The Formation of the Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance
The majority of the landowners who held under 180 acres were pro preservation but the threat of traditional green field sprawl development rested with the larger landowners who held parcels over 180 acres. During the sorting of land ownership, it was discovered that half of the 40,000 acre area was held by this group of only 36 families or entities. Feeling confident with the support of the Bouckaerts, we invited the 36 to meet at our home. This was a mix of people who had inherited the land, land speculators from Atlanta and people like us who had found the country respite on the edge of Atlanta.
What is now the Hawthorne Room at the Inn was our in-house movie theater but doubled as a great gathering spot. Marie prepared an array of desserts which we later discovered was a key to our eventual success.
That first meeting of the group was successful in the fact that 31 of the land owners attended but in the end turned out to be a disaster. The inherited landowners were vocal in their opposing views. Half of this group had been waiting for development to find it’s way to the area and they said “bring on the bulldozers.” Another group who had lived here their whole life wanted no change, desiring for their grandkids to grow up in the idyllic woods of their childhood. After ninety minutes, I called the meeting to an end when it seemed we had dissolved into name calling reminiscent of sixth grade taunts. One women said half under her breath but audible to the room, “you have always been greedy” after a comment by a pro development resident who’s family had lived here for generations. The rather loud response came back “you stupid tree hugger.”
Following the meeting, I noticed the pro bulldozer group talking with the land speculator group who did not live in the area and the preservation group was talking with the Atlanta escapees. Like minded folks gravitated to one another. Could we ever find common ground?
Feeling hopeless after that meeting, I knew we could not give up. We needed research to back up our assumption that we could have both preservation and higher economic value of the land without mass grading for development.
The Urban Land Institute had recently completed a study of the high value of golf course lots being tied to the open space rather than the golf course. The 1980s and ’90s produced an ever increasing number of golf course communities. This was the result of the financial reports showing the high value of lots facing a golf course thus it was easier for a developer to fund a community with a golf course. The ULI study showed that 92% of the people who owned these high value lots played golf twice or less a year, thus proving the value was due to the open space and had nothing to do with golf.
With that and other facts, I was ready to call the next meeting. It was clear we needed the support of some of the leadership voices. I called Mr. Thompson to ask if he would return. His response “no one is going to tell me what to do with my land”. And I said, “But if your neighbors start selling to suburban developers, your silence will lead to others defining the future of your land. Look what has happened in most of the farm land around Atlanta.” His response after a longe pause of thought was “Are you going to have the peach cobbler, best I ever had.” I said yes and we called the next meeting. Marie kept baking and I kept calling meetings. Part of the group showed up for the desserts and the other part interested in planning for the future. The conversation was engaging in the meetings that followed and became much more civil.
We eventually started monthly meetings of large landowners which led to the creation of an alliance organization. The unnamed Alliance was formed in April of 2001. Membership was two dollars per acre owned. The officers elected in that first meeting were:
President - Steve Nygren, Serenbe
Vice President - Tom Williams, Bouckaert Holdings
Secretary - Joe Harris, Minerva Land Management
Now that we had an organization, what should it be called? What should we call this 40,000 acre area? Rural Palmetto? Rico? Goodes? Campbell? Parts of the area were referred to by these handles and there is so much history around each of these names, but non seemed to represent the 40,000 acres we were focusing on. Next week I will remember more.