Call to order. Announcements (5 minutes): Voting rights (3 meetings, or $10 membership). CMG Neighborhood Renaming Update – Held first townhall meeting yesterday, and a page on SAND website on this initiative has been created. SAND elections for 2023 board to be held in October. Last day to register to vote in November’s state and federal elections is Tuesday October 11.
City/State/School/Other Elected Officials (5 minutes per)
Council Member Winston: Update on Moreland/Custer/Value Village development. Property was closed on a couple weeks ago. Projected is scheduled to break ground next year. 400+ apartments, 260+ townhomes. TPA began remediation on site at United/Avondale corners. An old decolorization site that Department of Waste Water owns. In active negotiations with TPA to acquire that property. May be able to trade new units of housing affordability in that sale. BeltLine Southside trail segments 4-5 out for bid (Glenwood at BKW to Boulevard). Construction slated to begin at end of 2022. 50 families remain at Forest Cove, out of 250 originally there. Deadline to have all families in new home by end of September. Plan is for Millenia to renovate the property. Worked with HUD to make the housing vouchers portable. Will be allowed to bring those back to the renovated Forest Cove site. The vouchers don’t expire. There are 200 vacant acres in area, 100 acres owned by City of Atlanta (APS, Atlanta Housing Authority, etc.). Looking at comprehensive redevelopment plan for the community. 18 month timeline, started in March 2022. City Council redistricting was put forward recently. District 1 would lose Browns Mill community, and a small portion of Peoplestown. Gaining a small portion of District 2 to unite GSU campus under District 1. Won’t go into effect until next election. Maps: https://twitter.com/jdcapelouto/status/1567251008304062466. There will be conversations for NPU reform in the near future.
Special Guests (5 minutes per)
Kelly Ridenhour from the South River Forest Coalition (SRFC): www.publicinput.com/SouthRiverForest. Councilmember Winston is appointed to South River stakeholders’ group. Working right now to take input from community on how we can envision what this area can look like and how it can connect to neighborhoods. Work being done in conjunction with Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC).
Neighbor Ken Boff on the bike lane on Glenwood Avenue: Issues with Argos cement factory and damage to bike lanes and roads in the area. Council Member Winston has requested meeting with the Argos management and Atlanta Beltline. This meeting should happen in the next two weeks and this concern will be raised. Will also have city legal team look to see if “Mixer Diaper Ordinance” still exists.
Committee Reports
Communications (2 minutes): Like SAND on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Please submit any ideas for the newsletter to us.
Treasurer (5 minutes): Amazon Smile/Kroger Rewards. Trolleys available for $45 unpainted.
Social (5 minutes): Possible SAND Social Events later this month at a restaurant in SAND and the return of The Neighborhood Jubilee on December 5th in collaboration with Chelsea Sommers.
Transportation (5 minutes): Adopt a Topper Program is Live! Visit the SAND website for more information under “Topper Adoption” tab. 81% of toppers sponsored/adopted in a week. Only 29 toppers left across all SAND neighborhoods. Thank you to Sarah Price, Franklin Bachrach, and Brian Steely for their assistance with designing the toppers. The Southside Trail Segments 4 and 5 (Glenwood to Boulevard) have moved into the shovel ready phase of work. An Invitation to Bid was published earlier today (9/8/2022). The BeltLine’s revised timeline estimates it will take more than 2 years to build and open the 1.2 mile section of the Southside Trail. MARTA is hosting two public meetings next week about its plans to extend the streetcar to the Eastside Beltline. 6:00pm on Monday 9/12 at Dad’s Garage. 6:00pm on Tuesday 9/13 on Zoom. For more information: www.streetcar-east.scoutfeedback.com.
Land Use and Zoning (LU&Z) (5 minutes per): V-22-110 / 1042 Sanders Avenue – Applicant seeks a variance to 1) reduce the east yard setback from 7ft to 3ft, 2) reduce the rear yard setback from 15ft to 5ft, and 3), to increase the max allowed accessory structure area from 45% to 30% of the principal, for a detached garage. LUZ: Motion to recommend approval 8Y-3N-0A. SAND: 8Y-2N-0A.
