Morning Metro: Decatur Egg-sanity, Committee to Hear Lake Claire Traffic Controversy, and Pure Private Passenger Rail
Decatur Metro | March 28, 2012- Decatur Easter Egg “Hunt” March 31st on First Baptist lawn [Decatur Minute]
- Avondale thinking about allowing golf carts again [Patch]
- Atlanta transportation committee to hear Lake Claire traffic controversy [Patch]
- DeKalb “not ready” to lose approx. $27 million w/ a city of Brookhaven [AJC]
- Photo – The dream of the 1890s was alive in the Ride to the Capitol [Patch]
- Can a 100% private rail line turn a profit? A new Orlando to South FL route [Streetsblog]
Map courtesy of All Aboard Florida
DM, Thank you for covering the Frazer Center “traffic controversy” story.
For those who are not familiar, a small number of Lake Claire residents are pushing for legislation that would close the back gate of the Frazer Center to mobility buses. These mobility buses serve 60 disabled adults who attend the center’s adult program.
The Frazer Center is an inclusive community serving both adults and children with disabilities. http://www.thefrazercenter.org/about-us. The Frazer Center is located on Ponce de Leon Avenue on the original estate of Cator Woolford. It has been at this location since 1952.
The small number of people who favor the legislation repeatedly state that they respect the work that the Frazer Center does and that they are not trying to close down the adult center.
The facts, however, do not support this claim.
These residents have targeted the Frazer Center for many months now. They do so (now) in the name of “traffic safety” and “parking concerns.” But the Frazer Center has operated at its present location since 1952. The number of children and adults it has serves has not increased in many years. In short, there are no new parking or traffic concerns.
The real issue at hand here is that the two residents pushing this legislation want a “buffer zone” between their property and the Frazer Center. These residents have already lost that fight, because the zoning regulations that apply to the Frazer Center were grandfathered in under old zoning laws decades ago. Not to be detered, the Lake Claire residents have taken up this new challenge, now in the name of traffic concerns.
Let there be no mistake. If the back gate to the Frazer Center is closed to mobility buses, it would eliminate the ability to transport adults with developmental disabilities to the center by way of Ridgewood; in effect, forcing the Frazer Center to close the program and deny services to over 60 adults for whom there are very limited options available in the City of Atlanta.
The front entrance to the Frazer Center (via Ponce) is not safe for large vehicles. The winding path is too narrow and the existing bridge will not support their weight.
The Frazer Center has spent $65,000 on engineers and attorney fees in an effort to appease its neighbors. It is trying to fix the bridge. It has negotiated with its neighbors in good faith. It has fixed many of the parking concerns raised by the small contingent of Lake Claire residents.
Still, the residents push for legislation that would close the program serving disabled adults.
The legislation cannot succeed. For one thing, it clearly violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. These are public streets. Everyone is allowed to use them. Even mobility buses which certain neighbors find distasteful. The disabled adults who attend Frazer are entitled to ACCESS their loving and supportive community.
Please lend your support to the Frazer Center. Do not allow the selfish demands of a small minority to outweigh the modest and reasonable needs of the 60 disabled adults who attend the Frazer Center.
Please contact the City of Atlanta and express your opposition to the proposed legislation. City Council Member Natalyn Archibong is the proponent of the legislation. Please remember this when it is time to vote for our new representatives in the next voting cycle.
1) Contact the office of City Council Member Natalyn Archibong expressing your opposition to this proposed legislation.
(404) 330-6048
2) Contact DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader expressing your opposition to this proposed legislation going before the Atlanta City Council.
(404) 371-2863
3) If you live in the City of Atlanta and have a different representative on The City Council, please contact your representative expressing your opposition to this proposed legislation. http://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/contacts.htm
Yesterday, there was a meeting at City Hall about the proposed legislation. The committee has agreed to table the proposed legislation for 30 days. But it will be up for reconsideration thereafter.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thanks for posting the contact info. I agree–having several MARTA Mobility buses going back and forth along residential streets–which are public!–each day isn’t that big of a deal, especially when weighed against the work that the Frazer Center does. If you live near a school (like on Mead Rd. near Oakhurst) or a place like the Frazer Center, some traffic comes with it. It’s fine to express concerns–I see that the people near Oakhurst have complained about parents blocking their driveways, which is a perfectly legitimate complaint to have–but having special legislation passed just to prevent buses with special needs adults from driving through Lake Claire is totally out of bounds.
Thanks, TOK. I agree. The proposed legislation is beyond the pale.
I plan to talk to Lake Claire friends to get the local take on the issue. But after reviewing the news articles, the posts at DM, info on the Frazier Center and Lake Claire Info websites, it seems like there ought to be a solution other than one that affects 60 disabled adults. Obviously some Frazier Center neighbors are real unhappy and frustrated with responses so far so there’s a local problem of some sort. But, as the Lake Claire Info site reports, there’s plenty of Frazier Center traffic besides the MARTA buses, so the generic issues should be addressed, not just the bus issue. If MARTA buses are idling inappropriately on local streets, that should be addressed. Is this really a MARTA problem? There was a similar problem at one time with CSD’s buses and it was resolved after complaints to the School Board. I once lived next to neighbors who idled their truck loudly at 5 AM and it was not fun. Noise issues can make one feel like one’s home has been invaded. If garbage is not handled properly, it should be addressed. It is also difficult to enjoy one’s home if one cannot go in the yard because of smells. A major problem seems to be the lack of sidewalks in the neighborhood; sidewalks would help with all the pedestrian vs. traffic issues, not just the bus issues. Is the city/county willing to address? Of course, sidewalks would involve the city-owned easements on people’s properties and we all know an infamous street in Decatur where a group of residents blocked putting in sidewalks.
Of interest, it appears that Sheri Breunig, former Communications Director for CSD, now works for the Frazier Center.
Nice tirade…you forgot the part about how Lake Claire likes to drown kittens, FYI.
TFC has not been acting in good faith with it’s immediate neighbors. There are legitimate concerns that must be addressed which have been repeatedly ignored. Chief among these is traffic and safety. I would like to urge anyone who has interest in these issues to first please read the VH/DruidHills patch article http://vahi.patch.com/articles/residents-parents-discuss-frasier-center-traffic-issues#comment_2901453 and then to please enlighten yourselves further by reading the comments section which follows. What you will find is a bunch of nuts who still upset with the APS school redistricting decision who are still very upset with Lake Claire. No one is trying to shut down any program at TFC or CWG. The accusations are so ignorant that were it not for the shear level of mis-information, they should be ignored.
I get it how the DM readership is all pro-MARTA, pro-community, hippy granola, w/e…please don’t be fooled into thinking this is something that it is not.
Thank you for your consideration.