THE STORY SO FAR
Earlier: Concern about traffic and parking in the area around SunTrust Park has swirled among Cobb residents, Braves fans and commuters.
The latest: The Braves say they will roll out their parking plans in three stages.
What's next: The Braves will release details before the end of the year, and the full plan will be unveiled in early 2017.
Atlanta Braves officials plan to roll out their long-awaited parking plans in three stages in the months leading up to the opening of SunTrust Park.
Mike Plant, the club’s president of development, said Wednesday the first details will be released before the end of this year, with the full plan to be unveiled early next year.
Concerns about traffic and parking around SunTrust Park and the adjoining Battery mixed-use development have caused concern among many Cobb County residents, fans and commuters since the Braves announced plans to move a site near Cumberland Mall starting with the 2017 season.
Braves and Cobb leaders have taken heat in recent weeks over a controversial parking ordinance and plans to direct some game day traffic off I-285 onto an access road in Sandy Springs.
Plant made his remarks as a panelist during an event held by real estate publication Bisnow. He sought to relieve some fears about the parking plans. He said he has been surprised by calls to release parking plans now when the Braves won’t begin play there until next spring.
He jokingly questioned whether fans and residents were losing sleep not knowing the full details of the plan.
Braves’ traffic consultants have spent more than two years crafting a plan, he said. The Braves have previously said the site, which has no direct MARTA rail links, will be easier to access than Turner Field downtown. Plant said the team will own or control more parking spaces in and around SunTrust Park than their current home.
The parking ordinance would ban owners of property within a half-mile radius of SunTrust Park from charging for parking on game days or for other special events. Outside the half-mile radius, property owners could apply for a license to charge for parking.
Plant criticized recent reporting in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that called attention to the ordinance and said coverage painted Cobb and the team as an "evil empire" consumed with controlling parking revenue.
He said the ordinance was solely an effort to protect fans.
Plant said the Braves did not request a ban. Cobb commissioners are expected to approve a moratorium on the parking ordinance in the coming weeks to review the code.
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