City council delays approval of master trail plan

Cathy Cobbs

After a protracted discussion about a proposed comprehensive trail plan, the Dunwoody City Council agreed on one thing: it’s going to be a while until a final plan is approved, and even longer until it’s funded.

After hearing from members of the PATH Foundation, which the city contracted to develop a master trail plan, and from speakers opposed to certain elements of the proposal, city council members agreed that its original deadline to approve the plan at its May 8 meeting would not be feasible.

“This meeting is a good start, but there needs to be more research,” Councilman

John Heneghan said at its April 24 meeting. “I hope we slow down this process because it’s not ready for prime time.”

Councilman Tom Lambert said the intention of the master plan is to be a visionary document.

“It’s not a shovel-ready plan and it was never meant to be,” Lambert said. “This is a vision for the next 20 years.”

The council also took issue with the “model project” proposed by the PATH Foundation, called the North Nancy Creek Greenway, which would run from the new Two Bridges Park in Perimeter Center to Ashford- Dunwoody Road, and cost about $10.9 million to build.

Several council members, along with Mayor Lynn Deutsch, said the connectivity

May

is valuable, but they believe an east-to-west trail from Dunwoody Village would be a better, more visible choice.

Sassafras Park, Talon Park, and Uwohali Park (Cherokee for “eagle” pronounced ah-wo-ha-lee).

“Peter

“It’s not that we don’t like the trail, it’s just that we don’t like it as a model project,” Deutsch said after the meeting. “Personally, I really want the model project to be in the Dunwoody Village area.”

Council also heard from people opposed to certain elements of the plan, including a trail that would link the Waterford subdivision to another neighborhood, Brooke Farm, and others who said that some proposed paths would be too close to their back or front yards.

Implementing part or all the plan is another roadblock for the council. The city has not allocated funds in its 2023 budget, but there have been discussions about funding parts of it with a bond referendum. The council is slated to discuss the possibility of taking it to the voters and may discuss it at the May 8 meeting.

In other news, the council, after reviewing community input concerning the names of two future parks – one on Vermack Road and the other on Roberts Drive – decided to do more research before narrowing down the choices.

Proposed names for the Vermack Road park were Deer Bed Park, Fallen Pine Park, Hawk Park, Plow Handle Park, Poetry Park, Unalii Park (Cherokee for “friend” and pronounced ooo-naw-lee-ee), Verde Park, and Vermack Park.

The Roberts Drive park suggestions included Arrowwood Park, Cherokee Park, Crossvine Park, Hawkeye Park, Juniper Park, Light Horse Park, Poplar Park,

Deutsch remarked that she favored simplicity and directional cues after hearing that many people had no idea about the location of the newly opened Two Bridges Park, which is located in Perimeter Center. “There’s value in simplicity, and I would think that people would know the area of town for a park called Vermack Park or Roberts Park,” she said.

Heneghan put in a plug for Old Buck Park, named after a train that used to run through Dunwoody, and council members agreed to research the history behind all the suggested names before narrowing down the choices.

In other action, the council

■ Heard about the sale of two buildings on North Shallowford Road, which netted the city about $7.2 million. Some of those funds will be used to install turf at Peachtree Middle School and other capital improvement projects;

■ Approved the appointment of several people to Dunwoody boards, including LaRee Holloway to the audit board, and Larry Heiman and Gayatri Chandra to the sustainability commission;

■ Announced the 2023 Sustainability Hero Award to Michael Cowen, a former member of the Dunwoody Sustainability Committee and former Dunwoody Nature Center executive director. Blooms of Dunwoody was chosen as the business Sustainability Hero because of their sound environmental practices.