Town Center looks to donate parcel by Noonday Creek trailhead to county
Oct. 7—Cobb County will vote next week on whether to take the next step toward accepting a donation of four acres of land next to the Noonday Creek trailhead on Bells Ferry Road.
The parcel would be granted by its owner, the Town Center Alliance, the nonprofit arm of the Town Center CID. The property sits just north of the trailhead between it and Vanderlande Industries' North American headquarters building on Chastain Meadows Parkway.
Tuesday's agenda item would authorize a $6,000 expense for the county to conduct an environmental study of the property prior to formally accepting the land donation.
Parks Director Michael Brantley said the county doesn't yet have a plan for what it would do with the parcel, though it could be used for "passive recreation" given that it's adjacent to the trailhead.
The county is currently exploring the possibility of extending the Noonday Creek Trail northward up Bells Ferry Road to connect with Woodstock, but Brantley said he did not know if the parcel could be incorporated in those plans. The agenda item notes the parcel is in a flood plain.
The county estimates upkeep of the property would cost between $5,000 and $20,000 per year.
Property records indicate the parcel, valued at $750,000, was previously owned by firms registered to members of the Keappler family, who head up Quintus Corporation. It was donated to the nonprofit around the time the Vanderlande headquarters was built (Kelly Kaeppler, president of Quintus Development, is the CID's chairman).
The board will vote on the measure at its regular meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday at 100 Cherokee Street in Marietta.
