Greetings, I hope everyone is well and trying to stay safe as we enter another period of transition with the school year upon us and most schools starting off with remote learning. Parents and families with numerous young children do not have it easy juggling work and their children's education. My home is still full with three young men, ages 20, 18 & 14 with them working, going to college locally at GSU, with only my youngest now entering his freshman year at Dunwoody High School. My bride who is a preschool teacher, wrangling 4 year olds, will be going back to the classroom full time and I on top of my full time job will be taking on the day time oversight activities of my freshman.
Kudos to Mayor Deutsch who has arranged the new DeKalb County School District (DCSD) Superintendent Ms. Cheryl Watson-Harris to participate in a Zoom meeting with the community on Thursday Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. Ms. Watson-Harris will discuss DCSD’s back-to-school plans, virtual learning, safety protocols and related subjects. The meeting can be accessed on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85392976766 or Facebook Live on City of Dunwoody Government’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CityofDunwoody.
You may have noticed I haven't been blogging much outside City Council activities as the city is doing such a great job with the weekly newsletter and various Facebook groups seem to fill the void. I've been spending more time with family and working out on a regular schedule attempting to lose a few lbs. As a side note, getting a 14 year old a Fitbit tracker has done me well to try to keep up with him who is doing a minimum of 20K steps a day. Today he walked 11 miles with ankle weights on top of doing an hour long boxing class. I can't compete with those numbers but he also refuses to go to Cyclebar with me; so I guess we are even?
As far as Dunwoody tidbits, at Monday night's City Council meeting there was a mention of an objection and possible lawsuit from one of the land owners regarding the proposed buffers for the Dunwoody Village rezoning and because of that, city staff will attempt to meet with all interested parties to find a compromise solution as to appropriate buffers protecting the privacy of the single family homes. We as a Council also objected to an unlimited amount of residential being allowed in the plans therefore there were talks of residential caps and what they should be? Monday was the first read from Council and I believe it will take some time to flesh out the issues and get appropriate community feedback before the actual rezoning is approved.
In these difficult times the service industry is trying to survive with social distancing in effect and with the office towers operating at a greatly reduced capacity, restaurants and retail are feeling the pinch at the typically busy lunchtime. New restaurants are opening but old standbys like California Pizza Kitchen are closing therefore please try to patronize those establishments that you want to survive. The new Lidl grocery store at Mount Vernon and North Peachtree Rd will be opening on Wednesday Aug 26th.
The City has finalized all of the improvements in Brook Run Park and if you haven't seen the new fields, pavilions and the band shell please do, they are all beautiful. Soon the field lights will be installed on the Peachtree Charter Middle School football field as the City has a long term contractual agreement to control the use of those fields after school hours.
Today there was a ground breaking for all of the improvements about to take place along Peeler, including new sidewalks, curb, gutter, stormwater, several crosswalks, Marta bus stop improvements & probably lighting improvements. I have attached the plans in a link down below.
Video and Project Plans
The Dunwoody Nature Center is hosting a week long Butterfly Experience starting Aug 15th. Buy your tickets now as they are only available on-line. Prime spots are going fast.
Finally, I saw a video on Leadership and Accountability where a U.S. Marine Drill Instructor was addressing his recruits for the first time and as it touched me, I figured I would share.
I am pleased to read that City Council and perhaps, Mayor, are uncomfortable with an 'unlimited' amount of residences in the Village. Further, I think that our contract and paid-for planners effectively side stepped this incredibly important question and punted to our elected officials.
ReplyDeleteI believe they should be providing guidance on the density matter.
Councilor Heneghan posits:
"We as a Council also objected to an unlimited amount of residential being allowed in the plans therefore there were talks of residential caps and what they should be?"
Several knowledgeable neighbors have weighed in on this matter last year. First, a housekeeping note: Definitions
Zoning regs refer to RMF-XX where XX means the number of households per acre (XX residential multifamily) This nomenclature may change, but the essence is that the higher the number the more attractive the zoning designation becomes to developers. Typically, the more costly the project, the higher the density needed for a developer to be attracted to a project site.
It is common for governing authorities to 'trade' more density for green space and other amenities. As well, higher density may be granted if a developer concedes to factors such as high quality building standards, mini Police precincts or Fire stations, and many other societal benefits.
When we look at the other successful projects our planners have done, i.e. Duluth, Woodstock, Alpharetta, and other communites we see what could be possible in Dunwoody. Not everyone, especially those closest to the Village likes the idea of increased density.
Do YOUR research, ask questions, become aware and then discuss this important matter with your City elected rep.