FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – A potential land swap between the Polo Fields and nearby Denmark Park has been a hot-button issue for many months. The issue was resolved Thursday when the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve an acquistions’ contract that will enable the County to sell approximately 57 of the 80 acres that had been designated for Denmark Park.

Commissioner Todd Levent

Commissioner Todd Levent introduced the issue by stating the county had received notice that the Polo Fields owners Kimberly and Michael Domenicone plan to sell the property and wants $300,000 per acre, a price Levent said the county can’t justify. If the land is sold to developers between 1,300 and 1,500 youth soccer players will be displaced.

“I can’t stand that we’re all getting pitted against each other over this,” Levent said. “I wish that [we] had $7.5 million extra in the coffer. Yes, the county could use both pieces of land in the future, there’s no doubt in our mind …. We asked staff to look into our capital funds, and [the money] is just not there to hold both of them. We would love nothing more than keep both parks and not create this controversy between everybody.”

The County purchased approximately 57 acres on Windy Hill Drive from Kay Veal and another 23 acres on Mullinax Road for about $2.4 million from Mullinax Road, LLC and Jay Land. The acreage was planned for Denmark and would include pickleball courts, walking trails, four rectangular fields. The county now proposes to sell that land to developers in order to raise the money to purchase the Polo Fields.

County Attorney said the acquisition contract anticipates a 90-day due diligence period. “There will be no closing on the Polo Fields unless the county is able to sell the discussed portion of the Denmark property for a price of no less than $7.5 million,” he said.

Emily Kaminski, speaking on behalf of Kay Veal, the former owner of the Denmark Park property read a statement written by Veal who was too upset to attend the meeting. The statement follows: “I am adamantly opposed to the proposed land swap. I sold my farmland to be used by the county as a park. I turned down much larger offers so the land could be a park. My late husband did not want houses on that land and I don’t either. I wanted to do something for the county and now I feel duped if the county goes forward with this land swap. I am outraged that certain members of this board would consider misusing my goodwill in this way. Leave Denmark Park alone.”

But Brian Yearwood, a member of the Parks and Recreation Board, worried about the state of youth sports if the swap was not approved.

“Spring is going to be a disaster if we don’t have those fields because we have no place to put the kids. Fall is going to be an unmitigated disaster because we now have football, cheer, lacrosse and soccer.“