Medline LCI slides from June 5 community meeting AND report draft

That's the spirit! Pedal power at the Medline LCI meeting.

The Medline LCI community meeting last June 5 had a great turnout (around 100) and covered the history of the Atlanta Regional Commission and its Livable Centers Initiative. The Medline LCI is centered around DeKalb Medical Center and as such, stands to impact our area because its recommendations will help shape future development by establishing priorities and best practices. As noted in the presentations, LCIs strive to create accessible environments that include residential and commercial property, employment sites, and a high level of access for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. Photos of the meeting are available here and presentation slides appear below.

The Medline LCI process is not over: the changes it recommends span 25 years into the future, and we can expect that there will be many more opportunities to review this LCI's vision and test how well recommendations work. The Medline LCI team is in the process of finalizing the project report. Their draft (and information on how to submit comments) can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/medlinelcistudy/ [direct link to the report: https://www.dropbox.com/s/123noa4kk05ksuc/MedlineDraft_June.pdf]. Comments will be accepted through July 7, 2014.



Addendum: The Medlock Area Neighborhood Association, Clairmont Heights Civic Association and Good Growth DeKalb submitted comments and concerns about the plan on July, 2014; see that post here.

Community meeting to review and discuss DeKalb County Acquisition of South DeKalb YMCA [June 9]

via Beth Nathan @ Civic Association Network (CAN). 

Come discuss whether the currently proposed public-private partnership with the South DeKalb YMCA is an appropriate expenditure of county Parks Bond dollars or a windfall for the YMCA.   

Carpool with some neighbors. Let's generate a LARGE turn-out of citizens from multiple commission districts who care about county planning and decision-making.   

A vote on this item is scheduled for the June 10 BOC agenda, having been deferred several times. 

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COMMUNITY MEETING to review and discuss DeKalb County Acquisition of South DeKalb YMCAMonday, June 9, 7 pm, Tucker Recreation Center, 4898 LaVista Road, Tucker    sponsored by Commissioners Rader and Gannon
DeKalb County is considering spending approximately $5 million of the remaining Parks Bond dollars (approx $1M from district-allocated funds and $4M from countywide funds which is ~38% of remaining countywide funds) to acquire the South DeKalb YMCA and then lease it back to the YMCA for 50 years at $1/year.  The YMCA is to devote the purchase proceeds to site improvements. This YMCA is geographically close to several other DeKalb recreation/health facilities (parks & senior centers). The local community has said that they need this improvement to local recreation/health facilities because the local population is very dense and not very healthy; they also say that this proposal is consistent with the Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Master Plan. An easy introduction to the proposal is found on Crossroads News: http://crossroadsnews.com/news/2014/apr/11/dekalb-county-acquire-south-dekalb-ymca/
Many important details are summarized in SoDeKalbYMCA_DetailOverview.pdf, compiled by Commissioner Rader's office
Source documents on this proposal, the RPCA Master Plan, and parks bond funding are available on the Civic Association Network's website in the reference materials section.  See http://www.can-dk.org/file-cabinet/parks_gardens/southdekalbymca

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If you can't attend but wish to share your opinions about this proposal, you can find the Board of Commissioners' contact information here.

Suburban Starbucks SLUP [June 24]

Selig Enterprises invites community feedback in advance of filing a special use land permit (SLUP)  for a drive-through Starbucks at Suburban Plaza. DeKalb County requires SLUPs for all new drive-throughs.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 24, 7pm, at North Decatur Presbyterian Church (611 Medlock Road).

Click to enlarge or download file here.

For all previous posts on Suburban Plaza's redevelopment, click here. The redevelopment timeline is available here.

Selig update on Suburban Plaza: commitments, timelines

Selig Enterprises has forwarded an update on its Suburban Plaza redevelopment project. In addition to restating Selig's commitments to the community, the letter includes this redevelopment timeline:

demolition of parts of existing structures: in the coming weeks (summer 2014)
facade renovations: fall 2014
anticipated redevelopment completion: summer 2015
new tenants open for business: fall 2015

Click to enlarge or download the file.

Selig and the Medlock Area Neighborhood Association (MANA) began discussing Suburban Plaza's redevelopment as soon as plans were announced in the summer of 2011, and in collaboration with members of the Cross-Neighborhood Committee, reached and signed this agreement on December, 2011.

Selig also seeks community feedback on a special land use permit (SLUP) to allow a drive-through Starbucks at Suburban Plaza. The announcement for that June 24, 2014 meeting is available here.

MANA Newsletter (No. 32) now available

The summer edition of Medlock Matters is now available here.

Learn about the neighborhood cleanup, upcoming pool party, zoning and more!

Medline LCI fact sheet

In preparation for the Medline LCI Community meeting on June 5, Deanna Murphy at the Sizemore Group has forwarded a fact sheet summarizing the study process so far.

To open the fact sheet, click here. In particular, see page 4 for thoughts about the Medlock/Scott Blvd./North Decatur Rd. intersection.

A final, detailed report outlining recommendations and timelines will be available soon and when it is, we will link to it. Until then, additional information can be found at the Medline LCI website and our previous Medline LCI posts.

Tour bike starts at 7pm. Bring your bike and helmet!

Dekalb proposes to spend 5 million greenspace dollars on YMCA appraised at $2.5 million

Commissioner Jeff Rader has released a summary of a worrisome County plan for the purchase of the South DeKalb YMCA. Please go here to read his whole summary. In particular,

DeKalb County will purchase the existing YMCA for $5 million, using $1 million of District 5 and 7 Parks Bond Land Acquisition Funding and $4 million in County Wide Acquisition Funding.  The agreement diverts land acquisition funding to development, contrary to the Bond Referendum.   The property is appraised at $2.5 million for tax purposes, with the land appraised at $400,000. [emphasis added]

Crossroad News covered this story last April, see http://crossroadsnews.com/news/2014/apr/11/dekalb-county-acquire-south-dekalb-ymca/, and described the deal as follows:

Under the proposed agreement, the county would enter into intergovernmental arrangement with the DeKalb Development Authority to operate the facility as a recreation site for up to 50 years. The authority would then enter into a long-term lease with the YMCA to improve, renovate and operate the South DeKalb YMCA facility. 

The YMCA will spend the $4.95 million it receives from the sale of the property on the renovation and provide all furniture, fixtures and equipment for the South DeKalb YMCA. It would pay the Development Authority $10,000 for legal fees and $6,187 for its expenses.

The Crossroad News article argues that the expansion will expand access to exercise facilities and the contract includes "a waiver of the $100 to $150 joining fees for residents of ZIP codes 30032, 30034 and 30035 for the first 10 years, starting with the commencement date of the lease. It also calls for early program registration times, special program offerings and times for seniors, and financial assistance for families in need." In assessing the public health benefit of this rather sizable County investment, it would be helpful to have access to the data that Commissioners Johnson and Watson  are using to project how many more people will in fact use the South DeKalb YMCA. Additionally, such projections need to be weighed against how many hundreds of thousands of DeKalb residents in zip codes 30032, 30034 and 30035 and elsewhere will benefit if these greenspace funds are used per bond referendum guidelines. After all, the physical, mental and social benefits of greenspace are well documented.

Please attend the June 4 meeting at at the Maloof Auditorium in downtown Decatur if you can. If this announcement is too short-notice for you to do so, please set aside a few minutes to contact our DeKalb Board of Commissioners and share your views.

Commissioners' emails ready for cut/paste: ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov, jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov, larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov, sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov, lmay@dekalbcountyga.gov, kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov, stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov

Commissioner   (District)	Assistant(s)	Phone	Email
Elaine Boyer (District 1)	Bob Lundsten Courtney Townsend	404-371-2844	ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov
Jeff Rader (District 2)	Caroline Enloe	404-371-2863	jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Debbie Schneider
Larry Johnson (District 3)	Margaret Britton	404-371-2425	larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Ingrid Butler
Sharon Barnes Sutton (District 4)	Judy T. Brownlee	404-371-4907	sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Marguerita M. Lance
Lee May (District 5) Interim CEO	Latrese Young	404-371-4745	lmay@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Edmond Richardson
Kathie Gannon (Super District 6)	Corrin Wagnon	404-371-4909	kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Davis Fox
Stan Watson (Super District 7)	Kelly LaJoie	404-371-3681	stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Tiffany Campbell

Thanks to Mary Shellman for alerting us to this issue.

UPDATE: Next meeting discussing this issue will be as follows.

South DeKalb YMCA Meeting
June 09, 2014 (7:00 pm)
Commissioners Rader and Gannon Community Meeting on the proposed acquisition of South DeKalb YMCA by DeKalb County Government at Tucker Recreation Center 4898 LaVista Road.