MPCA Enhancing the Lilburn Community By Traci Sanders
Mountain Park is the unincorporated community outside of Lilburn city limits, bisected by Five Forks-Trickum Road between the Dekalb County line and the Yellow River. For its residents, Mountain Park is more than a stretch of real estate. It’s a state of mind -- where you shop, play, and live. The Mountain Park Community Association (MPCA) works in partnership with Gwinnett County by advocating for residents, businesses, and the future of the unincorporated and incorporated LilburnMountain Park. MPCA began as a suggestion from Commissioner Ben Ku when Kate Pittman, Founder and President of MPCA, asked what could be done to improve the deteriorating commercial intersections on Five Forks-Trickum Road at Killian Hill and Rockbridge Road, an area
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where Kate has lived for over twenty years. Kate shared, “I had been witnessing the decay and erasure of a character community.” Ben Ku liked the idea, but informed Kate that she needed to gain the support of her community to move forward. Kate is a retired geologist and geological mining engineer by trade, so she felt out of her element in this endeavor but knew there was important work to be done. The first public meeting was held in October of 2019. To Kate’s surprise, over eighty people attended, and another eighty-plus showed up to the 2020 meeting as well. From there, the public meetings went virtual due to the pandemic. “Still, we accomplished a lot,” Kate said. “I incorporated MPCA as a nonpartisan Georgia nonprofit in June 2021, operating as a 501c4.” David Will, a local attorney, guided Kate through the process. In fact, quite a few local citizens have stepped in to make the organization work. “I would not have gotten this far if not for them,” Kate added. Currently, MPCA is working with Gwinnett Planning Department to engage the people of the community to formulate a vision for its future. “Instead of opposing individual rezoning proposals or building permits,” Kate said, “we should be proactive and choose what we want the community to look like before those unpopular proposals are made – creating a sense of place through new zoning that encourages cohesive architecture in the commercial areas, connecting and expanding sidewalks, and preserving our beautiful tree canopy. I would like to see a new Mountain Park Community Overlay as the end result, all but guaranteeing a bright future and lasting legacy for the unincorporated Mountain Park Community.” To date, MPCA has a website and Facebook Group with well over 800 members. “Our email list has grown to over 400 members,” Kate explained, “and we have had several public meetings to introduce the residents of the community to their local government services.” On October 26, 2021, MPCA was recognized as a driving force Continued on page 23
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