A comprehensive park plan is both a design for the whole park and strategies to maintain and operate the park successfully. It covers the entire park and considers every aspect of its management and maintenance.

In a park as large as Piedmont Park, implementation of the plan is expected to occur over a period of years, potentially decades. Various projects will be implemented based on priority needs and as funding is available.

Three primary factors are driving the need to create a new comprehensive plan for Piedmont Park:

1) The City of Atlanta purchased property near the intersection of Monroe and Piedmont that is intended to become part of the park.

2) The Beltline trail along the park is nearing completion and is expected to bring a new influx of users to the park.

3) The continued growth of neighborhoods around the park, and new land uses on nearby properties (including Amsterdam Walk and the Atlanta Botanical Garden expansion) are changing the dynamics of park access.

You may be aware of previous plans for the park, even going back to the Olmsted Brothers 1912 design. Since the Piedmont Park Conservancy was founded in 1989, there have been multiple planning efforts.

• The last comprehensive plan for the park was completed in 1995.
• A North Woods Master Plan Amendment was completed in 2005.
• Other conceptual visions for small areas of the park have been completed over the last 15 years.

None of these plans have been fully implemented due to funding challenges, changes made by City partners (including the Department of Watershed Management), and shifting needs over time.

The value of a comprehensive plan is that it looks at the whole park in context. The planning process includes a review of all of these previous plans and considers the potential to include previous ideas that still have merit.

The Piedmont Park Conservancy is leading the plan, in partnership with the City of Atlanta.

The Conservancy has hired a team including Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects and Perez Planning + Design to conduct public engagement and develop the plan.