Decatur Heights Neighborhood (Decatur, GA)

Church sign from North 4/28/2010

Church sign from South 4/28/2010

Wide Open Wednesday

 This is your weekly opportunity to post anything you feel might be of interest to your Decatur Heights neighbors.

The usual civility rules apply.

PSWC is AWARE towel drop-off site

From Deanne

PSWC + AWARE= Lots of Love All Around!

Our Peer Support & Wellness Center neighbors have graciously offered to serve as the AWARE towels drop-off site. If you have towels, baby blankets, etc to donate, just bring them to the House located at 444 Sycamore Drive.  (Please no holes or raveled edges to avoid accidental injuries to the baby animals.) They will also have AWARE brochures available with info on other support opportunities.

And from the AWARE folks:

Once again coyotes have been spotted in the Decatur Heights area. Please know that coyotes are not a threat to you, your family, or your dogs. It is wise to always remain with your pets when they are outside. Leave the coyotes alone & they'll leave you alone!  ( Also: Coyotes eat nuisance animals.)

 
 

Chaulk art

Deanne spotted this on Fairview St. just east of Sycamore Drive yesterday.

Decatur First Methodist

Glenn Creek Nature Preserve workday Saturday 9-12 am

 From Neil Norton:

The event is cancelled due to weather.

Hi Everyone,

This Saturday, April 24th, we have a Glenn Creek Nature Preserve Work Day from 9am to 12pm.   While most Poison Ivy in the Nature Preserve is out of reach, please bring gloves and wear long sleeves and pants.   Also bring water.   We will be removing Privet and English Ivy.   We are also asking all volunteers to bring towels for bedding and cage liners for AWARE, the wilderness animal rescue organization.  Deanne Thomas has offered to bag them up and bring to their headquarters near Arabia Mountain.  AWARE also needs transport volunteers, and more info will be available on Saturday for those that are interested.  Pizza or Burritos will be provided for all volunteers around 12. 

Deanne: All neighbors are welcome to drop off towels at the project site at the end of Fairview off Ridgeland. Please no holes or ravels as the towels are used to care for baby animals ( to avoid possible injury).

Also mark your calendars for Saturday, May 8th when Trees Atlanta will be working on the other branch of Glenn Creek Nature Preserve.   We will meet at the entrance to the Park on Glendale and will be working on:  

-spread grass seed on steep slope

-pick up trash

-move native plants that will be damaged during stream bank restoration. 

-talk to neighbors and answer any questions about the project. 

Neil Norton
404-271-6526

http://glenncreeknaturepreserve.org/ & become a fan on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Glenn-Creek-Nature-Preserve/323223702763

A time of healing for our neighborhood

You've probably elected to live (or continue to live) in or near Decatur Heights, or you wouldn't be bothering to read this.

Our neighborhood has been splintered in the past, and it's been chopped apart by the 207/444 PSWC controversy.

Unless the ruling by the ZBA is appealed to DeKalb Superior Court (and nobody has stepped up to say it will be), we have exhausted all avenues to change what we have. The PSWC can stay in our neighborhood, and operate as it has been, for as long as it likes.  We have to accept that, or celebrate that, or not really give a flip, depending on where each of us stands on the matter.

Like the song says, you don't always get what you want, but, with a little help from your friends, you get what you need.

Now is the time for healing. For finding a way to live together peacefully in a very small area. We can do that simply by ignoring each other (making it a very cold place), or we can proactively try to get to know each other and work together for our common good. 

We also have some rebuilding to do in our relationship with City Hall. Some feel Decatur Heights is viewed as lower on the totem pole than more affluent neighborhoods in the city, which (if true) might explain why its residents were all but ignored as a highly experimental facility (one of the first to be placed in a residential community anywhere in the country) was allowed to operate without an official license from the state nor an official permit from the City.  Let's hope the City meets us at least half way in improving this relationship.

The City has just kicked off a process for envisioning Decatur in 2020, and developing an action plan to work toward that vision. You can still join that process, if you call 678-553-6584 before the first roundtable meetings. I know I intend to push for better mechanisms for interacting with residents and neighborhoods.

Let's see how it goes. What, if anything, are you as a resident willing to do to heal our dysfunctional neighborhood?

 

Neighborhood news

From the DHNA:

DECATUR HEIGHTS NEWS, APRIL, 2010

 

Decatur High School Art Sale at Church on Sycamore Drive

 

Our high school art students will be hosting an art show – includes art and music - this Saturday, April 17 from 7-pm in the gym at the Church.  Walk on down and give some support to our neighbor high school students. 

 

Neighborhood Block Party

 

Come celebrate the end of the school year and beginning of summer on Saturday, May 22 on Ridgeland Avenue.  There will be fun for kids and great neighborhood socializing and good fun. Bring a dish and join your neighbors. Time, location will be announced later, but Mark Your Calendars.

 

More information to follow.

5/17 Update: The flyers are now out. The party will be 5pm until at the end of Ridgeland Ave. See flyer in 5/17 post.

 

City Reminders –

 

The city schools Farm to School project (www.decaturfarmtoschool.org) is hosting a dine out in Decatur evening on April 20^th.  Restaurants will be donating a portion of the night’s proceeds to this school effort.

 

The Glennwood Estates Neighborhood Yard Sale will be Saturday April 24th from 8am to 2pm.

 

Homeowners Night – Want to know the city’s zoning, construction, inspection and  permitting  requirements?  On Tuesday, May 4^th  from 6-8pm, the Development staff will host an informational session in City Hall. 

 

It’s junk at the curb time!  On Saturday, June 5^th the city will haul off all those things that they don’t take during the year.  Remember that tires are not in the mix and paint supplies MUST have cat litter in the cans to be picked up. 

What?

Decatur Animal Control