InDecatur has some great pics of the proposed Trinity Triangle development from Monday’s city commission meeting.

Apparently the project is before the commission again because the developer wanted to relocate the parking deck to face Howard Street (not sure where it was previously located.)   Dave reports that the commission approved the changes contingent upon improving the facade facing one-way E. Howard.

Dave also reports that the commission dislikes the proposed name for the project: “Cityville.”  And how can you disagree with them?

If we’re shooting for something banally generic, might I propose “Townland” or “Villageburg?”

Seriously, if you’re going to put up a throw away name like that, how about instead you do a little good community PR and let city residents name it?  Let them submit names and then put it to a vote.  As long as Stephan Colbert doesn’t get involved, it should be a cheap and easy way to show a little individual care for a project.

InDecatur has a picture of a very large tent on the Trinity Triangle site and cites unconfirmed reports that its for “Road Trip II” filming at Twain’s.

Since I believe scenes from the original “Road Trip” were filmed at Emory that doesn’t seem like much of a stretch.

The summary from last night’s Planning Commission meeting notes that the Trinity Triangle plan was unanimously recommended for approval with the following conditions…

-The property shall be developed according to plans substantially similar to those submitted with the application,

- The buildings shall be developed according to plans substantially similar to those submitted with the  application, with the understanding that the Dairy Queen building improvements are subject to the approval of Dairy Queen International,

-On-street parking on West Howard Avenue will be marked as parking for Dairy Queen or have a 30 minute time limit,

- The on-street parking closest to the Dairy Queen will include at least 1 handicapped parking space,

- The project shall meet the current bicycle parking requirements, and

- The Engineering Department will consider ways to facilitate traffic flow on West Trinity Place.

- The developer shall be bound by the conditions approved by the Decatur Downtown Development Authority in its resolution of support dated August 15, 2008.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the meeting, so I’m unsure how many people showed or spoke up.

Has the 315 West Ponce opposition has gone underground?

Inspired by a strange, cryptic note in the October Focus regarding the tabling of a slight revision of the Trinity Triangle project that would preserve the current Dairy Queen building, I asked the city to provide me with the minutes for that meeting (since they are not yet posted online).

In them, you see a number of residents stand up and ask a lot of strangely familiar questions and make a lot of familiar requests…asking for more parking at the site, a traffic study, and questioning the “purpose of lifecycle housing”.   A closer look at their addresses (2 on Oakland, 1 on Fairview, 2 on Ponce Place) and there is little doubt that the neighborhood opposition to 315 West Ponce (I’m hesitant to call them “Livable Growth” because I know the neighborhood is a bit fractured) has broadened its critique to the entire city.

And let’s be clear…this is their right.  However, I am very concerned that a few residents are attempting to quietly erect roadblocks on development projects in our city and no one else knows about it.

So this is your fair warning.  There is a vocal opposition in the city that doesn’t like the path Decatur has been taking in terms of mid-rise development.  It questions density, not enough parking and (apparently) lifecycle housing.  And its not just about 315 West Ponce anymore…its about all future development and the future of our city.

If you want to voice a different or concurring opinion on Trinity Triangle, the proposal will be brought up again at tomorrow night’s Planning Commission Meeting at City Hall at 7:30p.  I’m sure the opposition will again be in attendence.

But just know that this is bigger than just Trinity Triangle or 315.

The full minutes for the meeting are posted after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

…according to an update from the city in the September Decatur Focus, which is now online.  Also, there are no longer plans to tear down the existing Dairy Queen and build it into the new plan.  Which means the existing building will remain (which I believe has actually been there since the 1960s).

Other things of note to development-obsessed me:

• Parker’s On Ponce has push back their opening to October, due to plumbing issues.
• Also many businesses on the Square are coordinating a valet parking service for patrons that will possibly start this fall.  I think I heard that valets will park cars in the courthouse deck…but I’m not entirely sure about that.

Based on David’s picture of public hearing sign on the pile of rubble that might soon be the Trinity Triangle development, it looks like the developer is seeking approval of a life-cycle density bonus for that property at the same time the 315 project is scheduled to go before the planning and city commissions (Sept 4th and 15th).

What is a “lifecycle density bonus”? Luckily, Hugh Saxon explained it at a commission meeting back in ‘04 when the ordinance was approved.

Excerpt from the city commission minutes of July 19, 2004….

Mr. Saxon stated that the proposed amendments allow a density bonus for projects that located in the C-2 and C-3 commercial zoning districts where the highest allowable development density already exists. Developers would be allowed a twenty percent (20%) density bonus as long as seventy-five percent (75%) of the units were available to provide lifecycle housing at an affordable rate. For example, if a developer proposed a project in the C-3 district, the current zoning regulations allow for development of 43 units per acre, so if a lifecycle housing bonus was incorporated, the developer could add 8 more units and 6 of those units would have to be available to meet affordable housing objectives.

Mr. Saxon stated that the proposed amendments provided that the standard for determining the affordable pricing structure would be based on a percentage of the area median income (AMI) for the Atlanta metropolitan vicinity. Mr. Saxon added that a specific percentage was not stated in the ordinance so that the City Commission could maintain flexibility in approving projects. However, standards and objectives for providing lifestyle housing were included in the ordinance so that the intent of the program was clear.

Since Livable Growth is concerned with density across the entire city, I wonder where they stand on the issue of providing greater density in order to increase the % of affordable housing in the city.  They certainly will have a chance to have their say if both proposals go before the commissions on the same nights.

Apparently we shouldn’t take the recent demolition of the Relax Inn and the old temporary City Hall as an indication that the Trinity Triangle construction is just around the corner. (Walked by the other night and noticed that most of the rubble has been removed)

A blurb in the AJC quotes assistant city manager Lyn Menne saying that the development company still wants to do a market study before breaking ground.

This is in line with rumblings up until now…its value is that it’s just a more recent confirmation of what we already knew.

Here’s the whole blurb (since the AJC often deletes articles within weeks of online publication)

Demolition is nearly complete at a high-profile but under-utilized corner in downtown Decatur where a Texas developer plans to build up to 180 apartments with ground-level retail.

But it’s not clear when construction will begin. The development company, Cypress Real Estate Advisors, which took over the project last year, plans to conduct a market study to determine the project’s size and other variables such as rental rates, said Lyn Menne, an assistant city manager for Decatur.

The 2.5-acre site, known as the “Trinity Triangle,” was home to an aging motel, the Relax Inn. The property is at the intersection of East Trinity Place and East Howard Avenue, across the train tracks from Agnes Scott College.

The property also includes a Dairy Queen beloved by longtime residents. The restaurant is still open and the development plans include the right for the shop’s owners to move into the new retail space.

Plans call for the new apartment community to include a swimming pool and fitness center.

Decatur’s been looking a bit like a battleground of late.

To go along with Next Stop…Decatur’s pics of the knocked down DHS auditorium, here are a couple pics I took on Trinity yesterday.

The first is quite obviously the former home of the Relax Inn.

The second is next door, where the temporary City Hall building once stood. (As my wife points out, the resulting detritus is still in need of fencing)

OK, so apparently my eyes have indeed deceived me.

I drove by the other night and thought the back building was down.  But it still stands, though both back buildings are still draped in plastic in preparation of demolition.

Any day now.

Another issue of Focus is in the mail! [Thanks InDecatur]

Lots of the development issues we’ve discussed here and over at the aforementioned InDecatur are covered. The obvious difference here is that the city is talking…so they’re a little less interesting than us opinionated bloggers, but they have all the inside dish! (that they’re willing to share)

Examples include…

315 W. Ponce de Leon Ave.

The city reports, like we did last month [InDecatur /Decatur Metro], that Decatur Court at 315 West Ponce has a new owner that plans to keep the existing office building and build residential and a parking deck on the existing parking lot. My original posting mentioned a potential issue with building height for the bungalows along Ponce Pl. Sure enough, a couple homes still have “No High Rise Next to R60″ signs in their yards left over from the Old Decatur condo battle. Should be interesting….

Art Institute of Atlanta

The city has given us a little more detail on this project too, beyond the press releases that alerted us to it a couple weeks ago [InDecatur/Decatur Metro] Apparently the school will put a student art gallery on the first floor fronting Ponce, next to Quiznos, brightening up a piece of the most unfriendly pedestrian building in the city (I say that with no due respect). Also the blurb answers my question about a start date for classes, asked here. “Plans are to start small, and add classes over the next year.”

Mick’s

InDecatur pointed this one out just a few days ago and I piggy-backed. I’m still perplexed why I didn’t notice. The city cites “financial problems” that closed the entire chain. A commenter at InDecatur dishes juicer gossip, “I ran into one of their bartenders a few months back, who told me that the license was suspended because of nonpayment of back taxes.” The city goes on to assure the public that they’ll find the right establishment to fill this prime locale.

Trinity Triangle

OK, so here’s the one we haven’t seen any updates on. After months of delays, demolition is scheduled to start this month on the oh-so-sketchy Relax Inn, the old temporary city hall, and the mostly burnt down “My Sister’s Room”. Dairy Queen will need to be relocated for a time, but has been promised a spot in the new development. This blurb from Intown Atlanta gives a little more insight… “Both of these establishments will be demolished to make way for Decatur’s first downtown apartment development in more than a decade.” Anyone know who the developer is or what the plans look like?