The President called the meeting to order at 7:03pm and welcomed all new and returning attendees.
EACA welcomes a new business to East Atlanta: Uncle Renz’s Popcorn Bar in the previous “Bound to be Read” space at 481 Flat Shoals Avenue. They plan to offer 25 flavors of gourmet popcorn and also serve other treats like ice cream, Italian ice and milkshakes. Owner, Lorenzo Reed is excited about community involvement and is also planning a “Toys for Tots” drive. Uncle Renz’s should be open by the end of September or mid-October, with hours of 12:00pm to 10:00pm Sunday-Thursday, Friday and Saturday noon to midnight or 1:00am, depending on volume.
GAJA, the new Korean restaurant scheduled to occupy the space at 491 Flat Shoals Road, has applied for their alcohol license and are on the agenda for the August 26 NPU meeting. The owners, Tim and Danny Song requested approval for their license from the EACA membership. The motion to approve the requested license resulted in a vote of 25 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstentions. The owners were asked to sign the “Good Neighbor Agreement.”
Jill Sieder, Executive Director of East Atlanta Kid’s Club presented information on the 11th Annual fund raising event, Brownwood Bike Rally, scheduled to take place on September 12 from 9:30am until 2:00pm in Brownwood Park. There will be races for kids and adults of different skill levels. Extra bikes and helmets will be available to for participants to borrow. Children will race for free and there is a modest fee for adults to race. Along with the racing events, the Bike Rally will offer a Bike Safety Rodeo, Health and Fitness Fair, Kid Fun Zone, food, refreshments and raffles. Bike technicians from Sopo Bicycle Cooperative will be on hand for minor maintenance and repairs of bicycles. Volunteers are needed in the areas of race course marshals, the bike rodeo (teach safety and agility skills to kids) and registration. Donations and sponsors are also needed. For more information and to register, volunteer or donate, please go to: www.brownwoodbikerally.com.
As a reminder, The Litespeed-BMW Cycling Team’s East Atlanta Twilight Criterium will take place on Saturday, August 15 from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm. Please be advised that streets throughout The Village will be closed for the event.
The Great American Backyard Campout at the Zuber-Jarrell House on Flat Shoals Road was rescheduled from its original June date due to weather and is now scheduled for Saturday and Sunday August 15 and 16. The fee is $20 per campsite which includes Saturday evening and Sunday morning meals, games and a tour of the historic Zuber-Jarrell House. Please see www.eaca.net to sign up or get more information.
The Parks and Greenspace Committee is pleased to announce that East Atlanta and Brownwood Park have been selected for a four year Trees Atlanta capital campaign program. The program, which focuses on urban restoration began on August 1 and will end on August 1, 2019. One of the first initiatives of the program will be invasive species control. There will be monthly projects (9:00am-12:00pm either the first or 2nd Saturday of each month) that focus on forest restoration, cleaning up the creek and other improvements. Christina Gibson with Trees Atlanta is the Coordinator of the project and the committee is hoping to involve Park Pride as a possible partner in the project. Volunteers are needed and more details will be presented at the October 13 EACA meeting.
Lt. Floyd, representing Zone 6 APD indicated that overall there have been some increases in crime, specifically in the robbery unit. APD has initiated a plan of action and deployed resources to the Zone. Residents may have noticed an increase in bike patrols in East Atlanta Village. There was a green Toyota Camry, GA license plate BYH4229, involved in a recent robbery and an ATM service technician at Bank of America was recently robbed. There was an incident at 930 Stallings Avenuewith no major leads currently. An incident occurred at 481 Flat Shoals and there is video of the perpetrator using the stolen ATM card. Lt. Floyd reminded everyone to please be aware of your surroundings especially coming out of restaurants and bars. Would-be robbers are on the lookout for pedestrians distracted by electronic devices as well as patrons leaving establishments who may have had too much to drink. APD was able to make an arrest in one of the incidents on Berean. There are no noticeable trends or patterns in the other burglaries. Vehicle break-ins are always an issue in the Zone. It is against city ordinance to solicit door to door without a permit. Call 911 if someone knocks on your door to sell something or ask for money. Criminal Trespass complaints must be reported by owner or agent of the owner of the property, for homeless persons sleeping on park benches or in parking lots of commercial property. If you see someone “camping” in the park or behind commercial properties, call 911 for the police to investigate but getting a criminal trespass warrant is a lengthy process.
Nancy Carpenter, representing Neighbor In Need, announced that there will be a Community Yard Sale on Saturday August 29 from 8:00am to 3:00pm at the Farmer’s Market space on Flat Shoals Road. All proceeds from items sold will go toward efforts to help seniors in the East Atlanta community who need Emergency Home Repairs. Tax deductible donations and volunteers are needed. If you have items to donate please contact Nancy at 404-376-7381 or nancy.carpenter1@gmail.com. Drop offs of donations may be made to Nancy’s house the Monday before, larger items and furniture the day of the yard sale at the East Atlanta Farmer’s Market space. For more information or to find out about volunteer opportunities, please see the Neighbor in Need Facebook page. Leftover unsold items will be picked up by The Kidney Foundation at 3:00pm.
The East Atlanta Strut will be held on September 26, 2015 and volunteers are needed for set up in the morning, kids’ area, selling wrist bands, crowd control during parade, parking and help in the adult game area. Please see The Strut website to register to volunteer or make tax deductible contributions: www.eastatlantastrut.com.
Updating the Glenwood/Moreland Realignment Project, Paul Gardner reported that the project is being partially funded by ARC’s Livable Centers Initiative which dictates that bicycles have dedicated lanes in new transportation projects. This information has been brought to the attention of the City of Atlanta Department of Public Works and GDOT who are revising the plans that were previously presented to the community. Another public meeting will be planned for presentation of the revised plans. Storm water issues will be solved by the realignment.
Although there were no new Land Use and Zoning issues to present to the membership, there were some updates on previous projects that were presented by the committee: Paces Properties’ construction of 120 apartments on the parcel of land previously occupied by The Gordon School continues to make progress and their target of completion remains mid to late 2016. There was illegal clearing of trees and vegetation on Stokeswood Avenue south of Ormewood in the last two weeks. The developer was ordered to “restore” vegetation. In Ormewood Park, the illegal (no permit and no replacement plan) cutting of five trees by developer Atlanta Intown Developers resulted in fines of approx. $11,400. The EAV Parking Survey Initiative, started earlier this year, will begin to gather data on the total commercial square footage in The Village and is looking to Councilmember Archibong’s office for input on this phase. This initiative is to determine how much of a barrier parking is to economic development in the Village. Tim Keane, formerly the Director of Planning, Preservation and Sustainability for the City of Charleston, South Carolina, has been named Commissioner of Planning and Development for the City of Atlanta. The Committee is going to ask for a meeting with the new Commissioner. If you have questions about these updates or new variance applications please email: landuse@eaca.net.
The Porch Press is now offering “frequency rates” to advertisers who run their ads for two or more consecutive monthly issues. While circulation of the community newspaper has remained steady at 6000 homes, printing and postage have gone up and the number of advertisers has gone down. Financial incentives such as reduced rates for regular advertisers will help community businesses maintain an active presence in The Porch Press and improve their return on advertising resources. Please encourage businesses to place ads and also let them know that you saw their ad in The Porch Press.
As reported during the July 14 EACA meeting, The Georgia General Assembly passed changes to HB 595 which eliminated the City of Atlanta, Dekalb County representative on the library board. Taxes paid by home, business and land owners in all parts of the county, city and state keep the library open so having representation on the library board is imperative. Representatives from Atlanta City Council have suggested that a strategy be developed to present to the Georgia State Legislature. Volunteers are needed to work with The Friends of East Atlanta Library and help draft a proposal seeking reinstatement of the City of Atlanta, Dekalb County representative on the library board. If you are able to help in these efforts, please call Henry Bryant at 404-377-6148.
The July Meeting Minutes and August Treasurer’s Report were presented and approved by unanimous vote of EACA members in attendance.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
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