Cobb eyeing Kennesaw land

From the Marietta Daily Journal on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 by Ashley Hungerford, MDJ staff writer

KENNESAW - With a little more than $3 million left in the $40 million parks bond approved by voters in 2006, the county could be looking to purchase a tract of land directly behind Kennesaw City Hall with a portion of the remaining funds.

Located on Watts Drive in Kennesaw, the 9.85 acres owned by W.E. Hamby was listed as a tier 3 priority by the Cobb parks bond citizens advisory board.

Cobb Chairman Sam Olens said he has had discussions with Hamby, on behalf of the county, and he is working with the county's park department about a possible purchase.

"I am very interested in the Hamby property, based on history and the beauty of the property itself," he said.

Hamby's broker Dan Gentz with Re/Max said Hamby is looking at offers, and is "favorable" to the county purchasing the land for a park.

He said the county ordered an appraisal of the lot, and he's "confident that a sale could go through."

Although not revealing an exact dollar figure, Gentz said there has been a "meeting of the minds" between Hamby and the county concerning an offer, and "everything has been going along fine."

But the county's interest in the property isn't exactly in line with the city of Kennesaw's intention for the property.

"It's in the core of our downtown and a key piece to the planning we've done in the last five to six years," Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews said.

Mathews said if the county does purchase the property, then it causes the city to rethink a lot of their master plan for how what they want to accomplish with their downtown area.

To redevelop the downtown area, city officials have said they want to attract more commercial development.

The most recent commercial interest in the site came from Atlanta-based Madison Retail who wanted to build town homes, retail space and a three-story parking garage on the property. Plans also called for green space preservation and landscaping for public access and use.

Madison reportedly offered Hamby $1.5 million for the land.

The Madison project became tied up in lawsuits when Kennesaw resident Peter Popham sued, saying the rezoning of the property was illegal. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley dismissed the lawsuit in July 2007.

And when the real estate market began to slump, Madison Retail walked away from the project early this year.

The property has challenging topography for any development - with creeks flowing in the middle of the property. And to the property's south is the city of Kennesaw's cemetery.

If the property were ever developed, city officials said they would preserve the space along the creeks as green space. Mathews said the city has always pushed for preservation, even applying for a preservation grant for the property's creek beds.

Mathews said the city is supportive of the county's effort to acquire new park space, but said there are other options available.

Gentz said, currently, there are no contracts on the property with developers. Hamby has been trying to sell the land for about six years, he said.

Another factor that has stalled the sale of the property is the debate over its historical significance.

Some claim, including Popham in his lawsuit, that the Hamby property is the last remaining portion of the Confederate Civil War encampment, Camp McDonald.

Gentz said from everything he's seen and read; he doesn't doubt the property was part of Camp McDonald.

Mathews said most of downtown was probably a part of Camp McDonald - from where McCollum airport now sits all the way up to Kennesaw Due West Road.

But, he said, the Hamby property does not contain any historical significance from the Civil War, including structures or trenches left over from the camp.

In an attempt to settle the debate, the city hired New South Associations of Stone Mountain in the summer of 2006 to conduct an archeological study of the Hamby tract to determine the historical significance.

In the study's conclusion, principal investigator J.W. Joseph states that the area of the Hamby property was within the historic boundaries of Camp McDonald.

But the conclusion also states "historical and background research indicated that no historic structures or archaeological sites had been recorded in the project area."

The camp housed troops primarily in tents, and did not have permanent structures, the study states. It also found no clear evidence that any battles were fought in the area.

The study did look into a large trench that resembled a Civil War fortification. But the investigators did not find any artifacts or evidence to support that.

"No clear evidence was found for Civil War military activities in the project area and the single cultural feature identified during the survey cannot be conclusively attributed to the war period or assigned a clear function as a fortification," the conclusion states. "The survey determined that the project area is extensively eroded and did not result in the discovery of any significant cultural resources."

Mathews said the city of Kennesaw has given Cobb a copy of the archeological study.

The city's hesitation to support the county's move is not because they're against preserving a piece of history, Mathews said.

The core of Kennesaw's downtown contains an enormous amount of history, he said, especially Civil War. He said the city takes any opportunity available to talk about and memorialize their heritage.

The city's concern is how the purchase would affect their plans to redevelop the downtown area.

"We will work with them and make a viable project, whatever way they go," he said.

Gentz said he presumes the sale to the county would be approved, but said politics are getting in the way of the purchase.

"We've agreed in principle to the purchase," he said. "We have no issues with (Cobb's) parks commission. The only issue we have is that Kennesaw has thrown politics into this ... this will be nice green space for Cobb County. And Kennesaw gets it for no cost."

Olens said county staff is currently reviewing the history and development materials concerning the property that were provided by the city of Kennesaw, and he said he expects a decision on whether the county purchases the property no later than a month from now.

Mathews said he doesn't know what the city's next step would be if the county purchases the property.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it; we'll see," he said.

ahungerford@mdjonline.com