COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Following an outcry from community members Cobb County has put a plan to remove trees on Columns Drive in East Cobb on hold.
“They say you can’t fight city hall, we decided to try and fight city hall,” resident Mary Saad-Williamson told WSB Radio.
Neighbors frustrated over the County’s plans to cut down more than 90 trees in the road’s median started a petition to gather support for their pushback.
“In 48 hours, we had over 1,000 signatures--outcries from people as far away as West Cobb,” Williamson explained.
Columns Drive, which hugs the bank of the Chattahoochee River, dead ends into a unit of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area and is a popular spot for runners, bikers, and walkers.
“The thought of any of us not having the shade or the beauty of all those trees got me angry,” resident Vickey Bolling explained. “Neighbors talked, and then it escalated. It went from anger to action.”
Officials say plans for the removal of the trees came after an arborist assessed that many of them had reached the end of their lifespan.
“Recognizing community concerns about the initial scope of removals, the County is working with an arborist to refine the project. The project will focus only on trees that pose an imminent risk to public safety,” Cobb County Spokesman Ross Cavitt said in a statement. “These trees will be removed and replaced with species that maintain the corridor’s character.
We’re still working on the details of the revised scope of work on Columns Drive, and we will share those details when they are completed.”
Residents will now be a part of a committee working with the County on that revised plan.
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