Judah writes in…

…Bella, escaped from my watch and into the community of Lake Claire. I am not sure which direction, it was very dark and chasing her is not a good idea, she is very timid. A friend suggested that I send a description and email a picture in the hopes that you may be able to help. She is 20-30lbs, black and white, harness is on and tag is stamped with “BELLA”, ears stick straight up and she is considered a Basengii mix. Any info or advice would be helpful, regardless.

Many will recall the nearly 3-year battle between Lake Claire residents and a property owner along DeKalb Avenue to save a giant pecan tree named Grandma Gordon.  Residents threw up numerous legal road blocks over the years to stop the property owner from cutting down trees and developing the property.

Today, an eye-witness reports in…

There’s currently a tree crew, a handful of protesters and some cops at the site and the tree is 90% gone…Guess the legal battle wrapped up…

One more pic after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, this story really brings me back.   Gotta link back all the way to February 2008 to unearth the last piece of DM coverage of this issue.

In yesterday’s AJC, Jamie Gumbrecht headed over to the oft spray-painted trees along DeKalb Ave in Lake Claire, asking “What ever happened to…Grandma Gorden?”.

More specifically, what happened with that dispute between a property owner and area residents over a small patch of greenspace that is also the home of a named, elderly pecan tree?

And even though, we’ve since entered into what’s now commonly referred to as the “Great Recession”, it sounds like the legal battle is still going on.

If you drive DeKalb Avenue every morning, as I do, you may have noticed that the vacant piece of forested land across the street from Shawn Mullins’ house is showing signs of coming deforestation. What will replace the once woodsy lot? Why town homes of course!

A CL Thomas Wheatley article profiling the coming battle was recently posted on the Oakhurst Message Board. Since I can’t find it online, I’ll just post it below. If Thomas or someone else can point me to the link, I’ll gladly trackback.

DeKalb Avenue residents rally for greenspace

The fight to maintain Atlanta’s green canopy – every little inch of it – continues. Residents of Lake Claire and surrounding neighborhoods want to halt a plan to raze trees and build condos on a half-acre lot at the corner of DeKalb and Gordon Avenues – the last slice of greenspace along the bustling road that connects Decatur and
Atlanta.

Residents want the city to help them purchase the land, allow them to create a pocket park to serve cyclists, pedestrians and people waiting at the adjacent MARTA stop.

“Granmaw Gordon,” a pecan tree that has stood for more than 150 years, is one of the 35 trees planned for removal. Once cleared, a proposed10-unit condo development has been zoned for the lot. To Teri
Stewart, a resident and local art gallery owner, the project’s working title – “Greenspace Condominiums” – is particularly ironic.

Jeffrey Wren of EarthStation, the architectural firm designing the project, says that the team’s aim is to build an environmentally-sound – and perhaps even LEED-certified – project.

Stewart says residents are trying to generate funding to acquire the land. She adds that some residents have even volunteered to chain themselves to trees to block bulldozers should they start to roll.

“This is sort of an Eco-Alamo,” says Stewart. “It’s DeKalb Avenue’s last stand.”

— THOMAS WHEATLEY

Also see a neighborhood letter on the Zac Team blog.

Interesting. As I recall, this piece of land has had a big old “For Sale” sign hanging out on it since before Mullins went platinum with “Lullaby” (OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but I wanted to use the analogy). I wonder how long this fight has been going on. Hopefully, it’s not a new initiative, because if so, it seems “too little, too late”.