Milton Mulls Names For 6 City Green Space Areas

MILTON, GA — The Milton City Council is working on naming eight green space areas around the city.

At a council meeting Monday night, Community Development Director Parag Agrawal spoke to the council about the six names that members of the Milton Greenspace Advisory Committee suggested for city-owned green spaces.

Nearly four years ago, Milton voters overwhelmingly approved a Greenspace Referendum authorizing the city to issue $25 million in general obligation bonds to purchase properties for "passive" use. The decision reflected citizens' desire to conserve natural land in Milton and protect it from development.

Since then, the city has purchased eight such green spaces totaling over 400 acres and for over $20 million. But none of these have been named.

Agrawal said that Greenspace Advisory Committee members consulted with each other and the Milton Historical Society to come up with six names. The reason that number is less than eight is because several of the acquired properties adjoin each other, the city said. He noted that members preferred calling the properties "preserves" rather than "parks" to differentiate them from active areas and highlight the nature within them.

Their recommendations are:

• Chicken Creek Preserve for the former Milton Country Club: named because 1.6 miles of Chicken Creek, itself named after a Native American who resided there, runs through the property.
• Lahkapani Preserve for the former Wolff family property off Lackey Road: named as such because the Wolffs called it Lahkapani, a Hindi word meaning many waters and reflecting the property's many springs and creeks
• Freesoil Preserve for a property near Freemanville and Birmingham roads: named in reference to an early post office of that name in the area
• Cooper Sandy Creek Preserve for land by Bethany and Providence roads: a moniker that reflects Cooper Sandy Creek that runs through it
• Hamby Preserve for a green space property along that road
• Post Office Preserve for a post office in that area that was called Webb, Georgia

Mayor Joe Lockwood and council members seemed generally supportive of the Lahkapani, Cooper Sandy and Hamby names, but there was less support for the other three. Chicken Creek Preserve, particularly, was a focal point with officials suggesting an alternative approach. Council member Paul Moore suggested Milton Central Park, a name that colleague Carol Cookerly generally seemed to support.

As Agrawal said, "This was the start of the discussion." He then proposed having the Greenspace Advisory Committee revisit the topic, taking into account the mayor and council members' thoughts, and possibly come up with several alternatives.

Discussion of beer, liquor sales at farm wineries

The council also discussed the prospect that Milton farm wineries might be able to sell beer and liquor, in addition to wine, for consumption on premises.

Economic Development Manager Sarah LaDart discussed possible parameters for a potential special use permit that could make that happen. It touched on a variety of elements, including how the property must be zoned, how many contiguous acres it might have, and whether farm wineries should have food service. As LaDart explained, the goal would be to support Milton farms and revenue streams while protecting neighbors.

The mayor and council members then went back-and-forth on several points. One was whether 20 contiguous acres could be required as a condition of getting such a permit; another was whether food should be provided to customers or be made available; and a third was whether to cap the amount of beer and alcohol sales at 25 percent of revenues.

As this was a work session, no votes were taken. Still, officials did guide city staff to move toward a newer use permit (rather than a more detailed policy) that might offer more flexibility.