March 14, 2025
Friends of Simpsonwood,
Today, I call upon you to take action on behalf of our beloved park. For the past several weeks, I have had several meetings with members of the Peachtree Corners City Council. Why would I meet with City Council members when the county owns the land, you may ask? Well, due to a previously struck deal, the city of Peachtree Corners actually holds the right to purchase Simpsonwood (and any other park within our jurisdiction, including Jones Bridge Park) for the EXTREMELY low price of $100 per acre. In other words, for less than $23k, our city could OWN and CONTROL all 227 acres of Simpsonwood!
Upon learning this information myself, I began to create a vision for the park far greater than what Gwinnett County has in store for it. This vision encompasses the residents of Peachtree Corners holding fast to our greatest resource and recognizing that Simpsonwood is truly the gem of our community. Within this vision, I can see how the land can still serve as a safe haven for those of us seeking respite from the modern world, as well as, a place of nature education, a home to wildlife, and a place for children to run with grass and dirt under their feet.
By controlling the land as a city, we would have the opportunity to convert Simpsonwood into an official nature preserve, similar to the “Dunwoody Nature Center (DNC)” in Dunwoody, or the “Autrey Mill Nature Preserve” in John’s Creek. With our neighboring cities already aware that nature-based parks add extreme value to their residents, it is my hope that our city learns from their example and allows us to hold onto our last bit of untouched beauty.
Throughout my many meetings with the city officials, we toured the Dunwoody Nature Center together, drank coffee, and hashed out ways that Simpsonwood, could in fact, belong to the residents of PTC while not becoming a financial burden with long term maintenance. While looking at other models, we see that places like the Dunwoody Nature Center achieve their financial goals through annual fundraisers, educational school field trips, and the occasional private event (as approved by their board of directors and in keeping with their mission). These fundraising efforts allow DNC to thrive and remain lovingly maintained.
You may be wondering why would Peachtree Corners NOT buy the land if this is all true? After all, the price certainly right! Through my meetings and my own observations, I have come to the conclusion that many of the City Council Members simply don’t want to enhance their workload by taking on such a large scale project. After all, purchasing the land would mean that our city would need to dedicate time and money to formulating a maintenance plan and budget to ensuring that Simpsonwood remains available to the public. Although this could seem overwhelming at first, considering that Simpsonwood has primarily been left alone for many years, it would seem that any frantic anxiety surrounding the immediacy of this issue could easily be tempered.
This leaves me wondering, what could REALLY be the reason behind our city’s lack of inertia when it comes to this purchase. I estimate that political relationships, and possibly political aspirations are the reason why most of our City Council Members have not seized the opportunity for our city to be enriched by controlling our own parks. Perhaps city officials don’t want to rock the boat with their Gwinnett County connections? Perhaps, the City Council members are using the park as a bargaining chip to get something else they desire more from the county? Or perhaps even the worst possible idea is true, that the city wants to wait until the county dumps $8 million into the park BEFORE swooping in and taking it out from underneath them? My hope is that the answer to this last question is far from the truth, because that would undoubtedly fuel feelings of distrust and hostility towards our local City Council.
As a Friend of Simpsonwood, I am sure that you are fully aware that the changes that Gwinnett County proposes to make to our park will alter it, and our surrounding neighborhoods, forever. At the March meeting,Gwinnett County put forward a plan that includes several pavilions (large and small), an outdoor classroom (spanning somewhere 4000-8000 sqf), a playground dubbed a “Nature Exploration Area,” expansive parking, and the most egregious feature of all, 12’ wide paved trails throughout. While the plan conveniently excludes plans to replant trees as suggested by the steering committee, it does include clearing many trees for a large meadow that will rival the size of the great lawn, as well as, eliminating the pine tree “forest” running parallel to Revington. This is all to say nothing of the disruption and destruction that the development process alone would have on the land. Furthermore, it is no secret that Gwinnett County does not currently have the resources nor the plans to enforce regulations in the park, so as we have all seen with Jones Bridge Park, it will only be a matter of time before our slice of heavenly nature is crowded, noisy, and full of trash.
Friends, I call upon you to TAKE ACTION TODAY and pressure our City Council to step up to the plate and take ownership of Simpsonwood. Let’s call upon them to call Simpsonwood what it really is, “Simpsonwood Forest,” as proclaimed by a PTC resident, Jonathan Bonnet at the last Gwinnett County meeting. Let them know that you do not want Gwinnett County to change the landscape of our beloved park forever! Please email them TODAY at the emails listed below! Please also share this letter so that other Friends of Simpsonwood may take action TODAY!
Thank you,
Keep it Natural,
Danielle Leahy
Founder, Friends of Simpsonwood
Peachtree Corners City Council Members to Contact:
Alex Wright: awright@peachtreecornersga.gov
Ora Douglass:odouglass@peachtreecornersga.gov
Weare Gratwick: wgratwick@peachtreecornersga.gov
Mike Mason (Mayor): mmason@peachtreecornersga.gov
Phil Sadd: psadd@peachtreecornersga.gov
Joe Sawyer: jsawyer@peachtreecornersga.gov
Eric Christ:echrist@peachtreecornersga.gov
