Gregory A. Adams ruled.

Adams’ 30-day stop-work order follows a judgment he issued last week that DeKalb County government, which hired PATH for the $1.7 million project, quickly appealed to the state Supreme Court. Adams ruled on Aug. 6 that the county didn’t follow proper procurement procedures. The judge also ruled that DeKalb didn’t follow proper permitting procedures and allowed the walkway to stray too close to a stream in violation of its own environmental regulations.

Click here to visit the alliance’s website and read the judge’s order.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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The DeKalb County PATH trail between Medlock and Mason Mill Parks that has riled critics and become a hot-button issue — and caused a rift between neighborhood supporters and opponents — is now being spraypainted, evident in the photo of a vandalized silt fence along the planned multi-use trail. Construction of the project was recently halted by the state Environmental Protection Division and is now in limbo land.

For more photos, click here.

(Photo courtesy of the Three Forks Heritage Alliance)

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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)

(more…)

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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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