Residents Blast Proposed Mt. Vernon Highway Improvements

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- Nearly 100 residents packed into a room at Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church to learn more about plans to improve Mt. Vernon Highway east of Roswell Road, a project they fear could lead to the city taking their homes to make way for additional travel lanes. Most of those in attendance were residents from the Glenview neighborhood, but also included citizens who reside in surrounding areas.

The meeting was called to inform residents about the concept plans drawn up by the city to improve Mt. Vernon Highway east of Roswell Road. The meeting, also attended by District 3 Councilman Chris Burnett, was also used to generate interest in creating a core group of residents to work with the city in hashing out differences in terms of what should be done to improve the corridor.

Linda Hanks, who leads the Glenview Homeowners Association, said the biggest issue residents have with the project is the scale of the proposed improvements. There's no question, she said, that Mt. Vernon will be "widened." She also said she and her fellow residents are not opposed to progress, but they question the size of the project and what it means for the homes that would be directly impacted by the changes if they were to take shape.

The city of Sandy Springs is reviewing travel options between City Springs and the Sandy Springs MARTA Station in the Perimeter Area. The Mount Vernon Multimodal Corridor Study calls for keeping the two traditional vehicular travel lanes in place, but adding sidewalks and multimodal lanes that could be used for walking, biking or other alternative forms of getting around.

Hanks said she was invited to attend a focus group in September and the consultants presented a concept that calls for installing the multi-modal lanes along Mt. Vernon.

“No matter which way you slice it, there’s four lanes there and it changes the road as you know it outside of Glenview," she added.

Hanks also said she believes that widening roads won't solve the traffic flow in the city, but would increase the number of cars on the road. More traffic, she added, also exacerbates noise as well as fumes along the corridor, making the stretch of road hazardous to runners, walkers, families and even the students who attend Mt. Vernon Presbyterian School.

In a nutshell, Hanks said residents are concerned because the city appears to be "paving the core and heart of Sandy Springs," which she said goes against the city's belief that it's a community of neighborhoods. As far as she's concerned, Hanks said "this was not the deal" she and others signed up for when they voted to incorporate in 2005. These residents who supported breaking away from Fulton County expect elected officials to listen to their concerns and not ignore the residents and homeowners who pay taxes and vote.

She also said the attitude of some city leaders has been disheartening, as she's witnessed comments made on social media that appear to belittle and dismiss the concerns of residents. Hanks also took aim at a city spokesperson's comments in a Reporter Newspapers article stating it was "too early" to talk about plans for the project and its impact on the surrounding communities.

"The time to start talking about it is when you hear it, and we have heard it and we are talking about it," Hanks added. "And we are not going away.”

Brian Eufinger, a resident of Registry Glen who ran for the same District 3 seat as Burnett in 2015, said he believes between 90 and 100 residents could be displaced if the city moves forward with the conceptual plans presented. He also charged that this project will do nothing for Sandy Springs residents, but provide yet another way for Cobb County commuters to cruise through city neighborhoods.

“We’ve already given them many, many gifts," he said about Cobb motorists, adding that at some point, the needs of city residents should take center stage.

Before turning the floor over to Burnett, Eufinger showcased a large sheet of paper featuring a print-out of a Facebook status update from Mayor Rusty Paul, which informed residents of a Nov. 14 public information open house the city will hold at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church's Fellowship Hall.

That meeting will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with a brief presentation starting at 6 p.m. The mayor starts his Facebook post by saying "someone is spreading false information about the Mt. Vernon TSPLOST project, alleging falsely that we intend to widen Mt. Vernon for additional vehicular lanes."

Eufinger told the audience he believed the post was aimed squarely at him.

"Please don't call me a liar, Mr. Mayor," he added.

On Wednesday, Mayor Paul told Patch he had no one in mind "other than I kept hearing that the city planned to add traffic lanes to Mt. Vernon and take houses." He heard it so much that he felt it was time to "inject some accurate information into the conversation."

"The project is not about adding vehicular lanes to Mt. Vernon, but to create a sidewalk/path network to connect the area neighborhoods to City Springs to the west and the MARTA station to the east so people don't have to get in their cars, but can walk, bike, skate or use other non-motorized transportation to access those areas," Paul stated.

For his part, Burnett, who's only been on the job for two years, apologized profusely to residents for feeling ignored and how the city handled communication for the project as a whole. He said the city needed to do a better job with responding to residents' concerns, and that he is committed to working with anyone tapped by the HOAs to help resolve the standoff between the citizens and Sandy Springs.

Several residents also weighed in on the proposal. One woman, who has lived in Glenview for 18 years, said she can't see how the improvements will curtail traffic problems on streets such as Roswell Road and Hammond and Glenridge drives.

“I don’t think it’s going to fix those bottlenecks," she added.

Before breaking up, Burnett took an informal poll, and asked if those in the room would raise their hands if they don't want to see any changes on Mt. Vernon. Almost all of the residents raised their hands, with one resident adding, “not at the cost of our homes.” If the will of the residents is to do nothing, Burnett said that places the city in a precarious position, as it's "hard to reconcile between trying to make improvements and reduce commute times."

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