Agenda
- Welcome – Lewis Cartee, President
- Atlanta Police Department
- Membership Appreciation
- Under the Dome – Hannah Perkins (Chief of Staff – Rep. Bee Nguyen)
- Land Use & Zoning – Andy Schneggenburger, Chair
- V-18-009: 839 Flat Shoals Avenue
- V-18-08: 795 Flat Shoals Avenue
- Committee Updates
- 2018 Budget
- Closing Remarks and Adjournment
Meeting start at 7:06 pm.
Welcomes & Announcements: Sargent Hines, Atlanta Police Department – Down on crime 8% starting the year. Car break-ins – tick up. Anything makes you feel weird, call 911 and they will check it out. Q&A – none. Email nklotzer@atlantaga.gov, kcollier@atlanta.gov, or jwhines@atlanta.gov.
Committee Updates
Membership Appreciation: Member & Business Appreciation month; raffles and awards for outstanding business and member. Outstanding Member – Nancy Carpenter & Mr. Frank Kid. Outstanding Business Member – Park Pet Supply. Member of the year – Andy Schneggenburger. Encourage community to stay involved. Contact membership@eaca.net. 80 members so far this year. The most successful way to get members is via word of mouth
Under the Dome – Hannah Perkins – Rep Nguyen’s Chief of Staff: Day 20 out 40 cycle; provided copies of legislative update. All info to contact. House Bill 644 Would create city of Greenhaven outside of unincorporated Dekalb County. ~300,000; we do not think incorporation will solve this. No hospitals, no term limits for government officials; lack of commercial income. Chance it may go out of governmental affairs committee. Will be at the bottom of our ballot; keep an eye out. If it becomes a referendum – vote no; will directly impact us. Certain services covered others unclear. Would county taxes rise? Unsure, but will look. Organized group pushing for this. The bill’s sponsor is Chairman Rynders, Governmental Affairs. Monday Feb 26 at 6:30pm Town Hall – Coan Recreation Center. Weekly newsletter – sign up at meeting.
Land Use & Zoning – Meetings 1st Tuesday of the month at Village Church. Full NPU – 4th Wednesday at 7:30. Andy can be reached at landuse@eaca.net.
V-18-009: 839 Flat Shoals Avenue variance application – Corner of Cavanagh & Flat Shoals (property south on Flat Shoals, right on Cavanagh). Standalone commercial property. Owner would like to build 7 townhomes. Reduce other front yard setback required 5ft and reduce to 0. Reduce 20ft required transitional yard up against residential property; would like to put drive in the buffer was denied last Tuesday 8/2/4 at LUZ. Ms. Morgan Starks expressed grave concerns regarding the variance siting problems with reduction of the buffer. The variance remains even among multiple sellers; no guest parking, 7-unit townhouse – compatibility. Ms. Starks could not make it this evening and is requesting community assistance. Concern for undermining of property. Her property sits on a hill. Property zoned for C1 – meets restrictions; it is a matter of being able to fit the building with the setback. Developer decided to explore other options; not going forward with variance. Will withdraw or defer and come back next month. Q: How does EACA approving/rejecting impact A: Both NPU and EACA input goes to overall NPU. Providing our specific opinion to NPU. Q: Have they provided plans to review (Andy shared site plan with group) Q: What is the community vision for this property. Andy voted against due to the lack of setback. Motion to deny application 25 / 1 / 4. Lively discussion amongst Community members regarding the vision for LUZ/EACA. Member comment: Let’s be for something and not against everything that we have a chance to speak up on. This is a catalyst to develop a plan for the triangle.
V-18-08: 795 Flat Shoals Avenue variance application – Large parcel; single family home. Owner present at meeting. Seek to vary the allowed height and size of an accessory structure in relation to primary structure. Couple of feet higher/larger 38% which includes deck. On top of existing garage, large piece of land, neighbors would not be impacted. Andy shared illustration of design; studio/office space. Owner spoke with neighbors – across street neighbors present at meeting as well; owns property next door. LUZ voted unanimously to approve. Motion to approve 26 / 0 / 5.
770 Shadowridge Update – This Thursday, February 15. 770 Shadowridge review board hearing at City Hall at 6:00pm. 4th hearing – developer being accommodated although they have not made any changes. Anyone that can come, please do. If you have a green Save Ormewood Forest shirt…please do not wear. Undermines what we are attempting to achieve. Recap of what is going on: Applicant seeks to rezone property currently zoned as single-family R4 classification to planned development conservation subdivision PD-CS Build 20 homes on less than half of the site; conservation part of the code would preserve the greenspace – proposed this in June and have not addressed any concerns expressed by the community. This application is inherently flawed. Andy will present for 10 minutes and lawyer for adjacent neighbors will present as well.
Text amendment to EAV – Restriction on minimum distance between similar businesses (500 feet) goal is to limit proliferation. Ms. Dorothy Rose (Hairspot) – found a space in EAV however it is within 60 feet of another similar business. Councilwoman Archibong asked if we would support a text amendment allowing Ms. Dorothy to move. Move without restriction if not on same side of street. Andy read the changes to the motion.
Is this only for EAV? Yes, only for the commercial district. In the language, was necessary when the district was formed in 2001. Limit on storefront churches. May look at rewriting NC2 zoning. Member asked whether Councilwoman Archibong or representative from her office was present. Since we don’t know what business could be impacted, maybe Councilwoman Archibong or representative of her office could provide EACA with a more specific explanation of her expectations and the broader ramifications of changing the laws of our city.
Q: If we do not decide this evening, will Ms. Rose go out of business? A: This is a time sensitive matter. Motion to approve 19 / 3 / 8.
Andy will be starting to call together an East Atlanta LUZ; until this year/last year wasn’t necessary but we are starting to feel growth pressures it is time to start pulling a formal committee together. Will pack several meetings into the week. Keep a look out in the newsletter.
2018 Budget Review – Copies of budget in meeting. Vote on over 2 meetings. When you approve the budget (next month) essentially approves without EACA coming back for further approval. Obligated funds – NiN (earmarked). BPA Organic Garden – grant for $5,000 (earmarked) . Will vote to approve next month. Each month we have financial report with listing of individual checks written. Feel free to reach out to Ralph or any of the other officers with questions: president@eaca.net and treasurer@eaca.net.
Placemaking Presentation: Alex Frankcombe, Founder + Principal Urban Designer, www.welivehere.design/fieldguide. Originally from London; arrived here in December chose East Atlanta. Shared presentation on placemaking. City of Atlanta has grant $5K to $50K for community/grass roots. Application due in March. Survey on the EACA FB page and in the February 12 newsletter. What do we want? Aspirations over the next 10 years. Chance to shape future of our neighborhood; proactive as opposed to reactive. What is placemaking? Places for people, by people, full of people. Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm to maximize shared value. Is this bricks & mortar – something tangible? Timeline: February 28 – Responses due; March 13 – Report back at EACA meeting; Mar 14ch – Finalize proposal for initial ideas; March 16 – City of Atlanta placemaking grant due.
Motion to approve January’s minutes and spend for January – approved.
Meeting ended at 8:37pm.
