MDJ: County revises parkland inventory

From the Marietta Daily Journal, Friday, July 14, 2006 by staff writer Amanda Williams

An inventory of county-owned parkland released this week shows Cobb only has 452 acres suitable for development.

If voters approve a $40 million parks bond in November, Cobb could add between 200 acres and 650 acres to its 5,075-acre inventory of parkland, based on average prices per acre and depending on location. The bond issue would not force a tax hike, officials say.

Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens said the county already owns 4,251 acres of developed parkland and has 823 undeveloped acres. Of the undeveloped acreage, Olens said Cobb could only develop 452 acres.

Olens released a revised inventory of parkland in Cobb because figures published in a recent political advertisement were misleading, he said.

Cobb's 823 acres of undeveloped parkland in its parks and recreation inventory is just a third of the figure that District 1 commission candidate Johnny Woodward cited in a political advertisement. Woodward's ad claimed that Cobb had 2,279 acres available for county parks, information he said he obtained from a parks and recreation department employee who called him at county manager David Hankerson's request. Woodward did not remember the employee's name.

"I was trusting them to give me the correct numbers," Woodward said.

Olens said figures passed on to Woodward included land located in Cobb's flood plain, which cannot be built on, and properties earmarked only for trails.

"From the county's perspective, just because it's undeveloped doesn't mean (it can be developed)," Olens said.

For example, 25 acres on U.s. Army Corp of Engineers property next to Lake Acworth is planned only for trails, a restroom building and a parking area. Cobb also owns a 15-acre tract known as the Bartlett property on Starling Place off Factory Shoals Road in south Cobb where plans for development include only trails, a pavilion and parking.

Also, at Jim R. Miller Park on Callaway Road, 20 acres are used for overflow parking for the annual circus and North Georgia Fair. The county will never develop that land beyond its present use, Olens said.

Of the land that Cobb could develop, Olens said some likely would be complete within the next five years. He could not say exactly how much would be done, but parks such as the Pitner property near the landfill close to the Paulding County line and two properties in south Cobb are on tap for a makeover, but he declined to say precisely when.

Some projects, he said, like a regional library on Macland Road listed as a planned amenity to the West Cobb Aquatic Center, is a long-range project and could take up to 10 years to build.

"The issue from my perspective isn't to develop the existing property (before) we buy new parkland and develop that," Olens said.

It's not a question of how quickly the county develops the land, either, Olens said.

"It's a time problem. If we don't buy some of these properties now we're not going to ever have the opportunity," Olens said.

Woodward said when he published the ad he wasn't trying to muster opposition to the parks bond, he just thought the public would be interested to know how much parkland Cobb already has as voters face a $40 million question on the November ballot.

A longtime Cobb entrepreneur, Woodward is one of five candidates vying to unseat incumbent Helen Goreham in District 1, which includes northwest Cobb.

Ms. Goreham, who supports the parks bond proposal, said the revised parkland inventory more accurately represents Cobb's situation.

"The numbers are reasonable for a county this size," Ms. Goreham said. "I don't think people could decipher a point from (Woodward's) ad and I'm just happy that the true statistics are out there."

The $40 million question

When asked Wednesday how he would vote on the $40 million parks bond in November, Woodward said, "I don't know, I could. That's a long time away."

He said he favors buying more parkland, but he wants to know how Cobb would develop and maintain it once it's acquired.

"I'd like to see the whole picture," Woodward said. "I couldn't say. I think they owe us an explanation."

Given a reasonable explanation, Woodward said he would vote yes.

Woodward also raised several questions elected officials have not answered about the proposed bond, including how many acres of parkland $40 million would buy and where future parks would be developed.

Olens refused to answer how many acres $40 million would buy and said he could not even offer a ballpark figure.

"It really depends on what's available," he said. "Naturally, we want to make the best deal we can for residents."

Olens said it is too soon to know how much Cobb could buy with $40 million. He also said the county doesn't know what properties it would try to buy.

Land prices in Cobb vary widely depending on location, Olens said, adding that he hopes the tax break sellers get if they sell to the county would garner lower-than-average prices.

In most parts of Cobb, land sells for between $100,000 and $150,000 an acre, Olens said. In east Cobb, the cost per acre is as much as $300,000. In other parts of the county, it is as low as $60,000, a search of property listings showed.

Using those figures, $40 million would buy between 400 acres and 650 acres of land priced between $60,000 and $100,000 an acre. At $200,000 an acre, the county could buy about 200 acres. In east Cobb, at $300,000 an acre, $40 million would buy about 133 acres.

Ms. Goreham agrees that it's too early to estimate how many acres $40 million would buy.

"We can't wrap our arms around the amount of parkland we could buy," Ms. Goreham said.

Opposition rises

Critics of the parks bond question include former Cobb commission chairman Bill Byrne, who has posed many of the same questions as Woodward.

In a letter to the editor published in the Marietta Daily Journal on Sunday, Byrne called the plan a "charge card mentality." Although the county could issue $40 million in general obligation bonds without raising taxes, he said Cobb eventually would have to pay more than $10 million in interest for the parkland.

Byrne said he supports putting the question to voters, but he thinks it is a mistake to issue general obligation bonds for 30 years when the real cost would exceed $50 million with interest. That leaves future generations to pay the tab, he said.

"My proposal is to fund it through the general fund for $4 million a year for 10 years, pay cash as you go," Byrne said.

While supporters of the parks bond have said Cobb should act now to preserve land before it disappears, Byrne said even if the $40 million general obligation bond passes it would take time for the county to buy the land.

"To think that the county is going to race out with $40 million for land and spend it at once is either naive, foolish or stupid," Byrne said.

The last time Cobb residents were asked to vote on a plan to acquire land for public parks was in November 2000 when Byrne was commission chairman.

He said there was a push at the time to issue general obligation bonds for parks, sidewalk improvements and recreation facilities, which he opposed. Instead, he favored putting a 1-cent Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax on the ballot that would have generated $145 million over 15-months for parks and sidewalk improvements, and new construction of recreation facilities.

The county had planned to spend $45 million of the money on land acquisition, $25 million for new facilities, and $23 million on sidewalks.

The SPLOST failed with 53 percent of voters opposing.

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MDJ opinion: Parks push should get support it deserves today

Editorial from the Marietta Daily Journal, Tuesday, July 11, 2006.

Parks push should get support it deserves today

The grassroots push for more Cobb parks will come to a head today in the Cobb Commission chambers, where the Board of Commissioners are expected to vote unanimously in favor of putting a referendum question on the November General Election ballot asking voters whether they favor a $40 million bond to buy land for future county parks.

As noted above, all five commissioners are expected to vote in favor of the parks, and we think they are doing the right thing.

Cobb has been growing at a torrid pace for the past several decades and open land appropriate for future parks is vanishing fast. The county also has been playing "catch-up" on the parks front for several decades, due to the prevailing attitude of years ago that the county didn't need to invest heavily in parks because of the presence here of 3,000-acre Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Now, with that park choking on roughly 1 million visitors a year and the county's parks overburdened as well, it is crucial that Cobb's leaders and taxpayers step up and ensure that land will be available for future park space.

If approved by the commission Tuesday and then by voters in November, the measure would be paid for with $40 million worth of general obligation bonds, yet the county still would wind up with a lower bonded-indebtedness tax rate five years from now because existing bonds totaling roughly that amount are nearly paid off.

The parks proposal, not surprisingly, has proven widely popular with the public. Nearly 1,000 people had signed an online petition on behalf of the Cobb Parks Coalition as this was written on Monday. Many of them also included a comment on why the commission should approve the request, and one of the most apt, and most succinct, was written by the very first person to sign the petition, Roberta Cook of south Cobb.

"I would like to see more treetops than rooftops in Cobb County. Let's buy land for parks before it's too late," she wrote.

Added signee Stephanie Fulton of Marietta, "Parks offer a way to connect with the land - particularly open space and greenways that offer multiple-use trails and creek walks - and live a more healthful, active life. I wholly support the Cobb County Park Lands Acquisition and hope that it passes!"

And there was this from Mary Finney of Marietta: "It's amazing that it has taken so long for something like this to happen. There are too many trees and green spaces being plowed down in the name of over-priced development."

Indeed, according to a poll of 400 Cobb residents conducted for the Coalition by the Raleigh, N.C.-based Trust for Public Land, 71 percent said they would vote for the measure. Moreover, the results were similar in all four corners of the county. Some analysts have feared that support might be weak in east Cobb, where there are no undeveloped large tracts left. But such worries apparently are groundless.

Other critics have said that a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax might be a better way of funding the parkland. No so, says Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens, because the revenue stream would be too small and come in too slowly.

"If you get $1 (million) or $2 million a year, there's not much you can do," he said. "SPLOST isn't the answer. If you have to wait five years to get the land, it won't be there."

Olens added that the push for parks is "a great cause, and I am going to support it."

With Cobb growing as quickly as it is, this may well be the county's last chance to acquire significant amounts of undeveloped land for future parks. The commission's expected vote to put the question onto November's ballot is the right one. Let the public - those who would be using the parks and paying the taxes for them - decide. What we're seeing - a grassroots movement for a worthy cause that will immeasurably improve the quality of life in Cobb, and which is supported by elected officials - represents government at its finest. And we hope that Tuesday's vote finds the commission ready to "play ball."

MDJ: Hopefuls support $40M for parks

From the Marietta Daily Journal, Thursday, July 8, 2006 by staff writer Amanda Williams
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Candidates come out in favor of Cobb bond referendum

MARIETTA - As Cobb County commissioners prepare to vote Tuesday to put a $40 million parks bond on the November ballot, a recent political advertisement draws attention to the amount of undeveloped parkland Cobb already owns.

An ad published last week in the Marietta Daily Journal paid for by District 1 commission candidate Johnny Woodward's campaign, asks why the county has not developed the 2,279 acres of parkland it already owns.

Cobb owns 5,001 acres of parkland, of which only 2,722 acres are developed, the advertisement claimed. Woodward said the ad was only meant to state facts, not to send any particular message to voters.

"We have 2,279 acres of land still undeveloped that we own and can afford to develop now," said Woodward, a Cobb entrepreneur who is best known for his Johnny's Steaks & Bar-B-Que in Powder Springs.

To name a few, Woodward said the O.C. Huber Property on Highway 41 has 20 acres of undeveloped land and a property on Pitner Road has 298 undeveloped acres.

Woodward said his advertisement does not mean he is against the grassroots effort to get a $40 million parks bond approved.

"I'm for it if the citizens want it," Woodward said. "That's the American way to vote. This election isn't about me or the other five candidates. It's about what the people in this county want. If they want more parks, I'm for that."

Woodward's opponents in the District 1 commission race also favor the parks bond being put on the ballot for the public to decide, but John Osborne said he thinks voters would need more information by November to make an educated decision.

"I'm for it going on the ballot, that's the right thing to do," said Osborne, a retired Cobb County employee.

After researching the issue and listening to the Cobb Parks Coalition's ideas, Osborne said voters would need more information than they have been given before heading to the polls.

Among the questions Osborne says need to be answered is what parcels of land would be purchased if it were approved; what part of the county would benefit from it if it passed; and if the parks would be developed as passive parkland, sports complexes or for some other use.

Candidates Scott Richards, a former Cobb firefighter, Charles Spann, a recently retired Cobb police officer, and former Powder Springs Mayor and City Councilman Brad Hulsey each said they support the parks bond being put on the ballot and plan to vote for it in November.

Incumbent Helen Goreham said last week she intends to vote in favor Tuesday to put the parks bond on the November ballot.

West Cobb civic activist Paul Paulson in May formed the Cobb Parks Coalition, which has pushed hard for Cobb to buy land to develop into parks. The group has drawn support from the Raleigh, N.C.-based Trust for Public Land and has an online petition with more than 900 signatures.

Dan Coffer, a new Cobb County resident who recently became active with the coalition, said its primary objective is for Cobb to be able to acquire land before it's too late. Then the group would work with Cobb officials to identify what parcels of land might be purchased and how it would be developed. He said uses for the land likely would vary from one part of Cobb to the next.

"In one part of Cobb it may be helping link a trail system, and in another area it may be a pocket park," Coffer said. "We're really trying to stay away from identifying certain parcels."

Coffer said some of the parkland could be left passive while some of it may be developed, depending on what the community wants.

"Forty-million dollars is a lot of money but if we don't purchase this land and set it aside now it won't be available five years from now," Coffer said.