Residents viewed revised conceptual plans and provided feedback at the Northeast Cherokee Parks and Trails Plan final virtual public input meeting on Feb. 9. Residents have until March 13 to review the plans and provide feedback online.

“I’m so excited to see what amenities we can have here and to get plans going for this important part of the county,” said Cherokee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Harry Johnston. “This area could really use, not only parks, but an anchor for the community.”

During the virtual meeting, participants viewed three different parcels in the northeast area of Cherokee County. The sites include a 102-acre parcel in Free Home for the future E.W. and Edith Cochran Park, a 538-acre parcel on Yellow Creek Road along the Etowah River and the recently named Long Swamp Creek Recreation Area, a 23-acre parcel on Ball Ground Road at the Etowah River.

Throughout the presentation, each of the parcels were shown featuring different potential opportunities ranging from bike trails to a disc golf course. Participants voted online prioritizing the amenities for each parcel. The top priorities for each included a canoe or kayak launch at the Long Swamp Creek parcel, mountain biking trails at the Yellow Creek parcel and walking trails at the Cochran Park parcel.

“We thank everyone for their participation and encourage folks to go online and answer engagement questions, which will help us prioritize the projects and develop our implementation plan,” said Cherokee County Recreation and Parks Director Jay Worley.

The next step includes project phasing, implementation plans and report documents that are scheduled to be presented to the Cherokee Recreation and Parks Advisory Board on April 13 and Cherokee County Board of Commissioners at the May 3 regular commission meeting. Anyone with questions should contact Jay Worley at jworley@cherokeega.com or Sarah McColley, with TSW, at smccolley@tsw-design.com.