It resembles a treehouse along a creek, but critics of the wooden walkway slicing through a forest north of Decatur say it's an environmental disaster.

Now, neighbors who have spent months fighting the PATH Foundation project have won a court victory that could kill the project.

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.

The county disputes Adams' finding. Duane Pritchett, an assistant county attorney, argued unsuccessfully Wednesday that construction should continue while the case is on appeal. The attorney for the neighbors, Brian Daughdrill, said DeKalb ignored both neighbors' concerns and its own rules on contracting and environmental protection. "It is the arrogance about how they handled this that cost them this" case, he said. A Supreme Court decision could be a year away. By then, if construction were to continue, the project would be finished. PATH executive director Ed McBrayer said last week he hoped to complete the walkway by Labor Day. McBrayer said Wednesday he was disappointed. "There is no way we're going to stop the fight and let a few neighbors stop something that will be great for the whole neighborhood."

The foundation has a master agreement with the county to build paths in DeKalb County, and McBrayer said it contributed $600,000 toward this latest project. It is near Emory University, and was intended as a link for cyclists who currently must travel busy roads. It also was supposed to open up the steep, wooded terrain that otherwise has been inaccessible to all but hardy hikers and mountain bikers.

PATH and its contractor had to cut down trees, which angered neighbors such as Fern Garber. She and two others sued to stop the pro-ject. Garber said the county needs a "better vision" for its forests, something "besides clear-cutting and pouring concrete."

McBrayer said the judge should have allowed him to finish the path.

"... It's in an unsafe condition at this point," McBrayer said. "A lot of public money has been spent and the public should be allowed to use it."