City sues to liberate Brookhaven Park from DeKalb County
Brookhaven, GA, Jan. 11, 2021 – Today, the City of Brookhaven filed a lawsuit to compel DeKalb County to transfer title and control over all portions of Brookhaven Park to the City.
Brookhaven Park, located at the southwest corner of Peachtree Road and Osborne Road, is a 21-acre park which contains athletic fields and courts, trails, multi-use fields and greenspaces; a community center, picnic areas and other amenities. The Park is probably best known for its open fields, festivals, and the largest (5-acre) dog park in metro Atlanta.
Over a decade ago, the Georgia General Assembly specified that newly incorporated cities such as Brookhaven were entitled to acquire title to county-owned parks located within the new city for $100 per acre. DeKalb begrudgingly sold the western half of the Park to Brookhaven in 2017. Since then, DeKalb County has repeatedly refused to sell the remaining County-owned eastern half of the Park, which is the portion that fronts Peachtree Road.
“We should not have to be litigating over the Park. But sadly, DeKalb has left us no choice. Brookhaven Park falls within my district and I have a duty and responsibility to my constituents,” said District 3 Councilwoman Madeleine Simmons. “DeKalb has demonstrated that they are unwilling and incapable of maintaining their side of the Park. Our neighborhoods deserve better. We have tried for years to work with DeKalb in good faith on these issues, and it goes nowhere. Governments should work together for the greater good of their joint constituents and it saddens me that DeKalb’s inaction has forced us down this route.”
State law (O.C.G.A. § 36-33-11.1 g) requires DeKalb County to transfer “all of the county’s right, title, and interest” in Brookhaven Park, but instead of complying with the law, DeKalb County has repeatedly refused to relinquish control over the half of Brookhaven Park the County still owns, preferring to use that land as leverage against the City in unrelated policy and political disputes. For example, DeKalb continues to propose using significant amounts of the greenspace adjacent to the existing building to build a new County-owned library, and so says they will not sell the land to Brookhaven. However, the County’s excuse is untenable both because the community strongly opposes losing so much parkland and because the County does not have the funding to build that library.
“Although the state requires transfer of parkland at $100 an acre, we had offered DeKalb millions of dollars just to avoid filing this lawsuit,” said City Manager Christian Sigman. “Brookhaven Park has been a park and was enjoyed as a park for decades before Brookhaven became a city. Now DeKalb County claims the park isn’t a park, which is laughable.”
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