North Buckhead may soon have a new five-acre park on Peachtree-Dunwoody Road near the intersection with Winall Down Road. The Conservation Fund, which works with the City of Atlanta to acquire land, closed on the acquisition of the land on Aug. 3.

According to Gordon Certain, president of the North Buckhead Civic Association, that group identified this site to the City and the Conservation Fund last December as its highest-priority potential park or green space tract. The site is heavily wooded and is partially in the flood plain of Little Nancy Creek, which comes from the area near the golf course in Brookhaven.

In January of this year, a subdivision application was filed to develop the site into 8 building lots. After many review meetings, that application seemed to stall and on Friday, Aug. 3, the Conservation Fund successfully completed negotiations leading to the acquisition.

“A key next step is the acquisition of the land by the City itself,” Certain wrote to his members, “which will take the introduction and approval of legislation in the City Council and approval by Mayor Shirley Franklin.

“We should expect these legislative steps to proceed smoothly since district Councilman Howard Shook has told us he favors this acquisition as does the Parks Department,” Certain explained. “Nevertheless, if you want to personally encourage the city to buy this land, please contact Howard Shook at hshook@atlantaga.gov, or call him at 404-330-6050,” Certain added.

“We deeply appreciate the efforts of Andrew Schock of the Conservation Fund, Ellen Wickersham of the Atlanta Development Authority, Parks Commissioner Diane Harnell Cohen and Councilman Howard Shook and their on-going support to bring this park/greenspace to reality,” Certain stated.

“This transaction required creativity and perseverance to bring to fruition and it will be a wonderful addition to north Buckhead and the city,” Wickersham wrote. “We are now working on finalizing the city’s due diligence and will hopefully close within a month.”

“This truly is a great place and will be a wonderful benefit to the community and the city,” Shock wrote to Certain and the NBCA. “This project was definitely a struggle, but the outcome is worth it,” he stated. “Without the city staff backing this up and Ellen’s guiding hand there would be houses instead of trees.”

John Schaffner