Friday, October 17, 2003

Parks department needs help developing program

By LINDSAY BIANCHI
Special to The Citizen

The Fulton County Parks Department is asking for help from the community on planning an effective park program. Four public hearings will take place over the next two weeks to discuss the 10 year Master Plan.

“We have a deficit level in South Fulton that we have identified in several areas.” Andrea Meyers of the Fulton County Department of Parks and Recreation said. “We are discussing how to eliminate them by different options. The presentation during the public hearings will identify those options.”

The meetings begin October 22 at the Northeast Spruill Oaks Library, 9560 Spruill Road in Alpharetta and October 23 at the South Fulton Service Center, 5600 Stonewall Tell Road in College Park.

The second week of meetings begin October 28 at the North Fulton Service Center, 7741 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs and Thursday, October 30 at the Southwest Regional Library, 3665 Cascade Road in Atlanta. All four meetings are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

In addition to the public hearings, the Fulton Parks Department will conduct a “statistically balanced survey” by telephone of residents in unincorporated Fulton County. The random sample survey will determine the quality of current park services and facilities, and assess the need for future facility upgrades and changes.

“The 10 year plan will address existing parks. It will address land acquisition as well, but not necessarily for active parks. It may be for passive parks.” Meyers explained. “A lot of passive park planning is very prominent in North Fulton. It is becoming very much an interest through several overlay plans that have been adopted by the board, one of which is the Chattahoochie Hill Country overlay district which includes villages and open spaces. Now more recently there has been some talk of acquisitions of another 100 acres in South Fulton. It’s something that is very much on the agenda for the Commissioner in the District 7 area.”

The Parks Department stated it has partnered with consulting firms US Infrastructure, Inc., Leisure Vision, The SRM Group and AVPA/M.H. Michael Landscaping to complete its Master Plan. For more information, call 404-730-6200 or visit their website at www.myfultoncountyga.com.