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AdvancED"
4 | MAY31—JUNE 13,2013 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
JOE EARLE
Sanford and Joan Baskin say Lakeview Oaks is a
“very close community in many ways.”
Lakeview Oaks is a quiet,
private neighborhood
towering trees of Brook Run Park.
Asked to describe his neighborhood,
resident Mann Reed put it this way: “a
little bit of heaven tucked away.”
Folks who live in Lakeview Oaks of
ten use words like “hidden” or “shel
tered” or “private” to describe their com
munity. Brenda Strickland, president of
Lakeview Oaks’ homeowners associa
tion, first discovered the neighborhood
when she went out for a walk one morn
ing nine years ago
and decided to see
what was down a
street she hadn’t
checked out be
fore. Now she lik
ens her commu
nity to a magical,
disappearing Scottish village depicted in
film and on stage.
“When you drive across that bridge,
it’s like going into Brigadoon,” she said.
“The world just goes away.”
But the world has been intruding
on Lakeview Oaks in recent years. And
some of the folks who live in the qui
et community have started fighting back
publicly.
Lakeview Oaks was developed in the
1980s and 1990s. Brook Run had been
home to a state hospital for mentally
challenged patients. Later, the 100-plus-
acre property passed to DeKalb Coun
ty and then to the city of Dunwoody.
City officials describe it as one of Dun-
woody’s premier parks.
Lakeview Oaks residents regularly
question plans for the development of
Brook Run. They attended public meet
ings about the park to present their con
cerns. Some have complained that dogs
have gotten loose from a public dog
park in Brook Run and run through
neighbors’ yards. Others worry about
the damage that may be done by runoff
from construction in the park. Recent
ly, a group of residents took the city of
Dunwoody to court in an unsuccessful
attempt to convince city officials to alter
their plans to build a 12-foot-wide con
crete trail through Brook Run.
From the back yard of her home,
Strickland can hear dogs barking in the
dog park and see the orange construc
tion fences marking the edge of the trail
being built through the park.
“I was heartbroken to see the trees
come down [for the trail], and I was
heartbroken to see
the damage done
by the dog park,”
she said. “There is
so little virgin for
est in this county.
It’s heartbreaking
to see these very
special trees taken down.”
Just down the street, ITilbert Mar-
gol, who has lived in his Lakeview Oaks
home about a quarter century and was
among the first to buy in the commu
nity, worries that construction in the
park will mean more water will run into
Lakeview Oaks. Margol says he’s not es
pecially worried about his own back
yard — he has two drains and pipes in his
yard to carry water away — but he thinks
some of his neighbors will have troubles
during heavy rains.
“Some of the homes farther down
have very high backyards,” he said. “I’ve
watched it several times. At heavy rains,
it’s just like a waterfall.”
But Lakeview Oaks residents are
quick to say their neighborhood is more
than just a place with disputes with city
officials over what to do with Brook Run
Park. They describe Lakeview Oaks as
the sort of tight-knit community where
neighbors know one another and look
out for one another. “It is sweet. It is
quiet. It is friendly,” Strickland said.
“People take care of their homes. They
take care of each other.”
Residents wave hello to one anoth-
Is there something special about
your neighborhood? Let us know at
editor@reporternewspapers.net
DUN
