For immediate release.
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Auburn, AL (Feb 5) - The Shell Toomer State Parkway in Auburn is now threatened
by actions that would slice-n-dice the peaceful parkway and convert it into a
busy thoroughfare. That is the contention of a citizens group who Friday
filed suit in Montgomery County Circuit Court against the Alabama Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to block the sale of an easement on
the Parkway.
Over the past six decades thousands of Alabamians visiting Chewacla State Park
have enjoyed the quiet beauty of the Shell Toomer Parkway, a mile-and-a-half
long, 300-foot wide state park property that was deeded in the 40's to the State
of Alabama specifically to create a "parkway." A parkway is defined under
Alabama law as, "any elongated strip of land suitable for recreation and a
pleasure vehicle road to which the owners or lessees of abutting property shall
have no right of direct access."
Today the rolling Shell Toomer Parkway is home to the Charlotte and Curtis Ward
Bike Path, a biking-walking-running trail that is enjoyed by thousands of visitors
and locals each year.
In December of 2006, DCNR Commissioner Barnett Lawley granted developers of a
637-unit subdivision adjacent to the Parkway an easement to place the entrance
to the new subdivision on the Shell Toomer Parkway. The developers' own
projections predict that nearly 6,000 vehicle trips per day will be added to the
Parkway because of the development.
The Citizens for the Preservation of Shell Toomer Parkway (CPSTP), a non-profit
community group established in 2003 to protect the parkway, filed the suit. The
group believes that DCNR violated a 1940 statute which states, "It shall be the
duty of the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources, acting through
the Division of Parks, to preserve, improve, protect and maintain all parks,
parkways, monuments and historic sites now owned or hereafter acquired or
established by the State of Alabama."
The suit also contends that the easement sale itself was invalid because of a vague
legal description of what was to be transferred and a violation of the Alabama
Administrative Procedures Act.
Contact: Keith Campagna (kcampagna@charter.net)
Bob Locy (locyrob@auburn.edu)
Web: www.chewacla.net