Keep four for parks, return ten: Atlanta weighs a land gift

Atlanta is considering keeping four donated West Atlanta properties as public parks or greenspace forever—and returning ten others that city staff say it does not need.⁠[1]

Ordinance 26-O-1625 is scheduled for a first reading at the City Council’s Community Development/Human Services Committee meeting Oct. 27 at 1:30 p.m. It is a proposal, not an approved acceptance or rejection.⁠[1][2]

The land gift predates this proposal. According to the ordinance, the Thomas B. West estate and two dissolved companies conveyed 14 parcels to the city through a quitclaim deed dated Nov. 29, 2023, and recorded Dec. 12, 2023. The Department of Enterprise Asset Management discovered the conveyance, investigated it and asked city departments whether they wanted the properties.⁠[1]

Parks and Recreation expressed interest in four: 0 Rockmart Drive, 0 Tremont Drive, 0 Abner Place and 0 Dearwood Drive. The ordinance would formally accept those parcels, put them in the department’s park inventory and require it to retain them “in perpetuity as public parks and/or public greenspace.”⁠[1]

The other ten drew no interest from the remaining city departments, the ordinance says. After reviewing their usefulness, asset-management staff recommended rejecting and returning parcels on Springside Drive, Dixie Hills Circle, Park Valley Drive, Spring Lane NW, Kimberly Road SW, Fairfield Place NW, Altoona Place SW and Cook Street NW, plus two on Ezra Church Drive.⁠[1]

Acceptance would not mean four parks were ready to open. The ordinance allows trails, playgrounds, picnic areas and other park features, but does not specify designs or opening dates. It also allows neighborhood groups or other parties to maintain the land under agreements with the city.⁠[1]

The committee meets in the Larry M. Dingle Committee Room at Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue. The agenda provides for three-minute public comments.⁠[2]