Next week, Atlanta City Council is scheduled to consider expanding Piedmont Park, but the plan may be in for a rough ride.
The proposal is to spend $20 million to buy almost three acres of land at the corner of Piedmont and Monroe. Kasim Reed announced the plan at the end of his time as mayor, and now the Parks Department is coming to City Council, to ask for the go-ahead.
But council members on the Community Development/Human Resources Committee had a lot of questions earlier this week, as first reported by the Saporta Report. They ended up voting to send the idea to the full council without actually supporting it. That’s not a good thing, said City Council president Felicia Moore, who’s not on the committee.
“That means there’ll be a lot of debate on the council floor,” Moore said.
The Parks Department would buy land that currently has businesses on it and collect rent for a few years, until it’s ready to build out the park. But there are still a few parcels on that corner – adding up to ¾ of an acre – that aren’t part of the proposed sale.
That raised concerns from councilwoman Marci Collier Overstreet.
“I think it’s OK to take more than one year or a few years for a project to come to its full fruition,” she said at the meeting on Tuesday. “What I don’t want to do is commit to $20 million and be told later now we need to purchase this, and now we need to purchase this, and now we need to purchase this.”
Another concern was about equity.
At the meeting. councilman Amir Farokhi said $20 million dollars is a lot of money to spend on just under three acres.
“There’s a lot of areas in the city that need equal love and equal investment,” he said.
A third concern: Where the money is coming from. Some will come from park fees, some from the transportation sales tax and some from a sales tax meant to fund water and sewer infrastructure. Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong said she wouldn’t vote to use money from that sewer tax for this project.
Parks Commissioner Amy Phuong responded to that concern, saying there will be a stormwater control element to the park expansion.
Beyond that, she emphasized that the proposed plan is an opportunity to expand the park before real estate prices get so high that it’s no longer possible.
“I believe it will be a transformational, consequential project,” she said to the committee.
The city is working to raise another $80 million from philanthropic sources to complete the plans, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden is also proposing to expand along Piedmont.
“This is going to provide a grand entrance,” Mark Banta, president of the Piedmont Park Conservancy, told the council members. “We have a tremendous impact on the region, and that’s why the investment in this park as a regional park is important.”
