Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Parker Griffin, a resident on Rock Hill Road in Mountain Brook, at right, makes a point about a proposal trail at Alabama Veterans Memorial Park during a Mountain Brook City Council meeting on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, as Nimrod Long of the Friends of Jemison Park looks on.
Residents on Rock Hill Road on Monday night expressed concerns to the Mountain Brook City Council about trails proposed to be installed at Alabama Veterans Memorial Park.
The City Council was considering a resolution to approve a contract with the Friends of Jemison Park to install the trails. The nonprofit already has raised money to build the 1-mile loop trail around the perimeter of the park, but some Rock Hill Road residents said parts of the trail are too close to their homes and would rob them of privacy.
“Right now, it's a jungle,” Parker Griffin said. “It's summer, but in fall, winter, early spring, when the foliage is gone, this whole ridge is viewable to our neighborhood. I will be able to see all of this clear as day. And this distance is not nearly as far as you think it is.”
Nimrod Long, a longtime advocate for Jemison Park and member of the Friends group, said his former landscaping firm designed the trail.
“The whole idea was to invite people to use the park because … it's like Jemison Park,” Long said. “The more activity you get in, it's safer. … Right now, this park is not used a lot. That makes security more difficult instead of less difficult.”
Alabama Veterans Memorial Park is not in the city limits of Mountain Brook, but the city owns the property because it was donated as a gift, and city leaders say it provides amenities that residents near there have said they want.
Map courtesy of city of Mountain Brook
This map shows a proposed 1-mile perimeter trail proposed for Alabama Veterans Memorial Park in Mountain Brook, Alabama, as well as potential future trails.
Aaron Vines asked if the city can maintain the park. Council President Billy Pritchard said yes. “We just don’t have police jurisdiction,” he said, adding that police can respond if Birmingham police request assistance when responding to a call.
Pritchard said a vote was not planned for Monday’s meeting. “We're taking comments,” he said. “We want to have input from those who are interested.”
Several residents who voiced concern scheduled a meeting with Long to discuss the matter.
During Monday night’s council meeting, the council also:
- Accepted a $10,000 grant from the Jefferson County Commission to update the city’s training facility for police officers, firefighters and the general public
- Accepted a $30,000 grant from the Jefferson County Commission to help with cybersecurity associated with city technology devices
- Agreed to have a traffic study for Corinth Drive and Kennesaw Drive to gauge afternoon school carpool traffic flow
- Executed an agreement with the Municipal Workers Compensation Fund to provide statutory benefits
