Dear Supporters, You may be saddened to learn that the legal battle to Save the Trees of Grant Park has ended. There is now no legal hold standing in the way of tree removal for the Grant Park Gateway parking deck project, and it is unknown when the City may commence felling the trees. In light of a continuing uphill battle to save the trees, on December 21, 2017, the petitioners seeking to appeal the tree removal permit granted for Grant Park Gateway in higher court agreed to a legal settlement with the City of Atlanta. While the settlement achieved some notable gains, the majority of the nearly 250 trees included in the removal permit will be felled as the parking deck goes forward. The settlement gains are summarized as follows: 1) The City agrees to preserve 10 (out of nearly 250) Grant Park trees slated for removal for the parking deck. Five trees are in the park area fondly referred to as "the bowl." The other five are by the pond. 2) The City agrees NOT to stockpile dirt in the bowl during construction of the deck. This will minimize damage to the surrounding trees and the 4 specimen trees which are to be preserved in the middle of the bowl. 3) The City agrees to ATTEMPT to save tree #2745, the iconic large water oak on the corner of Boulevard and Confederate Avenue. The City also agrees to ATTEMPT to save tree #2731, the 100-year old white oak in the southern end of the Boulevard lot. 4) The City agrees to redesign the flyover bridge, a feature of the project which will connect the top of the deck to the ground. The redesign is intended to make it ADA compliant and friendly for use by cyclists. There will be future design meetings about this. 5) The City agrees to turn the southern end of the current Boulevard parking lot into greenspace. They will cover the asphalt in this area with dirt and greenery. (Ripping out the asphalt would likely damage the roots of the remaining trees, more than leaving it in). This area will not be a bus parking lot as originally planned. 6) The 7,000-person capacity bandstand on top of the deck will be redesigned as a pavilion. There will be future design meetings about this. The entire settlement document is posted at www.savethetreesgp.org, along with additional background information about the fight to Save the Trees of Grant Park. Please visit the site, read the settlement, and sign up to our Save the Trees of Grant Park email list while you’re there. This is important as it will be our only way of communicating with you going forward. We will strive to disseminate important future development information pertaining to Grant Park to those on the list. Also you are strongly encouraged to contact Carla Smith, local Atlanta City Councilwoman District 1, by phone at 404-330-6039 or email at CSMITH@ATLANTAGA.GOV to continue to express your concerns or dismay at the impending tree removal and to demand an official public update on the trees. Almost five months ago, we posted this petition on the back of a 250-signature, hardcopy petition with the intention of demonstrating a much greater public interest in saving the trees of Atlanta’s Grant Park. With over 5,000 signatures to date, the response has been amazing. Understandably, at this time, and in light of the settlement and thousands of signatures, many people will be left to wonder how and why clear-cutting in Atlanta’s oldest city park could occur. A number of contributing factors may be identified, but perhaps the most significant factor is a lack of transparency. By the time the public began to understand the Grant Park Gateway project and its implications for the park, saving the trees from destruction was a challenge for the underdog. If greater transparency to these development plans within the park had been available early on, one is left to wonder whether a public majority would have favored the City giving over park land to the Zoo for expansion of an African Savanna or constructing a 1,000 space pay parking garage and modern restaurant on park grounds at the expense of nearly 250 well-established trees. If greater transparency to these plans had been available early on, would the broader public have held our institutions, including the Grant Park Conservancy and City of Atlanta, accountable for conserving the park land and existing trees? Would the plans for Grant Park Gateway have followed the Master Plan for Grant Park? The Master Plan is a document which sets forth specific design principles and guidelines for the park. It was developed with public participation and the Grant Park Conservancy (GPC) in 1999 and is an essential element within the operating agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), between the City and GPC. City of Atlanta officials publicly acknowledged during a meeting in October 2017 that they did not consult the Grant Park Master Plan during design development for Grant Park Gateway and even expressed surprise at the existence of this document. These underlying issues are noted for the benefit of those keeping a watchful eye on park preservation and tree conservation. As the City of Atlanta struggles to find the right balance between intown development and preservation of its treasured tree canopy, we must fight to protect our trees. If you are in or around Grant Park, attend the Grant Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA) and Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) meetings. Connect with Save the Trees of Grant Park on facebook and sign up for our email communications at savethetreesgp.org. Engage in your own local community associations and let’s strive to stay as informed as possible. Please support our fellow concerned citizens who are engaged in similar fights to save other trees in the city, such as those in East Atlanta's Ormewood Forest. Our voices are stronger together. Thank you kindly for your time and for supporting the trees. Yours Sincerely, All of us at Save the Trees of Grant Park www.savethetreesgp.org