$100M park expansion moving ahead

Critics question plan funding, priorities of Atlanta City Council.

A $100 million plan to expand Atlanta’s Piedmont Park is moving forward despite concerns over the source of funding and some misgivings about the project being prioritized over other infrastructure needs.

On Friday, the city of Atlanta closed on its portion of the plan — the $20.3 million purchase of 2.94 acres of land at the intersection of Piedmont Avenue and Monroe Drive as part of the project.

Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced the expansion on his last working day in office on Dec. 29, saying the project would “lift the curtain” on the park and the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and had the support of incoming Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

At 185 acres, Atlanta’s premier urban park is dwarfed in size by

other inner-city parks. Chicago’s Lincoln Park, for exam- ple, is more than 1,200 acres. The additional greenspace that the city purchased won’t add much to Piedmont’s overall size, but removing the buildings that buffer the park’s northern edge will provide another entry point to the city’s small but cher- ished outdoor space.

The council voted 13-1 on Monday in favor of an ordinance authorizing the ini- tial purchase of land for the expansion. Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong provided the lone dissenting vote.

“If we had a two-part question, do you support the con- cept and the expansion of Piedmont at Piedmont and Monroe, I would say abso- lutely yes,” Archibong said. “I’m uncomfortable with the funding sources.”

About half of the city’s $20.3 million comes from a special purpose transporta- tion sales tax. The Beltline Inc. is providing $5 million. Another $5.5 million comes from the parks department.

The property is currently operated as a retail develop- ment with commercial leases that generate income. The city will collect rent to offset the land purchase until the leases expire. Then it will be developed into “pedestrian trails and trail connections and green-way access to the BeltLine,” according to the ordinance.

The Beltline consists of re-purposed vacated rail- road corridors that encircle the city and when completed will connect 45 in-town neigh- borhoods via a 22-mile main path and 11 additional miles of spur trails.

The ordinance does not say how much time is left on the leases, but overall the expansion has a long way to go.

The city expects that the remaining $80 million will come from the philanthropic community. Carol Tomé, chair of the Atlanta Botani- cal Garden’s board of directors and chief financial offi- cer of Home Depot, is lead- ing that effort.

The city also hopes to alle- viate the concerns of residents in nearby communi- ties who have lit up neigh- borhood forums with ques- tions about the expansion.

Coarlee Kight, who lives a couple hundred feet away from the park’s eastern side, called the expansion “a real travesty of priorities” and said she was concerned that some funding comes from the special transportation sales tax.

“We have terrible traffic issues and that money really should be used to solve traf-fic problems,” Kight said.

Initial renderings for the expansion depict modern buildings, an outdoor theater with tiered grass seating and winding sidewalks that traverse a creek.

Kay Stephenson, also a nearby resident, was troubled by how the deal came about.

“As happens too often in our city, this deal was put together by Mayor Reed with no community input and without regard to any of the planning documents which have been developed in recent years,” she said. “City council compounded that problem by rushing legislation, again missing the opportunity for public feedback.”

A statement from Mayor Bottoms’ administration on Friday pledged a series of community meetings to incorporate public feedback into the expansion and design.