Greater Decatur

Welcome to Greater Decatur

click on the image to see it enlarged

Greater Decatur is an organization of people who would like to see Greater Decatur (an area circumscribed by a cirle of radius of roughly 1.5-2 miles centered on the Historic Courthouse in Decatur, GA), which is already great, moving toward very more greatness. We welcome anyone who shares this goal, even if they live outside the highlighted circle.

Greater Decatur is larger than the 4.2 square miles of incorporated City of Decatur and the 30030 area code, but smaller than all the Decatur, GA addresses as defined by the USPS.

Nestled inside the I-285 perimeter around Atlanta, north of I-20, and southeast of I-85; Decatur is a small town (established 1822) which has been surrounded by the burgeoning Metro Atlanta. Even though it is the county seat of DeKalb County, has about twenty thousand residents,  and is less than six miles from downtown Atlanta; it still has the feel of a small town. Some say it's where Mayberry and Berkeley coexist.  This organization wants Greater Decatur to grow and prosper, while maintaining this highly desirable characteristic.

The sound of Decatur, GA fireworks from a mile away

Click on the bar below to hear 30 seconds (slightly amplified) of the Decatur, GA fireworks from almost exactly a mile away (to the northeast, at about 60 degrees from North), in the Decatur Heights neighborhood on Sycamore Drive.

2012-07-05 091207.mp3 DecaturGA fireworks 30sec

You'll hear some reflection of the sound off a nearby church building and nearby houses.

Near the end, you'll hear the percussion fireworks, which probably sound closer to the sound of cannon fire during the Battle of Decatur 148 years ago, on July 22, 1864. 

Fireworks don't seem to bother the katydids, which can be heard chirping in the background in between blasts throughout.

Tom Reed posted a sample video of the fireworks as seen from the Decatur Depot, just blocks away.

The City of Decatur always puts on a great show, rapidly blowing about $30K of our tax money. Most of us insist upon it.  But, some criticism was voiced this year:

• Not enough focus on AMERICA (no flag fireworks, for instance, as were seen in TV coverage of celebrations in major US cities.
• Only music during and between the fireworks was Cafe Lily blasting non-patriotic music. A multimedia presentation, featuring live or recorded music and possibly laser lights, would be awesome! (Yes, there is a concert on the Square earlier.)

Perhaps the planners will take this as helpful feedback for use in planning next year's event.

Resident at 956 Sycamore Drive killed at home

David Johns, 55, of 956 Sycamore Drive (in unincorporated DeKalb County just north of Decatur), was found dead around 2:30PM Friday afternoon, 5/11/2012. He had not shown up for work Thursday or Friday. Police say there were signs of trauma, but no signs of forceable entry.

 The Decatur Heights Neighborhood blog is updating a post as new information surfaces.

Brewhouse Cafe of Avondale to close at the end of April

BREAKING NEWS

The Brewehouse of Avondale Estates will close at the end of the April, 2012. The doors will be locked. The latest in a string of name changes for what was formerly the "James Joyce" will be "CLOSED."

Some employees will transfer to the Brewhouse in Little Five Points.

 

Southern Living names Decatur one of ten tastiest towns in the South

 The January 2012  issue of Southern Living announces the ten finalists in the search for the South's Tastiest Town.  Online voting begins 12/23/2012. 

N. Druid Hills-Briarcliff Patch conducts Walmart poll

Results of the unscientific N. Druid Hills-Briarcliff Patch poll, as of 9PM Monday (The article was posted at 7:55PM):

Even though this is unscientific, and most of those reading this patch are probably on the outer edges of Greater Decatur, it will be interesting to see the results by tomorrow.

Is Amazon a potential bigger threat than Walmart to "mom and pop" shops?

Do at least some of those opposed to a second Walmart in Greater Decatur (in part because it will hurt local small business) probably shop online with Amazon? If so, they may be supporting a growing "evil empire" which threatens the economic fabric of small towns:

From an article in Daily Finance:

"People who fired up Amazon's Price Check app at a bricks-and-mortar store could scan an item and submit the price the shop was charging. More often than not, the app will reply that it can be had at a cheaper price. However, on Dec. 10 Amazon made things interesting by offering customers an additional 5% off (up to $5) on up to three qualifying items.

In other words, Amazon was providing a financial incentive to folks to discover how out-of-touch retail pricing can be at some stores."

See full article from DailyFinance:http://srph.it/t8DS1m

Amazon can covertly invade our small towns without worrying about zoning laws, parking variances, or citizen petitions.

How fast are coyotes?

We know coyotes are not nearly as fast as road runners, but sad empirical data tells us they must be faster than cats and dogs, and online data verifies this:

National Geographic says 40 mph, but that's still faster than dogs and cats.

Coyotes are pretty much everywhere in the US now, and nobody wants more of them, which is why Georgia law specifies they be euthanized if trapped. That doesn't sit well with most greater Decaturites. And declaring open season on them is out of the question.  (Any sound like gunshots lights up Twitter with tweets with the #DecaturGA hashtag.) The City of Decatur recommends peaceful coexistence.

If you don't want to trap them and kill them, your best bet is to not leave your trash outside, and keep your small kids and pets inside (or in a high fenced in area). The good news is cases of coyotes attacking adults are very rare.

Audio of Selig argument for Suburban Plaza/Walmart parking variance

On 12/14/2011, the DeKalb County, Georgia Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) heard the request of Selig Enterprises for a "special exception" (variance) from Section 27-585(m) of the County Zoning Ordinance for less parking per square foot of store space than required by County ordinance (5.5 spaces/1000 sq. ft. required, 3.9 requested).

The opening argument was made by Steve Rothman of  Wilson, Brock, & Irby, LLC.

He based the argument for fewer spaces based primarily on a 1.5 hour study of similar malls in metro Atlanta, using this poster (click for larger image):

Due to operator error, the first few minutes of his comments were not recorded. The audio picks up with him speaking about Chamblee Village.  To hear it, click on the bar below:

SPpkgVarZBOA20111214SeligWMopnTruncated3min49sec

Following this, 25-30 citizens commented for 26 minutes (see earlier post to hear the audio). Citizen comments were cut off with 5-10 people still in line.

Selig was allowed rebuttal time of 14 minutes. Scott Selig (Sr. VP, Acquisitons & Development, and the fourth generation to be in the Selig Enterprises family business)  starts, followed by Bill Stogner (Sr. VP, Retail Leasing, who says he's been trying to fill Suburban Plaza for six years) and others. At points, members of the board ask questions. Sometimes charts are held up to clarify. Representatives of supporting and non-opposing neighborhoods were called to speak. A copy of the the portion of the agreement between the Medlock Area Neighbors Association (MANA) and Selig/Walmart relevant to parking (linked in an earlier post) was submitted.

Click on the bar below to hear this segment:

SPpkgVarZBOA20111214SeligRebuttal14min19sec

Then the ZBOA deliberated for 26 minutes (see earlier post to hear the audio), ultimately voting to grant the special exception.

The County Zoning Administrator confirmed something closer to 3 parking spaces per thosand square feet of store space is the current thinking for malls, and DeKalb County is considering moving closer to that, especially for Living Community Initiatives (LCIs). 

How big is Walmart?

This ingraphic in the continuation is only indirectly related to a probable second Walmart in Greater Decatur, but it's interesting to see just how big Walmart is globally. [I can not certify its accuracy. The source links are listed at the bottom, if you want to verify or refute it.]

I found this at the Frugal Dad site (as linked from the Tell Selig: No Walmart in Decatur Facebook page.

Agreement between MANA, Selig, and Walmart regarding Suburban Plaza development

The website of the Medlock Area Neighborhood Association reports the details of the agreement MANA signed with Selig and Walmart.

• The Memo of Understanding (MOU) outlines non-binding agreements between MANA and Selig Enterprises. We believe Selig enters this agreement in good faith. 

• The Conditions document lists conditions that Selig agreed to as part of negotiating neighborhood support for their request to the ZBA. 

The documents can be viewed at the MANA website.

The Conditions document was attached to the special exception for parking the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals granted Wednesday, 12/14/2012.  See previous posts for audio from that meeting.

While MANA was the lead, representatives of a number of other nearby neighborhoods participated in the lengthy and painstaking negotiations, including (but perhaps not limited to) Clairmont Heights Civic Association, Medlock Commons, Decatur Heights, Springdale Heights, Sycamore Ridge, Sycamore Station, Glendale Estates, and the Christian Towers.  For various reasons (one being most are not incorporated), no other neighborhood organization co-signed the document. Some neighborhood organizations elected to remain neutral, neither opposing nor supporting the parking variance. None took an opposing position. [That honor goes to Not in My Neighborhood, an area-wide organization claiming 378 names on its petition as of the meeting.] All should benefit from the concessions Selig and Walmart made.

As is typically the case, not all neighbors agreed with the postion taken by their representing organizations. They were free to speak individually at the ZBOA meeting.  Some felt they were not sufficiently involved in the process, and were not given an opportunity to vote on their neighborhood's position. That's for the neighbors and their organizations to resolve.

The focus now moves to what most concerns many in the area: Traffic.  As Commissioner Gannon stated in her letter (see previous post), a lot of work is ahead in this area.

Nearby neighbors are generally excited about the potential other merchants which will be drawn by a nearby Walmart as anchor store, and a revitalization of a center which even Selig admits has been in long decline. Bill Stogner of Selig mentioned some expressing possible interest: Staples, Michaels, H.H.Gregg, Dicks Sporting Goods, Home Goods, TJ Maxx, and LA Fitness.

Here is the "community" in which Suburban Plaza has "lived" since opening in 1960, with only some of the nearby (within 3/4 of a mile - roughly inside the largest highlighted circle) neighborhoods labeled. During those 51 years, I'm not aware of any organized effort to change the DeKalb County zoning from that which allows "big boxes" since DeKalb has had zoning.

click on the image to see a larger one