Cobb County purchases first parks bond property

From the Marietta Daily Journal on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 by Kelly Brooks, staff writer

MARIETTA - Dramatic slopes, heavy woods, seclusion and historical significance.

That's how Cobb parks bond committee member Roberta Cook describes a 15.45-acre tract in southeast Cobb that will be the county's first purchase with money from its $40 million parks bond voters approved last fall.

"It's really too good to be true," Ms. Cook said of the purchase. "All the hard work we did in resisting (development) paid off."

Cobb will buy the land for $2.43 million, or about $157,261 per acre, on or before July 31 from the Columns Group and CT Nickajack.

Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday night to approve the land buy in an add-on agenda item released earlier in the day and written by Bob Ash, Cobb public services agency director.

Ash said the land was appraised at $2.9 million, which means negotiations led by the Trust for Public Land and three parks committee members saved the county about $470,000 in bond money.

The site sits on the northwest corner of Veteran's Memorial Highway and Henderson Road in Mableton, just northwest of the intersection of Interstates 285 and 20.

"It's a very beautiful site," Ms. Cook said. "It's so well-preserved, it's just like going back in time."

In April, Cobb Chairman Sam Olens told the Columns Group to lower the flame on plans to develop the site due to Cobb's interest in the property.

"My neighbors and I were involved in the opposition for the rezoning of that property because it affected not only the historical site on the property but also the property the county owned as green space directly downhill," said Ms. Cook, who lives on Nickajack Creek, just north of the tract.

Ash recommended the buy because the property was a top-tier choice of the 15-member committee and because it's adjacent to a six-acre site Cobb bought in 2004 with green space money from the state.

Other reasons for the buy include the Civil War trenchline that traverses the property, which contributes to the story of the nearby 88-acre Johnston's River Line, another Civil War site Cobb owns.

"The purchase expands the county holdings along Nickajack Creek, making the green space and passive use a more desirable destination for family use," Ash wrote. "It can contribute to the proposed trail along the creek."

Development, Ms. Cook added, also could have had an adverse impact on Nickajack Creek.

After the purchase, Cobb will have $37.57 million in parks bond money.

kbrooks@mdjonline.com