Residents of Roswell have dubbed a 37-foot retaining wall on Coleman Road as “The Great Wall of Roswell.”
But earlier this week, when severe storms hit the metro Atlanta area, it turned into “The Great Waterfall of Roswell.”
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution reader sent in a video taken by YouTube user Chris Garvey on Tuesday, that shows water steadily pouring over the wall. Erosion can be seen and several temporary construction fences were destroyed.
The video shows muddied water running into the road and across much of the nearby land.
More than 2,500 people had viewed the video YouTube as of Wednesday morning and it had been shared on Facebook pages that oppose the wall, like "The Great Wall of Roswell" and "Preserve Coleman Road." Residents were not happy with what they saw and neither was Mike Palermo, a Roswell councilman.
Palmero wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday: "Many of us have unfortunately seen the Great Waterfall. A stop order has been issued along with multiple citations so this developer will have explaining to do in court. There will be workers out, but they will be working on fixing the problem not working on the new houses," reads the post. "An infuriating situation potentially causing safety issues, environmental issues, and visual issues that all need to be addressed."
Palmero said he has more questions about the wall and expects to have more updates for residents during a city meeting Wednesday night at city hall.
The three-layer pink wall along Coleman Road has long been a contentious development for many Roswell residents who disapproved of the wall.
More than 850 people like the Facebook pages opposing the wall. Developers have plans to build houses at the top of the wall.
Julie Brechbill, a spokeswoman for Roswell, said the city is working with the developer to solve the issues with the wall.
“... The issues they have been experiencing during the construction phase have been mostly due to improper maintenance of erosion control measures and a number of very intense rain events that have overwhelmed the protection measures they have in place,” Brechbill said in a statement. "... The developer has been cited for not properly maintaining their erosion control on the site. Following the last rain event, the city stopped work on the site until they fix the erosion control issues.”
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