News Release

Horse Trailer Parking Lot Temporary Closure

News Release Date: September 29, 2022 10D KEMO-(VRP)
Closure Order #22-001
10/03 - 10/17/2022

Closures, restrictions and public use limits:

Closure Order – Horse Trailer Parking Lot and Northern Trailhead: Under the authority provided to the Superintendent in 36 CFR 1.5, the horse trailer parking lot and northern trailhead on Cheatham Hill Road administered by the National Park Service within Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is closed, effective immediately, until further notice.

 Authority: 36 CFR 1.5(a)(1)

Notice: This administrative order applies to all individuals subject to the regulatory authority of the National Park Service (NPS) within the horse trailer parking lot and the northern trailhead at Cheatham Hill Road within Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
 
Finding:  The NPS issues this administrative order for the purposes of maintaining public health and safety during the construction of the multipurpose trail.

These directives require the NPS to take the actions identified below:

• No public parking in the parking lot by any public vehicles.
• No public access to the northern trailhead at the Cheatham Hill Road crossing until further notice.

This partial and temporary park closure and public use limitation is not of a nature or magnitude to constitute an impairment to park resources. To adequately address public safety concerns and ensure a safe park visit, less restrictive measures will not suffice. Further, it will not adversely affect the park’s natural, aesthetic or cultural values and is not of a highly controversial nature. Emergency response staff will be have access to the closed area. 

 Accordingly, pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 1.5(b), publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register is unwarranted. This is consistent with hundreds of past partial and temporary park closures or public use limitations, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and past judicial adjudications. See e.g., Mahoney v. Norton, No. 02-1715 (D.D.C. August 29, 2002), plaintiff’s emergency motion for 2 injunction pending appeal denied Mahoney v. Norton, No. 02-5275 (D.C. Cir. September 9, 2002) (per curiam) (public use limitation); Picciotto v. United States, No. 99-2113 (D.D.C. August 6, 1999) (closure); Picciotto v. United States, No. 94-1935 (D.D.C. September 9, 1994)(closure); Picciotto v. Lujan, No. 90-1261 (D.D.C. May 30, 1990)(closure); Picciotto v. Hodel, No. 87-3290 (D.D.C. January 26, 1988)(closure); Spiegel v. Babbitt, 855 F.Supp. 402 (D.D.C. 1994), aff'd in part and vacated with instruction to dismiss in part w/o op. 56 F.3d 1531 (D.C. Cir. 1995), cert. denied 516 U.S. 1046 (1996) (public use limitation).  Pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 1.7, notice of the public closure will be made by closing and locking/chaining applicable gates and the posting of signage. Notice of the public use limitation will be on the park’s website and social media.

Pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 1.5(c), this Record of Determination is available to the public upon request.

This order is effective immediately and will remain in effect until further notice. The effectiveness of this order will be assessed on an ongoing basis, and the order will be modified or rescinded when conditions warrant.