Call to order Announcements. Voting rights (3 meetings, or $10). Seeking the following positions to be filled: Treasurer, Woodland Hills Neighborhood Rep.
Zone 6: Major Vazquez, the new Zone 6 commander, came to introduce himself to the community. He’s in his 29th year with APD and was previously the Zone 5 captain. Capt. Clay gave an update on a few crimes that have occurred over the past quarter. There were robberies at 525 Boulevard and 463 Moreland with no leads. There have been a couple of aggravated assaults. Otherwise, mostly larceny. There was a question asked about the number of firearms stolen out of cars in Atlanta. Capt. Clay stated he would provide an update on that figure at the next SAND meeting. In regard to car racing originating from the Moreland Value Village, the owner and APD are working together to address the concerns there but the owner cannot close off the lot due to lease conditions with existing businesses. There was a question on traffic calming and any reports of ticketing on Custer Avenue. Capt. Clay will look into this and report back.
City/State/School/Other Elected Officials: State Senator Nan Orrock (District 39) came to recap the recently ended legislative session. Each state senate district is approximately 200,000 people. They passed the largest budget in the state’s history. There was a large battle over school vouchers that was stopped in the Senate. There was a bill passed preventing pregnant women from being shackled. There was passed a renter bill of rights. The City maintained control of the airport. The state passed a “heartbeat bill” that prevents abortion after six weeks, and the state has the highest childbirth mortality rates in the nation.
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Treasurer: Amazon Smile / Kroger Rewards. Trolleys available for $40 unpainted, $50 painted.
Education/Schools Social: Interested in hosting a social hour for SAND at your home? Let us know! Vickery’s Sand Social Hour.
Public Safety: ExxonMobil 840 McDonough Blvd – Change of Ownership o Approved 10-0-1. 1328 Boulevard SE (Red’s Beer Garden). Councilwoman Smith presented draft legislation and discussed some of the potential issues of exempting the property from the alcohol ordinance distance requirements, including: Cannot be specific to any one business; There’s technically four units with different addresses in the same building, it’s unclear if it can just be applied to the two leased by Red’s Beer Garden. If it’s limited to two units, due to the size it can be operated as a bar, but not as a nightclub. The community was concerned about it being operated as a nightclub. Kristen Sumpter of Red’s Beer Garden stated that they would be able to meet all the requirements of the bar under city code, including serving packaged food, allowing only patrons over the age of 21, and being closed on Sundays. Bars can have live music but applicant plans to have acoustic music only. The legislation can be restricted to beer and wine, which is all the applicant wants to sell. With it being a bar, there’s a single residence that is too close to the proposed bar, not two and a church as was previously thought. This is a little different than the distance exemption requirements passed for both the Beacon and Larkin because for those properties they were done simultaneously with rezoning. Councilwoman Smith wants a vote from the community to get feedback on what we do, and what we do not support in regard to this potential distance exemption. One community member noted that they live in Benteen Park, the area is a food/drink desert, and this potential establishment would be a huge benefit. Carla asked the applicant to begin the liquor license application process so that they [the city] can confirm officially which, if any, properties would be impacted. There was a vote to support the distance exemption for on premise sale of alcohol 7-0-3 with the following conditions: Beer (malt beverages) and wine only; Consumption on-site only; The applicant, Kristen Sumpter, send a certified letter to the one impacted property owner to provide an opportunity for them to oppose the exemption. The metes and bounds must only be for 1328 and 1330 Boulevard and not for the entire building, therefore allowing only a bar and not a nightclub.
Land Use and Zoning (LU&Z): SD-19-012 1106 Sanders Ave SE – Applicant seeks to split their residential double lot (~18,000 sq ft) into two lots (~900 sq ft each) | o Comment only. Z-19-034 940 Bruce Circle SE – Applicant seeks to rezone from R4 to R4A o Approved unanimously. V-19-100 992 Woodland Ave SE – Applicant seeks a variance to reduce the required half-depth front yard from 17.5 to 6 feet for the construction of a second story addition to an existing single-family home | LUZ voted to o Approved unanimously. Z-19-42 1108 Edie Ave SE – Applicant seeks to rezone from R4 to R4A to allow for the construction of 2 single family homes. Approved 7-1-2 on the condition that it is limited to two houses. Z-18-124 1224 Avondale Ave – Applicant seeks to rezone the property R4 to R4B o Approved 8-0-2 with the conditions from LUZ, that it be limited to two houses.
February, March, and April 2019 Meeting Minutes approved.
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