Clairmont Heights Civic Association

From a resident next to the Williamsburg subdivision...

Hello everyone,
This is an update on the LeCraw/Williamsburg redevelopment proposal. ... The BOC will hear this request to change the property land use from Suburban to Town Center on Tuesday, May 19 at 6:30pm at the Maloof Auditorium in
downtown Decatur. This is the FOURTH cycle of hearings on this application, which has been deferred each time by the BOC, despite continued recommendations by the Community Council to deny it.

Now Lecraw is asking for a deferral because of the upcoming LCI study of potential development and transportation options for the entire N. Druid Hills Rd. corridor (or most of it, anyway). These results will not be available until at least December. It is not reasonable to continue to defer this every 2-3 months, forcing concerned neighbors to attend 3 meetings each cycle. For Williamsburg residents, it also leaves a cloud of doubt over if and when they might lose their homes. The BOC needs to either deny the application or recommend to the applicants that they withdraw it without prejudice until after the results of the LCI study are complete.

If you have concerns, you need to be there at the BOC meeting, AND express your concerns in writing to ALL the commissioners ahead of time, especially if you can't be there. This is actually easier than it sounds. Compose a
short letter with your concerns. Use the same letter to email each of the 7 commissioners (info below). OR, print out a letter to each commissioner (address stays the same, just change the name) and fax to the # below with a cover sheet asking that the letters be distributed. I think real letters are more likely to be noticed than email.

These are my concerns, as an example:

1. A development of 60 units/acre is too dense for this area, which now has quite a bit of greenspace and the only nearby commercial area is at the intersection of Clairmont/Briarcliff.

2. No specific site plan has been presented to justify the land use change to Town Center. This is a jump of 3 levels above the current land use of Suburban, skipping over possibilities of Traditional Neighborhood and Neighborhood Center. They made vague references to "development partners." I think it is a justifiable concern that LeCraw wants to increase the development value as much as possible for this property, then sell it off in pieces.

3. The Town Center in this area as designated in the 2007 DeKalb County Land use Plan is at Toco Hills Shopping Center. There are quite a few possibilities for redevelopment there. It would not benefit the senior residents at Williamsburg, or the adjacent homeowners, or DeKalb County to change the Williamsburg property to Town Center. In fact, it could be detrimental to the property values of the adjacent condos and single-family homes.

4. No matter how walkable you make an Atlantic Station-type development with coffee shops, etc., it still brings in more cars, which Clairmont and N. Druid Hills Roads can't handle.

5. The Planning Dept has represented most of the LeCraw property as Town Center already, which it is NOT. Only the building closest to the Clairmont/N. Druid Hills Rd intersection is Town Center in the 2007 Land Use Plan.

6. If the property owner does make plans to redevelop Williamsburg, residents of the surrounding neighborhoods ARE willing to meet with the developer to ensure a smooth process. Any changes should be less dense than currently proposed, should blend with the existing residential area and Mason Mill Park, preserve greenspace and provide opportunities for the resident senior citizens to be temporarily relocated and offered affordable permanent housing in the renovated/redeveloped community.

Developers count on us becoming complacent. This issue is definitely not dead, it is going forward. Please come to the meeting on May 19 and send email/letters! Below are the details.

Sue McConnell

Board of Commissioners 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA 30030 Fax: 404-371-7004

Elaine Boyer(District 1) njmcbrid@co.dekalb.ga.us
Jeff Rader(District 2) jrader@co.dekalb.ga.us
Larry Johnson (District 3) larryjohnson@co.dekalb.ga.us
Sharon Barnes Sutton(District 4) sbsutton@co.dekalb.ga.us
Lee May(District 5) lmay@co.dekalb.ga.us
Kathie Gannon(Super District 6) kgannon@co.dekalb.ga.us
Connie Stokes (Super District 7) cstokes@co.dekalb.ga.us