To know me is to know I make very few exigent decisions quickly. I can be the embodiment of analytical.
I’m the gent who draws a line down the center of the legal pad so I can list pros and cons. Quite often my list uses up several pages. As such, I rarely counsel anyone to move chop-chop. This is an exception.
There’s a pretty fair-sized patch of land within the borders of our little spit of Elysium that fronts the Chattahoochee River. It was bought decades ago by Fulton County and a majority of the land sits idle. Some would like to see the city purchase it for a park.
Two words jump to mind: Do it. Do it now. I know it’s a wee bit more complicated than pulling out the checkbook, but this cannot happen fast enough.
Where else in the city are we ever going to find 20 acres of green space that includes river shoreline? I’d say it is a safe wager that any piece of property near the water is spoken for.
Ready, fire, aim. Let us lock this down and then figure out exactly what to do with it. Take our time. If we want to earn our green cred as a community, buying this property and carefully crafting a passive park would put some serious points on the board.
The downside would only exist if we got hold of the land, and then suffered a severe outbreak of stupid by slapping down a lot of grills, picnic tables, boat ramps and gazebos. Buy it, clear some walking paths, add a bench or two and provide a place where we can all go and just be.
We’re going to have to fight some primal urges to do this. There is something wicked in our DNA that sees a big ol’ piece of a land and births phantasms of buildings and pavement and bright lights. We are pulled powerfully in the opposite direction of leaving well enough alone.
I have no experience in crafting a land-use plan for a piece property like this, but I’m going to toss a three-point strategy for what I hope will be our new park. Create some parking in a way that disturbs the environment as little as possible. Blaze some walking trails. Put out the “welcome” sign. Questions?
This may be the last time we get this kind of opportunity. Green space is precious around the city. Green space that has river access is even more so. We owe it to ourselves to lock this down now and ensure what we do with it has the least effect on the land and the critters that call it home.
Even for a cogitator such as me this is not a choice that requires reflection. I don’t need my legal pad for this.
In sum, this isn’t a question of pros and cons. It is a question of getting it right or getting it wrong. And remember, when it comes to land use, do-overs are mightily hard to come by.
Jim Osterman lives in Sandy Springs. Reach him at jimosterman@rocketmail.com.
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