Ormewood Park and East Atlanta residents claimed victory Wednesday night in their quest to save a patch of green on Moreland Avenue.

The tree Conservation Commission ruled against giving a Marietta developer approval to cut down 10 trees at 1098 Moreland Ave. to make way for a 1,540-square-foot Papa John's and parking lot.

Residents of the Ormewood Park and East Atlanta neighborhoods fought the commission's conditional green light on the project saying it is unnecessary to cut down that number of trees. In their presentations, opponents have said the project can be done with a loss of a two trees on the site.

The commission sided with the residents, with three voting in favor, one against and one abstention.

Musa M. Ghanayem, the lawyer representing the developer, said Thursday he has not yet spoken to his client about whether or not to appeal the commission's decision to Fulton County Superior Court.

"I'm ecstatic; this is a real victory for our neighborhood," said John Morse, an Ormewood Park resident and lead proponent of saving the trees.

He said he offered an alternative plan and even pledged to secure an architect who could provide a redesigned configuration for the site.

He said his efforts were rebuffed.

"They weren’t interested in anything else other than their plan," Morse said.

Calls to Papa John's International Inc.'s Louisville, Ky. headquarters also were ignored, he said.

Morse said he's not opposed to progress for southeast Atlanta and that this isn't a case of being anti-development.

"There's a difference between growth and progress," he said, noting a lot of development has occurred just south of the controversial lot and past the intersection of Moreland and East Confederate avenues.

As a result, he said, scores of trees have been felled to make way for acres and acres of asphalt.

"Cancer is a growth," Morse said, likening some of the recent development projects to the disease. "And it spreads. That asphalt just grows and grows.

"We just want to have a nice neighborhood."