by Katy Ruth Camp
krcamp@mdjonline.com
October 26, 2009
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - County releases parks list
COBB COUNTY - County officials on Monday released a list of recommended pieces of property for the 2008 parks bond program.
The parks bond citizens advisory committee created the list, which includes 29 parcels ranked within three size categories. Although 13 of the recommended tracts are in east Cobb, John Pape, chairman of the citizens committee, said, "We were looking for properties spread as evenly as possible across the county, and were more open-minded to unique opportunities for greenspace parks."
A 161.61-acre tract of land off Dallas Highway at Lost Mountain in west Cobb is one of those unique opportunities. Pape said the idea for the top-ranked property was to create another mountain walking trail park akin to Kennesaw Mountain State Park.
"The tract would lead you all the way to the top of the mountain with some incredible views. The next prioritized tract at Wigley Road is at Sweat Mountain (in northeast Cobb), so the same idea is behind that. These tracts had all of the features we wanted, and could really serve a thriving community," Pape said.
Not all 29 recommended parcels will be approved by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, as the total cost exceeds the $40 million bond, which was approved by 67 percent of voters in November 2008. Public Services Director Bob Ash, along with the county's chairman and commissioners, will likely visit the suggested tracts over the next 30 to 45 days and will discuss the properties together in executive session before publicly voting on which will become parks.
Pape said the 15-member committee had a much harder task this year than it did during the first parks bond process in 2006. While 90 properties were submitted and considered in 2006, Pape said 340 properties were considered during the current process.
The county contacted the owners of each of the properties to make sure they passed the criteria of being willing sellers, which narrowed the list down to 244 tracts. Pape said the committee then narrowed the list down to 60 parcels, which the members personally visited throughout the summer.
"Some of the features we looked for in the tracts of land were topography, terrain, water features, trees and the needs of the neighborhood," Pape said. "They weren't discounted completely if all portions of the criteria were not met, but there was a points system for each item that would then benefit the total."
Jolynn Sockwell of the 1,900-member Friends of Concord Park group, whose parcel at Floyd, Hicks and Concord roads did not make the committee's list of recommendations, said they will now begin to appeal to the board of commissioners for consideration of the parcel.
Committee members felt the community in Sockwell's area would be better served with the recommended property nearby at the East-West Connector and Fontaine Road, Pape said.
"We just felt it was an overall better piece of land for a park, and by the time the advocates for the Floyd Road property came to us, we really had already considered the property and decided to not include it as we moved forward with our decisions," Pape said. "We decided that we couldn't go back on our decision simply because an advocacy group came in late and appealed to us, as another group could then come in and make its appeals, and it would just be back and forth."
Pape will present the list of recommended park spaces to the board and the public at Tuesday night's Board of Commissioners meeting. Cobb County spokesman Robert Quigley said board members will probably comment on the process and commend the committee members for their efforts, but will not comment on specific parcels of land.
"These people have volunteered their time for the last nine months or so to create this list, going out to the tracts of land across the county and spending countless hours in meetings or contemplating their decisions," Quigley said of the citizens' committee. "It's really a great deal of work, but now it will be up to the Board of Commissioners to decide which parcels will officially be approved for park space."
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - County releases parks list
krcamp@mdjonline.com
October 26, 2009
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - County releases parks list
COBB COUNTY - County officials on Monday released a list of recommended pieces of property for the 2008 parks bond program.
The parks bond citizens advisory committee created the list, which includes 29 parcels ranked within three size categories. Although 13 of the recommended tracts are in east Cobb, John Pape, chairman of the citizens committee, said, "We were looking for properties spread as evenly as possible across the county, and were more open-minded to unique opportunities for greenspace parks."
A 161.61-acre tract of land off Dallas Highway at Lost Mountain in west Cobb is one of those unique opportunities. Pape said the idea for the top-ranked property was to create another mountain walking trail park akin to Kennesaw Mountain State Park.
"The tract would lead you all the way to the top of the mountain with some incredible views. The next prioritized tract at Wigley Road is at Sweat Mountain (in northeast Cobb), so the same idea is behind that. These tracts had all of the features we wanted, and could really serve a thriving community," Pape said.
Not all 29 recommended parcels will be approved by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, as the total cost exceeds the $40 million bond, which was approved by 67 percent of voters in November 2008. Public Services Director Bob Ash, along with the county's chairman and commissioners, will likely visit the suggested tracts over the next 30 to 45 days and will discuss the properties together in executive session before publicly voting on which will become parks.
Pape said the 15-member committee had a much harder task this year than it did during the first parks bond process in 2006. While 90 properties were submitted and considered in 2006, Pape said 340 properties were considered during the current process.
The county contacted the owners of each of the properties to make sure they passed the criteria of being willing sellers, which narrowed the list down to 244 tracts. Pape said the committee then narrowed the list down to 60 parcels, which the members personally visited throughout the summer.
"Some of the features we looked for in the tracts of land were topography, terrain, water features, trees and the needs of the neighborhood," Pape said. "They weren't discounted completely if all portions of the criteria were not met, but there was a points system for each item that would then benefit the total."
Jolynn Sockwell of the 1,900-member Friends of Concord Park group, whose parcel at Floyd, Hicks and Concord roads did not make the committee's list of recommendations, said they will now begin to appeal to the board of commissioners for consideration of the parcel.
Committee members felt the community in Sockwell's area would be better served with the recommended property nearby at the East-West Connector and Fontaine Road, Pape said.
"We just felt it was an overall better piece of land for a park, and by the time the advocates for the Floyd Road property came to us, we really had already considered the property and decided to not include it as we moved forward with our decisions," Pape said. "We decided that we couldn't go back on our decision simply because an advocacy group came in late and appealed to us, as another group could then come in and make its appeals, and it would just be back and forth."
Pape will present the list of recommended park spaces to the board and the public at Tuesday night's Board of Commissioners meeting. Cobb County spokesman Robert Quigley said board members will probably comment on the process and commend the committee members for their efforts, but will not comment on specific parcels of land.
"These people have volunteered their time for the last nine months or so to create this list, going out to the tracts of land across the county and spending countless hours in meetings or contemplating their decisions," Quigley said of the citizens' committee. "It's really a great deal of work, but now it will be up to the Board of Commissioners to decide which parcels will officially be approved for park space."
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - County releases parks list
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