Local residents will gather at the Miccosukee Greenway tomorrow (Saturday). They’re rallying to push back on what they see as threats to the Tallahassee park stemming from nearby development projects.
The greenway is home to runners, hikers, cyclists and equestrians -- and of course, to wildlife and birds. But with construction projects underway in the area, a group called Friends of the Miccosukee Canopy Road Greenway is working to to defend it.
Rob Lombardo is the group’s president.
“Right now what we’re dealing with is the massive growth that is happening around the greenway, so we’re trying to organize the communities that surround the greenway on all sides and involve them in what the options are for dealing with the growth," he said.
The current development is already a done deal. But the group hopes to influence city and county commissioners to take more measured approaches in development planning in the future. They're asking Leon County to amend the Canopy Road Ordinance to add the Miccosukee Greenway and Canopy Road Protection Corridor as a regulatory measure to address its special conditions.
Said Lombardo, “This is one of the first times that I can remember in the last 30 years that a group of citizens actually approached our elected officials and said, ‘We need to protect this. We need to protect it and you need to help us.”
The group plans to attend Tuesday’s Leon County Commission meeting to address their concerns.
***
The Friends of the Miccosukee Canopy Road Greenway will gather at the park on Saturday, May 11 at 5 p.m. at the park's Edenfield entrance.
