SW Cherokee Parks and Trails
Developing plans for additional parks and trails in District 4 was a major goal of my first term. We accomplished that goal by creating the SW Cherokee Parks and Trails Plan. This includes park plans and community input around four different parcels in SW Cherokee. The county will first be moving forward with a park at the Dunn parcel, located across HWY 92 from the Yanmar facility. Full story below:
The development of new park space in the southwest portion of Cherokee County is now one step closer to becoming a reality.
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the Southwest Cherokee Parks and Trails Plan last week. The plan, estimated to cost about $53 million, identified four county-owned parcels of land, two on Highway 92 north of Clark Creek Elementary School, one on Hunt Road south of Clark Creek Elementary School and one at the intersection of Old Alabama Road and Kellogg Creek Road as sites for future parks.
“We’re just excited to be able to move forward with a parks and trails plan in that part of the county,” Cherokee Recreation and Parks Agency Director Jay Worley said after the meeting. “This area has often been forgotten about due to its proximity to the Cobb County line and to Acworth. These residents are extremely important and vital to Cherokee County.”
The consultants found southwest Cherokee is underserved in terms of parks, Adam Williamson with the Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates (TSW) planning and architecture firm said, based on public input meetings and online surveys. The public input indicated the area is a good location for a recreation center and athletic fields, while also offering both active and passive recreation opportunities.
“The main features people wanted to see are trails of all kinds, and then activities for families,” Sarah McColley with TSW said, referring to playgrounds and picnic areas. “One of the big things that came out of the survey results is that constituents were very supportive of paying higher property taxes in order to fund operations and maintenance, and they were also supportive of (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funding and more park bonds and higher impact fees.”
More than half of the survey respondents said they supported a recreation center in the area, believing two adjacent parcels on Highway 92 would be the ideal location for such a facility. The two parcels there were also considered to be the best location for more active features, like playgrounds and athletic fi elds, while all four parcels rated highly in terms of passive features, such as walking trails and open lawn spaces, McColley said.
According to the approved plan, parcels 1 and 2, the Highway 92 properties, were depicted as having a recreation center, athletic fi elds and a walking trail. Parcel 3,located along Hunt Road south of Clark Creek Elementary School, was designed as a passive facility, with walking trails, a community garden and access to Clark Creek, due to its location in the Clark Creek flood plain. Lastly, parcel 4, situated at the intersection of Kellogg Creek Road and Old Alabama Road, was depicted with an athletic fi eld, a pair of dog parks and a walking trail that included a botanical walk. In its design plan, TSW recommended the county purchase a piece of property along Kellogg Creek Road to expand the size and opportunities parcel 4 could offer. This piece is currently for sale and would be surrounded by the park space if not added to the rest of the property.
The proposed plan also included trails between the future parks that would connect them to each other and the larger walking trail network in the southern portion of the county. Several designs were included, including walking and biking trails that could be located along the side of the road and trails that would be placed further away from roadways.
Most of the plan’s costs, roughly $38 million, would be for the development of parcels 1and 2, while parcel 3 would cost around $3.5 million to develop and parcel 4 would take roughly $11.5 million to complete. The consultants recommended the project be divided up into several phases, with the first phase primarily focusing on getting construction drawings for parcels 1 and 2 developed, and purchasing the Kellogg Creek Road property.
“I’ve enjoyed watching this whole process. I’m very excited for my district and for this part of the county. I know the residents are equally as excited to have something going on in our area,” Commissioner Corey Ragsdale said during the meeting.
Although there are currently no funds available in the county’s capital funds account, Worley said the agency is looking at revenue sources for at least the first phase of the project. Community Services Agency Director Bryan Reynolds said during the plan’s presentation that this project could be funded through penny sales tax dollars, both excess monies from the current SPLOST cycle and money dedicated for this purpose in the next SPLOST cycle to take effect in 2024 if approved by county voters.