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County, 3 Forks settle path battle

by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com

A county superior court judge signed a settlement agreement between a community group and the county over a controversial path near Emory.

A settlement agreement between the county and residents over the construction of a controversial pedestrian and bike path connecting two parks near Emory allows for completion of the project.

Stalled for months after a group called Three Forks Heritage Alliance challenged its construction, the half-mile asphalt and boardwalk trail that winds through a mature hardwood forest valley near South Peacthtree Creek is moving ahead.

Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams signed the order Dec. 17. It affirms his Aug. 6 ruling in the matter, and upholds an April 9 decision by the county Zoning Board of Appeals that also ruled in Three Forks’ favor.

As part of the settlement the county must spend $50,000 replanting trees and shrubs destroyed during construction, and cover $45,000 in legal fees for the community group Three Forks.

Three Forks reserves the right to hire an arborist and help determine what kind of vegetation is planted and where it is placed.

The PATH Foundation, which built the trail, said on its Web site that 175 feet is all that remains to be completed, and it "is under construction and should be completed shortly after the first of the year."
PATH, which marries private donations with public money to build bike paths throughout metro Atlanta, created the Silver Comet trail and the path at Arabia Mountain.

The settlement agreement prevents PATH, however, from finishing the $1.7 million project. Part of Three Forks’ challenge, which was affirmed by Adams, was that PATH received a $600,000 no-bid contract from the county to build the trail.

Contractor JaTech will complete the project.

PATH will be able to build a connection from the Peachtree Creek Trail to Emory University. PATH Executive Director Ed McBrayer could not be reached in time for this report.

Three Forks also sued the county because it failed to follow its own permitting and stream buffer laws. In an Aug. 6 ruling, Adams also affirmed that ruling saying the county’s Planning and Development director "refused the clear legal duty set forth in the code."

Known as the South Peachtree Creek Trail that connects Mason Mill and Medlock parks, the trail split residents in the Clairmont Heights and Medlock Park neighborhoods, which are southeast of the intersection of Clairmont and North Druid Hills roads north of downtown Decatur.

A bridge is also proposed over the CSX train tracks that will lead to Clairmont Road, which could be finished by 2010.

People in favor of the project say it is a welcome addition that will allow seniors and young children greater access with gentler grades, and it will allow bicyclists easier navigation that will help alleviate congestion in the area’s traffic-clogged streets.

Opponents – of which Three Forks was the most active – say the path is too intrusive, destroyed as many as 600 trees and irreparably ruined their undisturbed green oasis of rolling, tree-covered hills replete with oaks, hickories, pines, maples, poplars and magnolias.

Attorney Brian Daughdrill, who represented Three Forks, said if the county had simply followed its own laws there wouldn’t have been a need to fight residents. He said the ruling could impact future projects.

"Three Forks had to sue to get what should have happened if the county had simply done its job," he said. "If they had applied for permits, done a tree survey, provided a revegetation plan and provided erosion control none of this would have been necessary."

Commissioner Jeff Rader, in whose district the project lies, supported the project from the beginning. Rader acknowledged the no-bid contract for PATH was a mistake but called it an "unintentional error."

"Because people are already using the unfinished path, we need to make sure it’s safe," said Rader, who urged its completion. "[After it’s completed and replanted] it’s going to be better than it was before," he said. "My hope is that it will look like Calloway Gardens."

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