Clairmont Heights Civic Association

December 5, 2008

The first Open House was held last night. Commissioners Rader and Gannon were in attendance for the kick off of this process. The consultants had an interesting format, chosen to get the GENERAL public involved by :

First presenting written Zoning types as described by current code, then showing Comprehensive Land Use types by description, location in County, and by photographic example, then pictures of housing groupings to illustrate density (the audience was asked to guess at zoning classifications by sight), finally several questions were asked related to the zoning illustrations. A survey was offered to gather further comments on the method of presentation and the Zoning Ordinance itself.

This was especially geared to members of the County unfamiliar with current zoning use and categories, in order to visualize the concepts of what zoning on paper means in actual practice. A difficult task, maybe a bit simplified, but more inclusive than assuming everyone has a complete understanding of zoning issues. Rather than address specific zoning problems this open house was more suited to interest the community in what zoning types are used in Dekalb, and involve the public in what that means in the built environment. I encourage anyone unfamiliar with zoning to attend one of the next 2 meetings.

Gene Schmidt
Zoning Task Force District 2
LaVista Park Civic Association