Alpharetta City Center Plans Save Tree, Enlarge Park

UPDATED 4:45 p.m.: Watch the video to hear Architect David Schwarz explain why City Hall shouldn't be moved out of the Brooke Street Park area, and Jean Aldy show where trees will be saved and reforestation will occur.

The lead architect for Alpharetta's City Center revealed two proposed major changes to the downtown property's site plan that would save a large oak tree and enlarge the city park on the property to just over 5 acres.

The 450-space parking garage was shown reorinted to north-south to shift it away from a 48-50 inch oak tree. The shfit also moved a main pedestrian access point to the parking garage much closer to the City Hall and Alpharetta library branch locations, which was another concern voiced in prevoius updates at City Council meetings.

Check back here at Alpharetta-Milton Patch late today for updates to this story including video from last night's City Council meeting and images from the presentation showing these changes.

Residents have consistently said they were promised a 5-acre park when they voted on approving a $29 million bond referendum to fund the City Center plan in November 2011. By shifting the southern half of a road in the middle of the property to angle west, architect David Schwarz said the park's size increased to just over 5 acres and still provides the library's promised 3 acres of property.

To make these changes, one of four blocks of property considered as future commercial development sites was reduced, Schwarz confirmed. That lowers the entire commercial development possible on the City Center site.