Brookhaven Aims to Buy 30 Acres For 'Green Oasis'

BROOKHAVEN, GA -- DeKalb County officials are expected early next year to approve the city of Brookhaven's purchase of 30 acres of undeveloped land at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport.

The Brookhaven City Council voted 3-1 to buy the land from DeKalb for $5.7 million earlier this month, according to local news reports.

The PDK land was touted as a "green oasis" when the proposal gained steam last fall.

“Our children and their children will have a forest with a creek … and as the concrete jungle comes from the city of Atlanta and surrounds us, our vision on the council and by residents is this is to be a green oasis,” City Councilmember John Park said at the time, according to Reporters Newspapers.

Park is not alone among metro Atlantans looking to stop encroachment.

Local communities are looking at parcels in their areas and seeking ways to preserve them as urban sprawl continues to bring cranes and asphalt trucks onto the main thoroughfares of their neighborhoods.

Residents in nearby Pine Hills in Buckhead recently acquired land for green space in their neighborhood. The Friends of Pine Hills "aim to facilitate a careful approach and visionary green space design that fits appropriately within our neighborhood, and provides a natural and passive Park area for all to enjoy" Joe Santifer, the group's founder, said in a news release.

The PDK green space is located between 9th Street and Tobey Road on Clairmont Road, according to Reporters Newspapers.

DeKalb-Peachtree Airport is the second-busiest airport in the state, behind Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport.

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