Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Sandy Springs City Council held its regular meeting on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, beginning at 6:28 p.m. in the Studio Theatre at City Hall. Key items included a public hearing on an appeal of a special event permit for Holy Innocents Episcopal School, which was denied by a 3-4 vote; the unanimous revocation of a business license for Nubia Cafe following a shooting; the approval of the 2025 CDBG performance report; and a 90-day contract extension for landscaping services. The meeting also featured public comments on trail and sidewalk safety, followed by an executive session on real estate and litigation.
Route where the trail abutts properties along Hadley Court and Wingmill Road, including the former House of Mayor Golumbus, as well as a section of the trail between Adair Road Lane and Roswell Road. Overall, a coalition is not against a regional trail network. We are against portion of the trail segment that we believe are disruptive and dangerous. Chief among our opposition portion of this trail segment is public safety. We believe the current design is hazard to pedestrians using the trail and surrounding streets. Other concerns include the trail functionality, security the residents in our neighborhood, increase traffic, an impact to quality of life. The current trail as designed does not provide for public parking nor restroom facilities at the section between Adair Lane and Roswell Road, where trail section 2C is to end. Given my HOA's homes and clubhouse close proximity to the current route, my HOA be forced to operationalize and pay for the impact this public amenity has on our private community. Another concern regarding the project is when the board asked the city staff and Path Foundation this past May, the number of estimated users of this trail to better understand the potential impact. They say do not have an estimate. The taxpayers being asked to invest $15 million, as well as ongoing operating costs in a project that will cause public safety issues, disrupt neighborhoods, cut down countless number of trees and other vegetation, and impact wildlife without knowing the numbers of users of this amenity. We're requesting that before any additional funding, grant requests and work on this trail continues. We work together to find solution that we that realign the trail segment to hand safety and function. As we know, once the trail is built, we cannot unbuild. So we asked the council requires these staff to work with us to find the city. Your time's up. I need to wrap up. Okay. Um so just to wrap up real quick, I invite you to join to come to our neighborhood to understand uh our concerns in person. I also want to thank the many homeowners of May that appeared today showing their opposition to the trail as designed. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Next. Next, we have Vladimir Splowski. Mr. Spolotsky, uh hello, Council members. I'm Vladimir Shalovsky. Uh I'm here to talk to you about sidewalks on Roswell Road again. Uh I'm at this meeting specifically because last week, uh Thursday the 10th, I was walking with my child, and a driver in a large back black SUV flew off the road, went through a parking lot where kids are expected to be at that time, luckily weren't in the way, demolished a sign, and ended up in a ditch 15 yards from 15 feet from where I was standing with my child. Um in your last meeting on September September 1st, you voted on an agenda item for grant funding uh related to sidewalks, including on Roswell Road north of Long Island Drive. Uh years ago, the council approved uh T0019, uh phase one of which includes sidewalks on Roswell south of Long Island Drive. And um, I extend my thanks to Councilmember Ford uh for helping me get some information that T-0019 is set to start accepting bids in mid-October and start construction in February, which is good, and I appreciate your efforts. Um I want to add, as a resident who who sees and has talked to you multiple times about crashes on that stretch of road, I ask you to increase safety for people on sidewalks and parking lots along Roswell before another tragedy occurs in that area. Um, the T0019 plans already includes curbs where currently the sidewalk is flat with the road, um, and includes uh a buffer grass space, which is good between the sidewalk and the road, um, but those things won't stop in SUV. So I'd ask you to consider in the T0019 concept plans, uh, one of the layouts is typical section 4C. That has a guardrail between uh motor vehicle traffic and the sidewalk. Um I would just suggest applying that to more of the plan, uh, especially the east side of Roswell Road between Meadowbrook and Long Island. Um I'm not an engineer, but I think you could just add those on top of the green space there, uh, maybe as part of a quick follow-up project. Uh the plan second, the plan also includes light poles, which are currently on the far side of the sidewalk away from the road. If you just move them closer to the road, they're not very structurally strong, is my understanding, but they provide a visual cue to drivers looking at their phones to stay on the road, not drive over the sidewalks they do habitually. Um, and three, ideally, you could build continuous sidewalks so people walk straight and flat, and drivers would have to go up and down. That would encourage drivers to slow down rather than flying off the road into sidewalks. Just in general, anything you can do to keep cars on the road would improve safety. That includes for drivers who might otherwise veer off and sue the city, as I'm sure you've seen in recent news.