Just sent this comment to our community development director, Michael Tuller: ***** Michael:
I enjoyed meeting you last night at the community meeting on Dunwoody Village. I also enjoyed the meeting and hope that you received useful input from the meeting and the written comments.
My suggestion for future meetings is that when Michelle (or any facilitator) gets to Agenda Item #5, Community Discussion of the Vision for Area X, the first thing to do is to put the Vision and Future Development paragraphs on the table by reading them out. Then ask the questions on the handout and let the community discussion begin.
To be sure the complaints about current conditions, if there are any about the next areas, will still be voiced and discussed. And they should be. Last night the comments were opened before the work of the previous meetings -- the Vision and Future Development paragraphs -- were put before the group. I thought that much of the discussion last night did not go head on with the Vision already developed because our talking started without us having heard the specific words and ideas that were the subject of the meeting.
The coming meetings ought to be simpler, because I expect that the visions will not be fundamentally changing the character of the areas. Along with the reading of the handout, I think last night's meeting would have generated more useful citizen comments if the projected change inherent in the current draft vision for Dunwoody Village had been made explicit before opening discussion. Something like,
Dunwoody Village is currently a neighborhood shopping area with two-story office buildings. It is the city's largest such area and the only one with historic structures, but the character is the same as the Williamsburg/Tilly Mill, Winters Chapel (w/o the offices), and Georgetown areas. The current draft vision, developed at previous citizen workshops, is that future development will turn Dunwoody Village into the city's center (or the Town Center) with: pedestrian traffic, day and evening activity, green space for civic gatherings, commercial and public offices, local and unique retailers, restaurants, residences, and a sense of place that it is both the historic heart as well as the vibrant, current heart of our community.
If the visions to be discussed at future meetings also include fundamental changes in future development, then similar summary paragraphs should be developed and presented.
Ah, one more and the last suggestion: given that our elected reps last night were admirably quiet in allowing citizens to voice their thoughts, somebody should be designated to be, if not the advocate, then at least the explainer for the current draft vision. Someone should be ready to supply the whys and wherefores of the vision in case no citizen rises to do so. If you can't arrange for a citizen who participated in the workshops, then I think Michelle could do it and it would still lead to a fair exchange of ideas.
Just sent this comment to our community development director, Michael Tuller:
ReplyDelete*****
Michael:
I enjoyed meeting you last night at the community meeting on Dunwoody Village. I also enjoyed the meeting and hope that you received useful input from the meeting and the written comments.
My suggestion for future meetings is that when Michelle (or any facilitator) gets to Agenda Item #5, Community Discussion of the Vision for Area X, the first thing to do is to put the Vision and Future Development paragraphs on the table by reading them out. Then ask the questions on the handout and let the community discussion begin.
To be sure the complaints about current conditions, if there are any about the next areas, will still be voiced and discussed. And they should be. Last night the comments were opened before the work of the previous meetings -- the Vision and Future Development paragraphs -- were put before the group. I thought that much of the discussion last night did not go head on with the Vision already developed because our talking started without us having heard the specific words and ideas that were the subject of the meeting.
The coming meetings ought to be simpler, because I expect that the visions will not be fundamentally changing the character of the areas. Along with the reading of the handout, I think last night's meeting would have generated more useful citizen comments if the projected change inherent in the current draft vision for Dunwoody Village had been made explicit before opening discussion. Something like,
Dunwoody Village is currently a neighborhood shopping area with two-story office buildings. It is the city's largest such area and the only one with historic structures, but the character is the same as the Williamsburg/Tilly Mill, Winters Chapel (w/o the offices), and Georgetown areas. The current draft vision, developed at previous citizen workshops, is that future development will turn Dunwoody Village into the city's center (or the Town Center) with: pedestrian traffic, day and evening activity, green space for civic gatherings, commercial and public offices, local and unique retailers, restaurants, residences, and a sense of place that it is both the historic heart as well as the vibrant, current heart of our community.
If the visions to be discussed at future meetings also include fundamental changes in future development, then similar summary paragraphs should be developed and presented.
Ah, one more and the last suggestion: given that our elected reps last night were admirably quiet in allowing citizens to voice their thoughts, somebody should be designated to be, if not the advocate, then at least the explainer for the current draft vision. Someone should be ready to supply the whys and wherefores of the vision in case no citizen rises to do so. If you can't arrange for a citizen who participated in the workshops, then I think Michelle could do it and it would still lead to a fair exchange of ideas.
All the best,
-- Steve Barton