Friday, September 26, 2003
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Friday, September 26, 2003 |
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Coweta could get greener, thanks to Atlanta By JOHN THOMPSON
An Atlanta lawsuit settlement could result in some Of Coweta County's greenspace being preserved. Stacy Patton of the Chattahoochee Hill County Alliance told the Coweta County Commission that she is helping Atlanta officials identify potential sites for greenspace, and one of the sites is Cedar Creek in Coweta County. Atlanta officials are currently in the process of a $25 million project to settle a lawsuit brought against them by the EPA, EPD and the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Fund. Under the settlement, the city has to aquire buffer areas near streams to protect the waterways from development and provide a filter for any runoff. The scope of the project includes 10 counties near the city. "I have to emphasize that this project is voluntary. If the property owner does not want to do this, we go to the next house, Patton said. The city is required to spend $3.75 million in property acquisition south of Utoy Creek in the city, and patton said the program would not cost the county a penny. Any property owner that wants to sell his land near the creek would receive fair market value, or could also sell a conservation easement to the property. But when the County Commission learned the property would permanently be titled to the city, they started getting a little nervous. "The concept of the program is good, but I'm not real sure about the city owning 20,000 acres of Coweta County land," said Commissioner Vernon "Mutt" Hunter. Patton did say that there would be deed restrictions making it clear the property could not be developed, but the commission was still reluctant to sign off on the proposal. Chairman Leigh Schlumper invited Patton to attend the county workshop in October after the commissioners had more time to study the concept.
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