Tempers flare at ‘unsuccessful’ Dunwoody trail meeting

By ALEXANDER POPP alex@appenmedia.com

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Scores of angry residents derailed a Feb. 8 meeting meant to gather feedback on how the city might initiate a multi-use trail system throughout Dunwoody.

The meeting, held at Dunwoody City Hall by design group the PATH Foundation, was conducted to weigh public sentiment about a map of proposed trail opportunities which would connect major city attractions and neighborhoods with surrounding communities.

However, PATH Foundation officials and city leaders heard very little real feedback from the standing-room-only crowd. Instead, they received mostly angry comments and questions about the plan.

“My goal for tonight, which I don't think we reached, was to figure out where people would like to see [trails],” Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said. “Not where you don't want to see it. It doesn't help me if we're going to pick one part to pilot.”

Master plan draft

Presented by PATH Foundation Executive Director Greta deMayo, the Dunwoody Trail Master Plan will be a framework mapping the trail and street improvement opportunities that could be completed over the next three decades.

Over the last 32 years, the PATH Foundation has been responsible for more than 350 miles of trails, including the Silver Comet and multiple paths throughout North Georgia, deMayo said.

During that time, deMayo said they’ve been able to gauge economic and environmental impacts of city trail systems firsthand, like Atlanta’s BeltLine which connects communities throughout the city.

“Over time, the areas that really were kind of rundown, became revitalized,” she said. “It also brought in tree canopy which was needed, and just really became a linear kind of park condition with destinations where people would want to live, work and play.”

Through a series of meetings with stakeholders and the community, the PATH Foundation identified several major points of interest that could be connected with trails, like the Dunwoody Nature Center, Dunwoody Village, Perimeter Center, Georgia State University and Brook Run Park.

Future Dunwoody trails would also provide vital connections to trail systems in other communities, like Sandy Springs and Chamblee.

“It's hard to plan Dunwoody without looking at your neighbors,” deMayo said.

Proposed trails would include sections of greenway, which become “linear park spaces,” but deMayo said the plan would also involve stretches with buffered bike paths, calmed existing streets and side paths adjacent to the roadway.

“If we could find a greenway trail everywhere, we would do that,” she said. “In a built environment, you're not going to always find greenway trails, so we have to have other trail types when within our arsenal to plan.”

With the draft plan, PATH Foundation