Mountain Park Community
This is your home on our earth—a little corner of the world centered and stretching down Five Forks Trickum Road between Rockbridge and Killian Hill. More broadly, we also extend into Smoke Rise to east of Killian Hill, between 29 and 78. It’s a big swath with tens of thousands of us.
When Stone Mountain Park opened to the public in 1965, it was an exciting time. Riffing off the name, the Mountain Park community was born. Farmland became subdivisions as many young families moved into new homes. They even wanted to incorporate—until the wind was taken out of their sails by the already incorporated Mountain Park in Georgia! Oh well, it’s the community name we’ve still kept for decades. So just think of us as the other Mountain Park. We know who we are. Some still refer to the FFT/Rockbridge intersection as Trickum, a name that’s likely been here for many years.
Organization
We are grass roots. So far, we're 600+ individuals. We’ve divided scopes of focus interest into Communication, Public Meetings, Marketing, Aesthetics, Website, Money, Other Organizations, Gwinnett County, and Nearby Cities.
Click to see a map of the areas of focus for this organization. This is a rough guide and not an "official" boundary.
Will you be a part of our movement to make Mountain Park all it can be? At minimum, please sign up to be notified of our activities. And if you can contribute a little time and/or money each month, it will make a difference.
Mission, Vision & Goals
About:
The Mountain Park Community Association (MPCA) consists of engaged community members sharing common interests in the future of incorporated and unincorporated Lilburn-Mountain Park to provide a desirable environment for Life-Long Living: to live, work, raise a family, and to age in place.
MPCA exists to give the community a collective voice in envisioning & creating that future.
MPCA is a registered Georgia Nonprofit organization advocating for the people and future of the Lilburn-Mountain Park Community, in both unincorporated Gwinnett County & incorporated Lilburn.
Mission:
The mission of MPCA is to liaison with Gwinnett County, to advocate for the community at-large, and serve as a point of contact for the County to engage the greater community of Lilburn-Mountain Park in the decision-making process regarding matters with the potential to impact the future of the unincorporated Lilburn-Mountain Park community. This would include matters related to zoning, development, quality of life, transportation, economic resilience, and other issues.
Vision:
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The community of Mountain Park will have its own unique identity, with engaged residents having a voice in planning the community’s future through cooperation from all branches of Gwinnett County government.
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Community members will pivot from piecemeal opposition to individual zoning or development proposals to a position of partnership; working with the County to get ahead of development by deciding, in advance, what the Community wants for the future of unincorporated Lilburn-Mountain Park.
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No County approved project, from any Department, will take place in Mountain Park without the community being included in the decision making process.
Goals:
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Create the “Mountain Park Overlay District”
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Revitalize the Five Forks-Trickum Corridor
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Architecture: Commercial Development: Cohesive Architecture within commercial zones
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Sidewalks & Greenway Path: connecting people, parks, & businesses
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Streetscape: Enhance public space (parks & roadways) with trees, plantings, and hardscapes.
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Public Space: Expand options for year-round community-centered meeting & passive use space.
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Sense of Place: Creating & Maintaining Sense of Place
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Trees & Landscape: Preservation & enhancement of tree canopy
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Yellow River Water Trail access: Parking, piccnicing, river entry, and greenway path.
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Serve as Point of Contact between the residents/stakeholders and Gwinnett County, giving the Community a seat-at-the-table before decisions are made.
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Empower community members through education and communication; connecting residents & other community stakeholders with County Departments, Developers, and other entities (through public meetings with County entities, newsletters, and direct email contact).
Meet the Volunteers Leading the Effort
Kate Pittman - President
I’m a retired Professional Engineer, geologist, Gwinnett Master Gardener, and artist (ceramics, watercolor & photography), and I swim regularly at the Mountain Park pool. In the late 1970’s, I supervised the daily operations of a remote barite mine in Nevada. For a time I lived in a tent camp miles from a paved road and even further from the nearest telephone. I went to grad school in Reno, where I had wonderful adventures as cultural liaison for a dozen Indonesian students, teaching at 2 geology field camps, and interning both summers for Amoco Oil Company as a petroleum engineer. After earning a Master’s degree in Geological Engineering, my husband and I moved to Albuquerque where I provided engineering and technical support in the construction of a deep nuclear waste repository. We moved to Seattle, Florida, and then back to Elko Nevada where I became a registered Professional Engineer consulting for several large gold mines. My life changed radically with a diagnosis of leukemia and a bone marrow transplant in 1998. I was extremely sick. And so, 23 years ago, I left my career and moved across the country with my husband Burke Mitchell and our 10-year old daughter Emily. We intended to live close to my large family in Suwanee or Johns Creek but chose instead to make our home in unincorporated Lilburn. We fell in love with the trees, shaded lawns, and rural feel: remnant farmhouses and fields, forested land, and the tiny village of old Mountain Park. (It was a happy accident that the community included Knight elementary, Parkview, and an amazing youth soccer program for Emily.) I’ve watched with alarm as much of what attracted us to the area has been erased by age, neglect, and lack of a master plan for development that places a value on the natural assets of our community. After thinking about it for a full 15 years, I met with our new County Commissioner to ask if anything could be done to restore our community’s character. And that is where the idea was born to bring the people of the community together, through the Mountain Park Community Association, to advocate for ourselves and our unincorporated corner of Gwinnett County.
Mark Wilson - Board Member Sustainability/Volunteer Coordinator
My wife Barbara and I moved to Mountain Park in 1994, with our 2 year old son. I’ve devoted myself to a number of civic activities, Scouts, HOA; always pursuing projects to make our civic lives and our community better. Over the years I became more involved in clean healthy sustainable communities, environmental and river & watershed causes. I’m an active kayaker and hiker, and involved with Gwinnett Adopt-a-Road & Adopt-a-Stream. I retired from my IT career in 2021 and became the volunteer Riverkeeper and chairman of the Yellow River Water Trail, and am also on the boards of the Georgia Canoe Assoc, Georgia River Network, Upper Ocmulgee River Resource Conservation District, and Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District. I’m thrilled to help the Mountain Park Community Association with their Quality of Life and Sustainability mission. It’s clear to me that Mountain Park desperately needs more sidewalks, but also more Trails, Greenways, walking paths. We also have a great opportunity to improve the look and feel and engagement of our two Commercial notes. More development and redevelopment is coming; since we are unincorporated, the Citizens need to get in front of it and make sure redevelopment works positively for all the Stakeholders.
Wanda McMullen - Board Member
CITY/Issues & Advocacy/Membership
Board Member
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Board Member
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Neil Duggan - Treasurer/Website
Neil lives with his wife Dara in Lilburn. They have lived and raised 2 boys in this area since 1988. They are retired and enjoy supporting their Church and the local community through many activities. Their volunteer leadership background includes Boy Scouts, Parkview Band Boosters and various Church ministries and committees. Neil is an avid gardener, loves tinkering in his shop and they both love anything to do with camping and hiking in the outdoors.