Tucker approves downtown park design, homebrew ordinance first read

Tucker City Council approved the final design of the Tucker Downtown Park Masterplan, which will create a park that city officials said, “will be a hub of activity throughout the year.”

According to the approved plan, city officials will now “move to the engineering/construction documentation phase.”

The park will be located on Railroad Avenue in downtown Tucker. City officials said they purchased the land, which was the site of the former Cofer storage lot, “due to commitment to quality parks and outdoor activity and the desire to create a downtown activity space.”

According to the approved plan, there has been input from elected officials, city staff, and the public for the design of the park – which the plan calls a “vital downtown asset.”

The downtown park will be the center for future events and activities to help create family fun for the community in the downtown area, the plan states.

The park plans show that the park could include a performance stage, entry plaza, shaded areas, fountains, and greenspace that includes mounds, a dry creek bed, and raised water troughs, among other amenities. A water wall, slide, park, and other amenities for children are also shown in the renderings.

Other areas included in the renderings are a market walk to provide space for farmers and art markets that will feature bench swings, restrooms, a garden walk, a picnic area, and a spectator mound.

Tucker Parks and Recreation Director Rip Robertson said the approved plan is “not the final look at what’s in the park, it’s just the final approval of where and what the park will look like.”

“They need sort of a stake in the ground from us saying we want them to proceed with beginning the engineering drawings and that sort of thing,” Robertson added about the engineering team working on the proposal.

Mayor Frank Auman added that residents have a wait ahead of them before they see the plan come to fruition.

“It’ll take us probably a few weeks to get a proposal … then we’ll have to approve that … it’s probably a three- or four-month process. Then there’s a couple of months of bidding and contractual awarding and all that,” said Auman. “It’s a lengthy process.”

During the same meeting, city council members also heard the first read on an amendment to allow home brew events in Tucker. According to city officials, there is a difference in home brewing events and commercial brewing events, both regarding beer brewing, and the code of ordinances needs to be updated to allow a perspective home brew event to occur.

The ordinance read at the special called meeting would allow for a home brew event to be permitted by the city and gives instructions on how participants can transport home brewed alcohol to the event.

The ordinance will go into effect if it passes its second read during city of Tucker’s Feb. 13 council meeting.