The Last 21 Acres

The Last 21 Acres

Atlanta, Georgia October 27, 2014 - Described as “virgin forest” in the memoirs of Grace Gresham Flowers, who was born on Briarlake Road in the 1930’s, a 21-acre wooded property at the intersection of Briarlake Road and Amberwood Drive is currently under consideration by DeKalb County for rezoning to allow a development of cluster homes.

Distressed by the prospect of the destruction of this precious resource, the last forest of this kind in this area of DeKalb County, citizens from nine surrounding neighborhoods have joined together to form the Briarlake Community Forest Alliance, Inc., a Georgia non-profit corporation that seeks to preserve this old-growth forest for future generations.

Residents are requesting more time to study the issues related to the proposed rezoning and the development plan. The BCFA is working diligently to come up with a plan that they hope the county would support to preserve this neighborhood treasure.

The eight board members of the BCFA have spent countless hours performing research during the last six weeks and have uncovered many of the significant issues surrounding the proposed rezoning and residential development of the Briarlake forest. A key issue raised by this proposal to rezone is that the proposed higher density development in an area that is not in or adjacent to a designated Town Center, Activity Center or major transportation artery appears out of sync with overall goals articulated in the DeKalb County Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Additional concerns expressed by citizens are that disturbing the land would cause a loss of environmental services the forest provides as well as loss of value to surrounding properties. The forest is located at the top of a large hill that drains into two lakes; the hydrology of the area suggests that significant ecological damage could occur from any land disturbance. To date there has been no official assessment of the potential environmental impact of development offered.

A further concern of members of the community is that the proposal to rezone has been presented as including an agreement with DeKalb County in which the County would purchase 6 acres of the 21-acre tract of land from the developer, TPA-Arrowhead, LLC, for use as greenspace. This purchase would effectively amount to subsidizing the developer’s profits.

The first of three public hearings on this proposed rezoning was held on October 14th at the Toco Hills Public Library, where over 120 community residents showed up to share their concerns with the DeKalb County Community Council. At that hearing, the DeKalb County Community Council voted unanimously that the rezoning vote be deferred for a full cycle. On November 6th, the DeKalb County Planning Commission will weigh in on the rezoning and on November 18th the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners will determine the fate of this 21 acre undeveloped tract in DeKalb county. The BCFA encourages community members to attend these meetings and to email or write Jeff Rader, DeKalb County’s District 2 Commissioner.

About the Briarlake Community Forest Alliance, Inc.:
The BCFA represents residents from the nine neighborhoods surrounding the 21 acre forest at the intersection of Briarlake Road and Amberwood Road that is currently under consideration by DeKalb county for rezoning. The BCFA seeks to preserve this forest for future generations.