Friday, November 9, 2007

DNCA - Whom do we serve and what have we done for you lately?

The Dunwoody North Civic Association (DNCA) is a nonprofit Georgia corporation, which was formed in 1967 to address the civic needs of the 1,250 homes contained within the subdivision known as Dunwoody North, as well as the homes in the adjacent subdivisions of Andover Estates, Laurelwood Farms, Dunwoody Trails, Brafferton Square, Briers North, The Madisons, and Chestnut Landing.

Who do we represent? Whether you live in a new subdivision or a home that is 40 years old; if you live in the shaded area below, we represent you and would ask that you to consider supporting us. We are not associated with or a part of the Dunwoody North Driving Club, the social swim & tennis club of the neighborhood. Membership in the DNCA is a nominal $20/year and each and every homeowner’s participation is important!


How does the DNCA benefit me? Our homes are usually among the largest investments we will ever make and we want to help keep that value. There is no other neighborhood organization that helps protect the investment of your home from any development that does not support the quality of life that we now enjoy, But the DNCA does -- read on to learn the countless ways we do just that..

Dunwoody Homeowners Association – Three current Board Members of the Dunwoody North Civic Association currently sit on the DHA Board. Those three current board members are among the first to learn of possible developments that would be detrimental to our home values. And being part of such a organization allows us to ask for their advice and support when situations come up. Recently a homeowner wanted to zone her home on North Peachtree O & I in order to put in a business. Dedicated homeowners such as you worked with the DNCA and DHA to get the word out and when it came time to stand up and say NO to the rezoning that would have impacted our home values we were ready and in record numbers.

DeKalb County Airport - A past President of the DNCA sits on the DeKalb County Airport Advisory Board for PDK as well as the DHA. That individual provides the Airport Advisory Board with a reminder that our neighborhood demands accounting for airplane noise and ongoing abatement procedures. Without that dedication to our neighborhood who knows what the airplane noise level or number of late night flights would be.

Neighborhood Watch – The Neighborhood Watch Chairman of the DNCA meets directly with the North Precinct for up to date information on crimes in the neighborhood and helps keep us notified as to what is happening in our own backyards. The data collected by block captains and from DNCA registration provides information for the Calling Post, a valuable service in getting the word out to us so we can be alert to suspicious persons. Every one remembers the car break-ins of this past summer. Our Neighborhood Watch and Calling Post volunteers helped remind us to be watchful and let us know that the police were working with the neighborhood in any way possible.

Calling Post Messages – If a house is broken into or urgent emergency news happens; we call you at home to let you know the important information. Our system calls the over 750 phone numbers in the system and spreads our message within 45 minutes from us making the initial call. If you want to be part of our system, we need you to register with us so that we have your telephone number.

Dunwoodynorth.org Webpage – Search for the words “Dunwoody North” in any search engine and you find an informative website directed specifically to your needs, in your neighborhood, & possibly your street. Our page lists numerous internet links to local schools and government offices. All provided by DNCA, your community advocate.

Dunwoody North Blog, http://dunwoodynorth.blogspot.com – Created by John Heneghan, President of the DNCA to keep you up to date on important news events affecting your neighborhood. After only one month in existence, Blognetnews, named the Dunwoody North Civic Association’s page the 7th most influential political blog in the State of Georgia.

Zoning – When the DNCA was notified that a house on North Peachtree Road intended to request rezoning from residential to Office and Industrial (O & I) we took immediate action notifying the neighbors, signing petitions and doing what ever we could to ensure that the request for spot rezoning was withdrawn. Because of this action our Vice President of Zoning & Code Enforcement, Ms. Gerri Penn who also acts as the DHA’s code enforcement rep, requested and was assigned by Commissioner Boyer to represent her on the community council to hear all preliminary zoning requests. Over the years DNCA has developed an excellent reputation with the DeKalb County Commissioners, Zoning Board and Code Enforcement departments. The dedicated DNCA volunteers like Gerri Penn, Barbara Dodds, and others provide information back to us so that we can help deter unwanted commercial businesses and make sure that our neighborhoods remain the way they are.

Brook Run – We continue to work closely with the County and the DHA to assure that the park is operated and developed in a reasonable manner. We have worked to improve the playground area for parents by asking for more benches, worked at keeping the skate park sound system down and have been promised more trees to replace the ones the County cut down along Peeler. Recently we were instrumental in getting speed limit signs posted in the park and have been working closely with the DeKalb Police Department about improved security patrols.

Neighborhood Directory – Another perk of joining DNCA is the neighborhood directory. The DNCA puts together a directory of the current residents, in Dunwoody North along with the various other surrounding subdivisions. Don’t confuse this directory with the Driving Club! Your DNCA dues will update your information and provide you with a new directory in early 2008.

City of Dunwoody – We have worked closely with Dan Weber and the Citizens for Dunwoody Committee in order to assure that all of the Dunwoody North communities were completely within the proposed City Boundaries. The City Charter was moved out of committee and passed the Senate in 2007, in January the legislature again convenes and if the charter legislation is passed by the House and signed by the Governor, you will be granted the right to vote on the matter yourself. http://www.citizensfordunwoody.org

Chesnut Elementary - We personally have children who attend Chesnut, we attend numerous meetings at the school and are very interested in seeing it flourish. Last year’s, PTA President at Chesnut is also a DNCA Board Member. The DeKalb School System announced that all of the Dunwoody North Communities will continue to be served by Chesnut Charter Elementary. The full map is available on the DNCA blog.

Peachtree Middle School – We personally have children who attend Peachtree, we attend numerous meetings at the school and are very interested in seeing it flourish. For example, we reviewed the ingress and egress traffic plans to make sure that the traffic patterns around the school weren’t made worse after construction is completed. (Did you know that Kings Point Drive will soon extend across North Peachtree Rd at the light?)

Dunwoody High School - We personally have children who attend Dunwoody, we attend numerous meetings at the school and are very interested in seeing it flourish. (Are you aware of the future expansion plans for school call for a new Auditorium, a Career Technology Instructional Addition, a Fine Arts Addition & new HVAC?)

Public Meetings and Newsletters – We hold informative meetings on topics of interest for all of our residents. DeKalb County Police Chief Terrell Bolton will be the invited speaker in February 2008. Several times a year a newsletter is distributed to each home sharing valuable information, fun tidbits of information, and articles of interest. If the City of Dunwoody legislation passes in 2008, we promise that we will bring you all the details needed on the subject so you can vote intelligently on city incorporation.

Working Behind the Scenes – Are you aware that the DNCA challenged the DeKalb County Sheriff about a registered sex offender who was illegally living too close to Chesnut Elementary? DNCA presented irrefutable legal evidence to the Sheriff who then had to evict the sex offender from his rented home, even though the Sheriff just a week earlier informed the individual that he was in a legal residence. Are you aware that the DNCA assisted an elderly resident on a fixed income who could not maintain her residence to get a grant to improve the residences appearance and allow her to live more comfortably? Out of respect for our neighbor’s privacy, not everything we do is given to the Dunwoody Crier for a front-page story.

These are some of the resources provided by the DNCA to you in an effort to keep property values high, unwanted business and commercialism out and to make sure that others know we intend to keep our community of friends and neighbors strong, safe and enjoying the quality of life we all deserve. So what are you waiting for?? Come Join Us! If you have time and talent you want to donate, that’s wonderful news! If you have time to help show up for rezoning matters - that’s great! New board members are always welcome.

Please become an active member of the Civic Association today for only $20.00.

We Appreciate your support.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you to the members of the Civic Association for volunteering so much time and effort; my check is in the mail.