At Tuesday’s Richmond Hill City Council meeting, city manager Mike Melton said developer Lamar Smith has volunteered to give a piece of land off Ivey Street in Main Street subdivision to the city.

The deal will pave the way for the city to construct a sidewalk near the schools, giving pedestrians an alternate route to and from the elementary and primary schools.

RHPD Chief Billy Reynolds said he is an advocate of the project. He said his department receives complaints from residents of The Crossings, a town home complex near the schools, about pedestrians walking across their complex as they commute to and from the schools.

Smith reportedly is contributing the parcel at no charge, saying it is virtually useless to him and recognizing it would benefit the city.

His initial master plan called for a loop road to be built to connect the schools, but the BoE decided against the project.