Residents express concerns about Walton HS sports complex

Walton sports complex — *A deer wanders around a former homesite on Providence Road where new Walton High School tennis courts will be located.*

After several months of trying to get information from the Cobb County School District about the proposed Walton High School sports complex, residents in neighboring subdivisions are airing their concerns publicly.

A construction contract to build tennis courts and a baseball field on nearly 20 acres of land on Providence Road and Pine Road is slated to go before the Cobb Board of Education in September.

Over the summer, the district has been developing a site plan and completing work on relocating the Walton softball team back to an on-campus location.

But residents living near the new baseball field—which is moving from its “Raider Mountain” site at the back of the Walton campus to the new venue—are worried that it’s too close to their homes.

They’ve asked the district to reconfigure the bleachers and concession stands, which they say will be built 50-70 feet from their homes. Resident Jennifer Sunderland, whose home at the end of a cul-de-sac on Mulberry Lane is among them, told East Cobb News earlier this week that she’s been told “flipping” the field is not possible.

But she said she heard Tuesday from James Wilson, a school district consultant who’s been asked to work with neighbors from Independence Square and other subdivisions, that he would try “to make this happen.”

Sunderland is scheduled to address the topic at a public comment session Thursday night before the Cobb school board.

The mother of a Dodgen Middle School student, she said she’s not against the Walton sports complex and is not used to speaking in public.

“But we fear that the current plan will greatly diminish the enjoyment of our properties and negatively affect our property values,” Sunderland said, speaking on behalf of other neighbors whom she said didn’t want to be identified.

“Receipt of our concerns have been acknowledged and neighbors including myself are awaiting detailed answers.”

Access to the baseball field would be on Pine Road, near a former homesite that has been demolished. So have two homesites near the intersection of Providence Road and Pine Road, where the tennis courts would be located.

Those demolitions, as well as the site plan work and the softball relocation project, are all part of an estimated $3 million Walton sports complex project.

But those tasks apparently were undertaken without formal funding approval by the Cobb school board. Initially, the new complex was to have housed tennis and softball facilities. Walton’s teams in those sports have played at Terrell Mill Park since 2014 to make way for a new Walton classroom building.

The district has not explained the decision to switch out the baseball and softball venues, or to proceed with some of the construction project before formal approval.

The Walton softball team is beginning its current season on the road and according to the team’s schedule, will be playing at its new venue at Raider Mountain, where the baseball field once stood, starting Sept. 7.

When East Cobb News asked the district to explain those actions, as well as the concerns of Independence Square residents, a spokeswoman said that “all available details will be provided [Thursday] during the Board meeting.”

She didn’t elaborate; the board has afternoon and evening meetings Thursday, and there is nothing on the agenda for either meeting about the Walton sports complex.

The Cobb school board approved $5.65 million in land purchases for the new Walton sports complex. Site plan renderings show that the part of the land along Bill Murdock Road, across from the main campus, won’t be developed at all.

That was part of a 20-acre tract formerly owned by Thelma McClure, who sold in November 2019 for $3 million after the Cobb school district threatened eminent domain.

In August 2020, the school board approved the purchases of 3.5 acres on Pine Road for $2 million, and 1.2 acres on Providence Road for $650,000 for the sports complex.

Shortly after that, Sunderland said the district notified nearby residents that Wilson, a former Cobb superintendent who runs Education Planners, a Marietta-based school demographics and planning firm, that he would be their contact point.

She said there have been some Zoom calls and some e-mail exchanges since then, but she said until now there’s been no response to their concerns about the baseball field.

Among the requests she said she will be asking Thursday is for the district to delay approving funding for construction “until you have written confirmation from myself that reasonable modifications and accommodations have occurred.”

Mulberry Lane, Walton sports complex — *Homes on Mulberry Lane in Independence Square would be as close as 50 feet from the new Walton baseball field.*

Without even getting into the the amount of money this is costing taxpayers which is ridiculous, this land was supposed to be for replacement facilities. That means 4 tennis courts and a softball field. Walton and CCSD totally in the wrong here and should absolutely be bending over backwards to make their neighbors happy. Baseball coach has been complaining for years about his field boo hoo so he whines enough and gets his way and softball has to deal with sloppy seconds. It’s not right and probably a good Title IX case.

I have so thoroughly enjoyed your newsletter for as long as you guys have been putting it out. But I hope you will take a moment and realize you have taken a significantly liberal viewpoint on almost every issue you report on, these days, which does not sit well with me or the majority of conservative residents that moved here for the conservative values that East Cobb espouses. If this is your new mandate, then so be it. You are very close to losing me as a reader.

Wendy Parker

August 22, 2021 12:36 PM at 12:36 PM

East Cobb News does not take political positions on issues that are reported here. Stories published here are for the entire community, regardless of one’s political views.

I’m not sure which stories you’re referring to; if you can be specific I will try to explain. But please refrain from making a blanket statement about this publication without having proper information.

I have linked below to the East Cobb News About page for your reference.

http://eastcobbnews.com/about-east-cobb-news/

Another thing I would be concerned about if I lived over there would be parking and traffic. Concern over noise levels goes without saying.

As an East Cobb taxpayer, I’m concerned about the sleight-of-hand and how loose they are with numbers and the spending of tax dollars. This is not a place where “do it now and ask for forgiveness later” applies. Where is the other $3m that’s been approved for the land for this project … and why does Walton get almost six million dollars for a sports complex before construction even begins? I have never thought that this was a proper application of “eminent domain” and still wish that Mrs. McClure had the wherewithal to fight it. Then, there’s the little question of how kids are supposed to get there during the school day and even after school. Too many questions, not enough answers – especially this close to breaking ground.

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