SPEAK OUT: What Should 'The Range' Become in Gwinnett?

An online petition that wants to pressure the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners into buying a large tract of land and developing it as parkland has gained several hundred signatures.

The land, a 130-acre parcel known colloquially as The Range, is owned by technology giant Cisco Systems. The land has a Cruse Road address in Lawrenceville and is being actively marketed by a leading commercial real estate broker.

-- Would you like to see this land developed as parkland? Tell us in the comments below.

Gwinnett resident Marlin Knapp has been circulating the petition online through signon.org, and it has gotten more than 500 signatures. The petition's goal is to urge the commissioners to buy the land with 2009 SPLOST funds.

Cisco once used the land as a testing area, according to sources. A company official referred questions about the land to its agent, Jones Lang LaSalle. However, no further details were forthcoming.

The land is across from Sweetwater Middle School and near Discover Mills, according to the online listing.

As for possible Gwinnett BOC interest, spokesperson Joe Sorenson said that the commissioners do not discuss pending land sales. Any land sale/public expenditure would have to be approved at a public meeting of the BOC.

Knapp could not be reached for comment.

So now we ask, what would you like to see this land become? Parkland? Office space? Tell us in the comments below.

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