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Three cop cars sometimes signals big trouble, but this was just a traffic stop during a slow time of day. The truck had to be towed, for some reason. I didn't ask for details, and the DPD didn't provide any to CrimeReports.com.
Neighbors are encouraged to subscribe to CrimeReports.com and NationOfNeighbors.com (where you can report incidents and suspicious behavior). When signing up for NON, please be sure to specify you live in Decatur Heights.
At the 12/19/2011 Decatur Commission Meeting, the award winners in the "Holiday Decorate Decatur Contest" were announced, and a home owner in Decatur Heights took home the top prize. The neighbors on Ponce got special recognition for lighting up the east entrance to town.
Deanne post in the DH Google Group (click on image to see larger):
A longstanding goal of the neighborhood has been to get the speed limit on Sycamore Drive lowered from the current 35 mph (preferrably to 25mph).
Years ago, certain Georgia counties and towns were notorious for setting ridiculously low speed limits (which sometimes changed dramatically upon entering the county or city limits, even though the driving conditions had not changed).
In an effort to curb speed traps, which were giving the State a bad reputation, the Georgia Department of Transportation ruled counties and municipalities could not enforce speed limits set below that determined by the 85% rule, which assumes 85% of drivers will not drive at an unsafe speed.
Wikipedia provides much more about setting speed limits.
While it would seem reasonable that 85% of drivers would drive at or below a safe speed on a residential street, not many residential streets appear like wide thoroughfares, as Sycamore Drive does.
While the speed limit on Sycamore St. from Church St. to Ponce de Leon is 25 mph, it is a narrow street with considerable on-street parking and also has speed bumps (something we cannot have on Sycamore Drive because it is sometimes used by ambulances, even though Winn Way is the official ambulance route from the South). Sycamore Drive is VERY wide from Hilcrest to Pinehurst (wide enough for two 11-ft traffic lanes and parking on each side, but not much parking on the east side. From Pinehurst to DeKalb Medical, it is wide enough for two lanes and parking on one side (or, as is actually done, random parking on either side and weaving by cars). The wider the roadway, the faster cars tend to go.
There are actually very few examples of residential streets in Decatur with 35 mph speed limits. They can probably be counted without the thumb on one hand.
The City can post 25 mph signs, but it cannot enforce that speed. In fact, it does not give tickets until a vehicle is going considerably over the posted speed limit, so vehicles can FLY down Sycamore and only get a warning ticket.
Our best chance at slowing traffic is to use "traffic calming" meaures. The City could mark two 11-foot traffic lanes, with parking lanes on each side from Hillcrest to Pinehurst, and a single parking lane on one side from Pinehurst to the City limit (DeKalb Co. would have to do it northward from there). "Bulb outs" (using concrete raised curbs or plastic "bots") could be installed at intersections. The bulb outs prevent vehicles from driving wide of the marked lanes. If it is allowed (and I'd have to check that), thin trees or scrubs planted in the bulbouts would add to the narrow-street appearance.
Here's an example of a more elaborate bulb out:
Examples of low-cost bulb outs in Decatur, using 8 inch high white plastic markers (aka "bots") can be seen on Church St. and W. Ponce (assuming the bike lane is finished by now - I haven't driven by lately). Later, more permanent bulb outs can be installed, as is the plan for W. Ponce, according to this Decatur Metro post:
When the street appears narrower, even when the marked lanes are the required 11 feet, cars naturally slow down. Some might even elect to take Winn Way, if navigating Sycamore becomes too much of an inconvenience. This has been well illustrated on Ponce near the Post Office.
The City is already looking at a possible median at Grove.
If you have any ideas, the rest of us would love to hear them.
All that said, it appears municipalities can set lower speed limits basic on engineering studies, per Georgia Code 40-6-183 as shown in the continuation
Continue reading "Sycamore Drive speed limit and the 85% rule" »
Have you wished you worked in Decatur, so you could avoid the rush hour time and stress? Depending on your skills and job desires, this might be your golden opportunity:
Courtyard Downtown Decatur (formerly a Holiday Inn) on Clairemont Ave. will be opening in February 2012, following an extensive renovation.
Today (9AM-4PM) and Tuesday (11AM-6PM) its holding a job fair to fill needed postions.
capture from a 51-second WSB-TV piece on the 5PM Wed 12/14 news
A new website, Greater Decatur, is covering selected matters of interest to the Greater Decatur community (which it defines as anything within roughly two miles of the Historic Courthouse).
In the interest of full disclosure, the editor is the same as the editor of this blog.
Greater Decatur has audio of the full 1 1/2 hours of the Selig parking variance hearing by the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals on 12/14/2011, broken into digestible-size segments:
Selig argument (opening comments and rebuttal following citizen comments)
Citizen comments (with the Selig rebuttal at the end)
Board deliberation and decision
Hopefully this is helpful to those who could not attend the afternoon meeting. It will also provide valuable documentation as we watch this development play out over the rest of this decade, and beyond.
You can also find a post linking to a Medlock Area Neighborhood Association (MANA) post detailing the agreement a representatives of the nearby neighborhoods negotiated with Selig and Walmart, but only MANA legally signed. [The representatives of other neighborhoods assumed a neutral or not opposed position.]
This Decatur Heights blog will continue to post about matters of specific interest to our neighborhood.
After an hour and a half of hearing both sides and debating the matter, the DeKalb ZBOA granted the parking variance requested by Selig and Walmart for Suburban Plaza.
More extensive coverage can be found at the Greater Decatur website. All future posts on this matter (unless it's something expressly related to the Decatur Heights neighborhood) will be there.
Deanne Thomas of the DHNA Selig/Walmart Action Committee compiled this contact list for the use of Decatur Heights neighbors should anyone desire to contact someone regarding the redevelopment of Suburban Plaza and posted it on the DHNA website:
Notes:
The DHNA Selig/Walmart Action Committe can communicate your comments to leaders of other nearby neighborhoods, upon request.
Suburban Plaza is not inside incorporated Decatur, so the City contacts have no direct authority. They are, however, following developments, since the Church St. entrance is only five football fields from the City Limits.
The DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals will hear the request for a special exception for less parking per square foot of building space at 1PM on Wednesday, 12/14/2011 at the Maloof Building, 1300 Commerce Ave, Decatur, GA, 30030. This hearing is open to the public. Arrive early to fill in a card if you would like to speak.
Newcomers to our neighborhood may wonder why Hwy 78 abrubtly ends near North DeKalb Mall, dumping traffic out onto Lawrenceville Hwy and N. Druid Hills Rd.
The answer is it was supposed to go to the large Ellis St/Andrew Young International Blvd junction on the I-75/85 connector downtown, with an junction with GA 400 (which was to continue southward to the junction of I-675 and I-285 near Conley) where the Carter Center is now.
The dotted line on this 1983 map (found at the MANA website) shows the planned path:
Here's a 1973 GDOT map showing the planned routes besides the above:
After the path was cleared on the other end, a strong resistance rose up, and the project was tabled.
This Wikipedia entry describes the plans and the long and painful "Atlanta interstate revolt."
You can mentally draw between the lines on this aerial view [which you should click on to enlarge]:
Had all this been built, traffic would no doubt flow better, and we could get from Decatur to other parts of metro Atlanta much faster, but many things would be different, and not necessarily for the better. While the interstate would no doubt have been elevated over the Clyde Shepherd wetland reserve and a portion of the S. Peachtree creek where the Medlock-Mason trail runs now, who's to say what impact that would have had on the wildlife and natural beauty of those areas. And just imagine an expressway running through the stately Druid Hills area.
The DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) hearing on the request by Selig and Walmart for a "special exception" to provide less parking than is required based on the planned 147K square footage of the Walmart store at Suburban Plaza will be at 1PM Wednesday, 12/14, in the auditorium of the Maloof Building. To find parking, get a good seat and/or sign up to speak, get there early.
Click on the image to see a larger view
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