Rome's Central Park
Efforts to Save Burwell Creek Wetlands, Floodplain and Rome's Central Park
Take action now to save Rome's Central Park, an 80-acre tract of wetlands, creeks and floodplain forest owned by the City of Rome that is currently under consideration for redevelopment as a 60-acre regional shopping center called "Citi Center". Sign CRBI's Online Petition Now!
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View Rome News Tribune video:
Rome News Tribune Video of Burwell Creek Tour
The photos below show the same location at the city's "Burwell Creek
Property" during dry weather and after a 4-inch rainfall in December 2008
that flooded much of the proposed building site. During January 2009
flooding, as much as 80 percent of the building site was covered in several
feet of water. To view additional photos of the site during January 2009
flooding, click here.
Development plans call for:
- Filling nearly 50 acres of 100-year floodplain
- Displacing some four acres of wetlands and filling the Duck Pond
- Remediating an abandoned city landfill on the site by capping the landfill area and relocating nearly half a mile of Burwell Creek.
The development and filling of wetlands and floodplain is being justified by
the existence of an abandoned city-owned landfill which contains some
hazardous waste. However, tests conducted at the site show limited
contamination.
After studying development plans and all testing data for the landfill and
Burwell Creek, CRBI believes that the best use of this property is for it to
remain as a high-quality, functioning wetlands and floodplain and remain
part of Rome's plan to create a Central Park from the Oostanaula River to
Jackson Hill. If you agree, sign our online petition to tell the Rome City
Commission: "Save Central Park"
October 2008 Letter to Rome City Commission addressing concerns about the
Re-development Proposal
Text of petition for paper copy (pdf)
Burwell Creek and Citi Center maps (pdf)
Burwell Creek wetlands during dry weather
Burwell Creek wetlands after a 4-inch rainfall
Rome City Commission Extends
Sales Agreement through Dec. 2011
Posted May 19, 2009--On May 18, 2009 the Rome City Commission extended a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ledbetter Properties that will allow the developer to continue exploring the possibilities of developing some 80 acres of city-owned natural areas into a regional shopping center. The new MOU extends to December 2011.
CRBI members attended the Commission meeting and Executive Director Joe Cook spoke to the Commission requesting that they include provisions in the MOU requiring that Ledbetter Properties conduct water quality monitoring on Burwell Creek to determine the extent of contamination in the creek. CRBI believes that the threat of the landfill to the environmental and human health has been exaggerated.
Despite spending more than $1 million on the project thus far, including extensive testing for hazardous waste in an abandoned city landfill at the site, Ledbetter Properties has not yet conducted tests on water in Burwell Creek. Inexplicably, last summer the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) issued environmental permits allowing the developer to relocate the creek and destroy four acres of wetlands in order to “fix” the abandoned landfill. Evidence provided by Ledbetter Properties in their COE permit application shows only minor contamination within the landfill proper and shows no evidence of contamination in the creek.
The COE permit also gives the OK to fill some 50 acres of floodplain at the site for the purposes of building the shopping center.
CRBI also requested that the Commission instruct city staff to conduct a financial analysis of the project that would compare the city’s costs of providing infrastructure for this development with the costs of a city-operated clean up of the landfill. One of the selling points for the city in this project is the desire to have a private entity (Ledbetter Properties) pay the costs of capping and closing the landfill.
The Commission took no action on either request, but discussed CRBI concerns for several minutes before unanimously approving the extension of the MOU.
CRBI is now in discussions with Ledbetter Properties to conduct a joint water quality study on Burwell Creek.
While CRBI agrees that capping the landfill and restoring the creek could benefit the area, replacing and filling the extensive floodplain and wetlands on the site with a 60-acre shopping center would ultimately have adverse impacts on stream health. The site was originally slated to become part of Rome’s Central Park, stretching from the Oostanaula River to the top of historic Jackson Hill.
