Council votes to protect Birmingham Park for good

Birmingham Park, to be protected for good. Council voted unanimously Monday night to put about 185 acres of Birmingham Park, the city-owned park in northwest Milton, under a conservation easement, a permanent agreement that protects the land, held by the Georgia-Alabama Land Trust. The city will still own and run the park. The land trust will monitor it and enforce the easement’s protections for wildlife habitat, open space, scenic views and water. Those protections stay with the land for future generations.

Hiking, horseback riding and wildlife watching will continue, said Sara Leaders, the city’s community development and public works director. New activities and improvements will need advance notice and the land trust’s consent, though the agreement leaves room for more parking and a restroom, she said. The city expects to sign and record the easement in the next few days. Mayor Peyton Jamison, who announced the plan in his State of the City address in January 2025, called it “the first of hopefully many.”