Save Henderson Mill Creek

Action

Are you convinced? Are you ready to work to STOP PATH but don’t know what to do?

Get a Yard Sign

We need to make sure our neighbors are aware of this issue. Display a yard sign! They are inexpensive and an excellent way to spread the word.

Email us at info@savehendersonmillcreek.org for information about getting yard signs.

Contact those involved and tell them what you think. Give detailed reasons about why you are opposed. Recommend that Flowers Road be used instead.

1. Primary Dekalb Commissioners: These commissioners serve the districts directly impacted by the plan:

   • Robert Patrick: District 1 Commissioner and the primary sponsor of this development effort. rjpatrick@dekalbcountyga.gov, 404-371-3052.
   • Lorraine Cochrane-Johnson: SuperDistrict 7 Commissioner. lcjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov, 404-371-2899. As of March 2024, this contact information may or may not work since Ms. Cochrane-Johnson has resigned her post to run for Dekalb CEO. We recommend using both the District 7 commissioner email as well as her current CEO campaign email: campaign@lorraineforchange.com.
   • Ted Terry: SuperDistrict 6 Commissioner. ted@dekalbcountyga.gov, 404-371-4909.

2. Other Dekalb Commissioners: These commissioners are not directly related to the HMC issue, but other parts of the PATH-funded bike road network runs through their districts. They all fund various parts of PATH projects and they all compete for the money. As such, it may be reasonable to make them aware as well of the controversy surrounding the HMC floodplain plan.

   • Michelle Long Spears: District 2 Commissioner. Her district is the next most closely related to this issue because it covers the South Peachtree Creek fork. There are similar PATH-related controversies there as well, particular around the Sagamore and Victoria Estates/Hahn Woods/Lullwater areas. mlspears@dekalbcountyga.gov
   • Larry Johnson: District 3 Commissioner. This district covers Atlanta and south of I20. As such, it probably includes much of the Beltline. larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov As of March 2024, this contact information may or may not work since Mr. Johnson has resigned his post to run for Dekalb CEO. We recommend using both the District 3 email as well as his current CEO campaign email: info@LJ4CEO.com.
   • Steve Bradshaw: District 4 Commissioner. This district covers the area east of Lawrenceville Highway out through Stone Mountain. srbradshaw@dekalbcountyga.gov. Although Mr. Bradshaw has not vacated his commissioner seat to run for CEO, we still recommend emailing both his commissioner email and his current CEO campaign email: steve@electstevebradshaw.com.
   • Mereda Davis Johnson: District 5 Commissioner. This district covers south-east Dekalb. Outside of 285, around I20 area. Includes Stonecrest and Lithonia. mdjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov

3. Dekalb Parks and Recreation: All of the PATH bike roads fall under the Parks&Recreation master plan for “trails”. If emailing Parks&Rec, please use both emails.

   • Chuck Ellis: Director of Dekalb Parks&Recreation. coellis@dekalbcountyga.gov
   • Marvin Billups Jr: Deputy Director of Dekalb Parks&Recreation. MFBillup@dekalbcountyga.gov (yes there is no “s” on the email address)

4. Teriya Mattox: Teriya has been designated feedback recipient for each of PATH’s presentations. tmattox@dekalbcountyga.gov

5. Mercer University: We have reached the proper Mercer representative, and are communicating our side of this issue. We will keep you updated as this proceeds.

6. PATH: You can contact PATH directly to state your firm opposition to any development along Henderson Mill Creek. Tell them your reasons why, and that you want them to use Flowers Road instead of invading the wetlands.

7. State Representatives and State Senators: We don’t know if this would help, but you could also try contacting your state representative and/or state senator. They may be too far removed, but then again, maybe not.

Stay Informed and Sign the Petition

1. Organize! Join us on an email discussion group to coordinate our response.

2. Sign the Petition! Sign the petition to make your voice heard.

Attend the meetings and make sure those in charge hear our objections.

1. August 24, 2023: The first public meeting was already held on August 24th. It was an introduction to the bike route footprint and what is going to be proposed. At the meeting, a link to a survey was given out, but unfortunately the survey was closed on 8/30 (only 6 days after the meeting). What’s done is done, so going forward…

2. September 16, 2023: PATH/PCG promoted their plans with a walk through the North Fork Peachtree Creek area, starting at where the currently planned HMC route intersects the North Fork. 9AM on Saturday 9/16, 2877 Brandywine Road, Atlanta GA 30341.

3. September 27, 2023: At this second public meeting, PATH presented their “preliminary findings.” It was a marketing presentation with many misleading statements and slides. The “Q&A” session was restricted to written notecards, which Eric Ganther responded to. The audience was not allowed to speak - not during the presentation and not during the Q&A. There was no opportunity for follow-up or clarification to any of Eric’s answers. This essentially turned the “Q&A” session into a second presentation by PATH.

4. November 2, 2023: At this third public meeting, PATH did another presentation which was largely a repeat of the 9/27 one, with no significant changes in the PATH proposal. Still 12’ raised concrete road through the floodplain, with no acknowledgement of the Flowers Road bike route alternative. There was an open-mic session, which was good. Unfortunately, the time limits were shortened to 2 minutes/person due to the length of the PATH presentation. More importantly, PATH conducted an in-meeting-only survey, closing it immediately when the meeting ended. This tactic prevented anybody who didn’t attend, and many concerned residents who were distracted waiting in line at the mic, from responding. PCG had put out a general plea for all proponents, regardless of where they live, to attend this local meeting, and so there were many attendees who did not live in this area. Thus, this in-meeting-only survey will yield results biased towards proponents who don’t live in the neighborhood. Although we appreciated the open mic, the blatant attempt to skew the survey was very disappointing.

5. October 2, 2024: At this 4th public meeting, Dekalb Parks (not PATH) presented the “Final” plan. The plan did show a significant part of the HMC floodplain removed from the bike routing, which was good news. Unfortunately, a substantial part of the western floodplain remains in the plan: Hollinswood -> North Fork. This final segment remaining in the plan is bad news. The bike road will still cause significant damage to this section of the floodplain, there are still neighbors backing this section who will be impacted, and this segment will be a foothold that can be used as a basis for subsequent extensions through the rest of the HMC floodplain. We don’t want this portion paved now, and we don’t want more paved later. We are still mounting opposition to this final plan - trying to get this last portion of HMC removed before it is officially published. You can help by signing the new petition!

We need to make our voices heard now, while PATH is conducting their study. If the final study recommends developing within the HMC floodplain/wetlands, it will be very hard to stop it from going forward.

Tell them to USE FLOWERS ROAD