Call to order / Start meeting recording. Approval of the March 11, 2024 meeting minutes. Approval of the March 2024 treasurer’s report.
Elected Officials’ Reports
Council Member Bakhtiari’s office (update provided prior to meeting via email and shared by Matt Day, EACA Vice President) – Following a transformative successful pilot program in East Atlanta Village, the City Council passed legislation scaling our embedded neighborhood case manager program city-wide, connecting our community’s most vulnerable to the support and resources necessary to secure long-term housing success.
22 years after Lawrence v. Texas and 10 years since the Supreme Court established marriage equality as the law of the land, Atlanta’s code still contained provisions that discriminate against and criminalize consensual adult relationships. That’s why Council Member Bakhtiari fought to change the law, modernize our code, and bring it into the 21st century. Atlanta’s laws should exist to promote the public’s health and safety, not to codify bigotry.
The City Council unanimously passed legislation the Council Member authored ensuring city employees can use their paid sick leave for essential reproductive care – including abortion, miscarriage, and stillbirth care. With Georgia’s restrictive abortion laws forcing many to seek care out of state, I’m making sure that our City employees don’t have to choose between their health and their paycheck. www.district5atl.com, www.district5atl.com/,%20%20, ncappon@atlantaga.gov, phusbands@atlantaga.gov, 404-330-6048.
Public Safety Update
Zone 6 Update – Sgt. Maldonado: Business burglaries have gone down, but there was one at the intersection of Flat Shoals and Hillburn where owners had a shed that was broken into. Vehicle break-ins have gone up (typically due to bags and other personal items being left in the car). Please continue to be conscious of such personal items out of your car when parked. Lt. Maldonado’s contact number: 404-772-1889.
Committee Updates
Fiscal Year 2025 EACA Budget: Budget was passed with no objection.
East Atlanta Parents Network: Chiara Girardi, Caitlin Mullins, Lexi Burdette-Martin.
Easter Egghunt – Saturday, April 19. Looking for donations and volunteers to help with the day of the event.
Spring Fling: Sunday, May 4 – EAV Farmer’s Market. Please reach out to eapn@eaca.net if you’re willing to help out. Looking for volunteers to help run the event day of. Question from audience regarding the relationship between EAPN and Education Committee. Concern from audience member regarding lack of communication from the schools to EACA.
Parks & Greenspace – Alex Levy, Tim Cook: Ongoing Invasive Species Removal Regular invasive cleanup events are happening at Brownwood Park in partnership with Trees Atlanta. Check the EACA events calendar for upcoming dates. The most recent cleanup was this past Saturday – Thank you to those who joined! SAVE THE DATE: A special invasive cleanup event has been scheduled for 4/19.
Brownwood Park Update: Pre-construction meeting with all contractors to occur this week, Electricians expected onsite week of 4/15 to disconnect/salvage existing fixtures. Working with DPR Electrician to finalize the required lighting fixture compromise. Pavilion Demo scheduled to begin 4/18 allowing two weeks to complete before pavilion installation begins. Fitness equipment has been ordered! If you have any questions, reach out to Tim, Alex, or Matt (parks@eaca.net).
Ormewood Forest: Meetings being scheduled with arborist and Park Pride to begin plans for Ormewood Forest. Looking to help to vision Ormewood Forest? Email Bill at ormewoodforest@eaca.net
Land Use and Zoning Update – Jenny Murray and Holly Sasnett: Application for Vote: 631 Flat Shoals Avenue (Z-24-071) – Rezone from R-LC-C to R-LC-C with different conditions (i.e., Florist Shop to Single Family Residential (SFR)). Application: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZrjgkhIrsGHRmDKUrHY0K5z-U1xImxSu/view. Latest site plan: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D0reL3TQrChOkRbT8O1IEiQhN7kgxflu/view.
The LUZ Committee, together with neighbors, have discussed this rezoning request at length. Based on concerns from the neighbors, the applicant submitted a modified plan in March that satisfied many of the concerns. Based on this discussion and on the updated plans, the EACA LUZ and NPU LUZ committees voted unanimously to support the approval of the rezoning request as outlined in the application. Question during the meeting: Which way is the house going to face? Answer: toward Flat Shoals Avenue (east direction). Question during the meeting: Does it have a front porch? Answer: yes it does. Question during meeting: What is the neighbor perspective? Answer provided by Jenny Murray: While the neighbors would like to have a bigger setback more aligned with their houses, they are ok with the plans as they’ve been presented. Vote: the motion from the committee passed with no objections to support the rezoning request as outlined in the application.
Application for Vote: 1303 Pendleton Avenue (V-25-053) – Applicant seeks to reduce the half-depth front yard setback from 17.5ft to 9.5ft. to build a screened-in porch.
EACA LUZ and NPU-W LUZ voted unanimously to approve the variance. Application: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MBxyE04fgU3b2CJjT-RsYohT4RIsS897/view?usp=sharing. Vote: the motion from the committee passed with no objections to support the variance request as outlined in the application. Other General updates can be found in the LUZ presentation for the meeting at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ejZvmshHWS63R2_v9QYPFU0uDDwZxsdXIFvjz2mBrB4/edit#slide=id.g2b3de335e95_1_75, including 1651 Van Vleck Avenue, Stream buffer encroachment comments due 4/8
Village Vibrancy Initiative – NC-2 Barber Shop, Hair Salon & Nail Salon, etc. Distance Requirement Discussion on dropping the requirement from NC-2 that prohibits “similar businesses” within so many feet of each other.
Public Safety Committee Update – Myron Polster: Alcohol Permit Awareness – Alcohol Permit from Eastside Swim and Social (872 Cavanaugh Avenue). Lots of discussion during the meeting and questions regarding the nature of the business. So far during EACA meetings, the representatives from this business have said it will be an event space, a restaurant serving alcohol, and a shared working space. The confusion raised some concerns among attendees. Vote: based on the information presented and lack of clarifying details around the applications, a motion was made to recommend a No for the alcohol license request. The motion was unanimously supported. The matter will be discussed and voted upon at next week’s NPU-W meeting. Neighbors or other interested parties are encouraged to attend.
Announcements / Community Updates
EACA Call for Volunteers – We’re excited about our role in shaping East Atlanta to be the community we envision for the future. But we won’t get there without engaged members of the community to help make it happen. Please reach out to president@eaca.net or any member of the EACA Executive Committee to find out how and where you can support. You can also check out our volunteer page at eaca.net/volunteer.
Ongoing Recruitment for Committee Involvement, Arts and Culture, Communication Community Outreach, East Atlanta Parent Network, Education, Fundraising and Grants, Land Use and Zoning, Membership, Neighbor in Need, Parks and Greenspace, Public Safety, and Transportation.
Closing remarks and adjournment.
