Acree Park at Hotchkiss Landing?

How about if Lowndes County buys the land next to Old State Road at Hotchkiss Crossing on the Alapaha River and turns it into Acree Park? That would be a much better solution to the trash, tresspassing, and hunting problems there than closing the road. And Lowndes County itsels claims it has plenty of money available for just such a purpose.

As we’ve seen, Lowndes County’s own Comprehensive Plan says the county has $500,000 in Acquisition Funds Available to “Adopt, implement, and update provisions of the Greenspace Initiative Plan to include land acquisition and resource enhancement/protection.” And that it plans to “Continue preparation and implementation of the Withlacoochee River Greenway Plan.”

What say the county acquires parkland at Hotchkiss Landing from Acree Investments LTD? That’s who really owns the land on both sides of Old State Road at the Alapaha River, not Phillip Connell, according to the Lowndes County Tax Assessor’s online database. And making that land a park would solve all the problems of trash, trespassing, and illegal hunting that he complained about, plus it could be organized so that Dr. Acree still has access to the rest of his land there.

It could also combine with the Withlacoochee River Greenway Plan to form a River Corridor Protection Plan so Lowndes County can be a “Qualified Local Government”. Which right now it may not be.

-jsq