With so much commercial and residential growth happening in Norcross, city leaders took a step back to assess the plan for greenspaces.
“It all started with a lot of development going on in the past 23 years,” said Michael Jones, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation.
“There’s been housing, apartments, etcetera going on and we took note that the Parks Master Plan in 2011 was updated in 2016 but needed [another assessment],” he added.
City council members agreed that the public should have as much input as possible. Thus, the Parks Green Space and Trails Commission was created.
“It was established to get more accurate feedback on what residents want and need in the green spaces in the city limits,” Jones said. “Since it was created, we ended up discussing doing another parks plan that fits in with all the development and a lot of people moving into the city.”
Collecting community feedback
With Norcross becoming more diverse, city leaders felt the new plan should reflect that diversity.
“We wanted to get information back from different people—different religions and races, to make sure [more voices] were reflected in what was going to be implemented into the Parks Master Plan project,” said Jones.
Now, the city is in the process of gathering input by advertising to the public. The city has created flyers, brought the project up at various functions, and created a website that keeps residents and stakeholders informed about the progress and the timeline.
“We try to retrieve all that information to make sure that we’re emphasizing and inputting their feedback into the project,” said Jones.
Although parks, trails and greenspaces are an important part of the city’s make-up, everything has to work together. Housing and commercial spaces are just as important.
“We’re all in communication with one another,” said Jones. “Our community development division has a project going on as well. We’re taking note of the different projects we have and trying to tie them all in with one another.”
Looking beyond Norcross
One important factor is working to connect each park to create a walking campus within the city limits.
“We’d like to have a trail similar to what they’re doing in Dekalb County and some of the areas in the metro with the Path Project and the Silver Comet Trail in Cobb County,” he said.
Jones said the lead contractor had the idea to build on another project that would make Norcross a part of a trail from Auburn to Lawrenceville.
The Norcross section will connect at Lilburn.
“That’s one of the opportunities,” said Jones. “We are trying to join existing projects in phases.”
For right now, nothing has been finalized.
“This is still in the discovery stage where we walk through what greenspaces we have, assess what type of condition they are in and see if anything could be upgraded,” said Jones. “Then, we have to look hard at where we’d like to go.”
Using your voice
All Norcross residents, from youth to seniors, are invited and encouraged to share their input because the plan is intended to be a community-driven process. The outcome and future recommendations are expected to be guided by the needs of community members.
The public is encouraged to get involved by attending public meetings, participating in online input opportunities and sharing feedback on social media or through email.
The consultant team has a Spanish speaker, and public meeting materials will be available in multiple languages.
By the publication date of this article, the online survey will have ended, but the work will be far from over.
“The next step will put the information from the survey on the agenda for us to present as an actual plan to the council,” said Jones.
With funds allocated now, the city doesn’t want to take too long to decide what to do. With construction costs rising, interest rates at record levels and a growing population, it is essential to get improvements underway.
“We want to get this going as soon as possible,” said Jones. “The costs have been approved. … So, we want to utilize the funds while they’re available.”
Learn more about the Norcross Parks, Greenspaces and Trails Master Plan here.
Images Courtesy of the City of Norcross
