Since TAD funds come from selling bonds, I'm not sure how the budget crisis would have any impact on them.
Neighbors to fight new proposed Beltline trail
The proposed stretch goes through Atlanta Memorial Park and Bobby Jones golf course
By PAUL DONSKY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/05/08
Just weeks after a compromise was reached on a leg of the Beltline trail through a Buckhead park, residents are gearing up for what may be another showdown over an adjacent trail that's also in the planning stages.
The proposed stretch, which goes through Atlanta Memorial Park and Bobby Jones golf course, is expected to be discussed at a Beltline community planning meeting at 6:30 tonight at the AGL Resources building, 10 Peachtree Place in Midtown.
The nonprofit PATH Foundation has been planning the segment for a number of years. It's not part of the Beltline trail but will connect the park and golf course to the Betline.
Some residents who live along the proposed route have been pushing for the trail to stay on the golf course side of Tanyard Creek, which runs close to their backyards. The residents have opposed placing the trail on the side of the creek closer to their homes, saying it would jeopardize their privacy and could pose security concerns.
Mark Corrigan said his street, Overbrook Drive, is a busy thoroughfare carrying people to nearby Piedmont Hospital.
"All we on Overbrook Drive have is our backyards," he said. "We have foxes back here. We see geese. It's a natural habitat."
Ed McBrayer, executive director of the nonprofit PATH Foundation, said he will present two proposals tonight — one running through the golf course property that would require some reconstruction of the course, and another running closer to the homes.
The latter option represents a compromise, McBrayer said, in that it has removed a portion of the trail from a heavily forested area known as Cathedral Woods.
McBrayer said he's confounded by the intense neighborhood reaction.
"To retrofit a trail system in a built-up city, we're always going to be close to somebody's house, or else we're not going to have a trail system," he said.
He took issue with the safety concerns, saying the trail will generate walking, jogging and biking traffic which will deter criminals from illegal activity.
"The overwhelming majority of people in metro Atlanta think trying to connect our green spaces and employment centers with trails for bicycling and walking is a good thing," he said. "If you can't connect existing city parks together, how are you going to build a trail?"