Roswell mayor finds park in his pocket

Deep in the woods along King Road near where Jere Wood grew up, there was a gurgling brook where he and his friends loved to wade and explore. It was just the sort of Huckleberry place that most of us recall fondly from our childhood.

The woods were swallowed up years ago to make way for Brookfield West, one of the first golf communities in North Fulton. But there is still a 2-acre parcel on what is now Hickory Oak Hollow where an unnamed creek still splashes over worn rocks and the sunlight spills through a canopy of trees.

And so it will ever be due to Mayor Wood's efforts along with the help of the City Council, the Brookfield West Homeowners Association, developer David Chatham, the Roy and Tillie Wood Family Trust and the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. The city has declared the 2 acres a conservation easement, and thus will only have passive uses – mostly wading and kicking over rocks – in perpetuity.

"I just wanted to make sure no one would ever try to do something with this property," Wood said.

When Wood took office, he made a commitment to himself to make a park out of this little bit of his childhood. The stars aligned and the developer, Chatham, agreed to donate the land and the Brookfield Homeowners Association agreed to the pocket park on Hickory Oak Hollow. The 2008 Leadership North Fulton class under the auspices of the chamber rebuilt the railroad tie stairs down to the creek and the City Council agreed to grant a conservation easement.

The Wood Family Trust agreed to be the title holder, and it was done.

"I just wanted to nail it down and make sure this would remain as it is forever," Wood said. "My hope is this sparks others to find areas that could be such pocket parks – little parks of opportunity for passive use."

Asked if the city would add any trails or additional picnic tables to the one already placed their by Leadership North Fulton, Wood said the park needed none of that.

"If you're a kid, what else do you need?"

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