City Council Approves Downtown Lot Purchase, Tables Pinnacle Way Land Acquisition

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Aside from the Norcross City Council passing the measure to increase their pay and the mayor's salary, another main topic of the evening was the public hearings on two land acquisitions.

One of the acquisitions, the vacant lot on Mitchell Street and Britt Avenue that is directly behind the Norcross Community and Cultural Arts Center, was approved by the council 5-0 for the purchase of $300,000 through SPLOST funds.

The purpose of the purchase is for future parking, according to the city's Economic Development Manager Rusty Warner.

"We've been looking at this property for years," Councilman Keith Shewbert said. "It's an incredibly important piece of property because of its location," he continued, adding that it's strategic to Lillian Webb Park, the cultural arts center and for future plans to build closer to Buford Highway.

The council tabled 4-1 the other land acquisition, which is for 250 Pinnacle Way. The 12.2-acre lot has a retention pond and a two-story commercial building. 

The lot has become an eyesore since its previous owners from recent years have not kept up with the property. So the city believes that they could beautify the area by cleaning it and adding a park and trails. Additionally, it would appeal more to future tenants in the surrounding commercial space. 

The city estimates the total cost of ownership of the parcel would be $68,689, which includes closing costs, the cost of improvements and more.

A few business and property owners in the area went before the council in favor of the lot purchase.

"It's very overgrown," said Les Flynn, who represented the business at 500 Pinnacle Ct. "Our employees park on one side of the building right by this lake, and I think it's a safety hazard that you can't see sometimes into the shubbery. ... I think it would be an amenity to the businesses to have this revitalized."

Another business owner said, "It hinders our investment, so frankly, we would like to see it cleaned up."

Some residents voiced opposition to purchasing the land, though.

Terry Bowie said it's a "stretch" making the area into a successful park with trails.

Faye McFarland said she doesn't favor it because she believes it's too much of a liability for the city, such as if someone drowns in the pond, and the location is too isolated for people to use. Additionally, she pointed out that the estimated figures in the city council agenda do not detail budgets for maintenance and the like.

The council decided to table the issue 4-1 (Councilman Charlie Riehm voted against it) to the May policy work session so that they could get some of these estimated costs and so the parks and recreation department could look at the lot.

Mayor Pro Tem Andrew Hixson gave a passionate monologue in favor of this project because of a campaign promise he made four years ago to build a park on the east side of Buford Highway.

He pointed out there are many parks, such as Best Friend Park, that serve the residents on the east side of Buford Highway, but they can pose some problems.

"Have you ever tried crossing without a car on Jimmy Carter Boulevard?" Hixson said. "Try it. You can't. Most of our citizens over there are poor minorities who happen to have one car that the father takes [to work]. There's little opportunity for these citizens to have access to a park except on the weekends."

And on the weekends, he added, because they have a car, they like to go to Thrasher Park and Lillian Webb Park, which tends to get overcrowded.

As for the lot's financial cost, Hixson pointed out that the city just spent nearly $5 million on a four-acre park. "We're talking about $68,000 on a 12-acre park [for this lot]," he said.

Councilman Shewbert agreed with Hixson's point. "I think we need to invest an awful lot more [on that side of Norcross]," he said. "There's a huge economic development win available by also fixing that property and filling up Pinnacle Point."

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