Tensions remain high among residents of the Clairemont-Great Lakes Neighborhood as neighborhood representatives prepare to see the developer’s first proposals for 315 W. Ponce on March 5th. I for one, can’t wait to see them, because I’m having a heck of a time picturing graduated 80′ development around the massive existing office building.

As part of the informal agreement between the neighborhood and the Downtown Development Authority, Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne has provided a thorough synopsis of events and facts presented up until this point. The DecaturResidents.com website has it posted in full here.

Regardless of the “city slant”, Lyn’s summation gives a lot of info we had yet to receive. Here are a couple observations I have at first glance.

• The analysis references the C2 zoning code that calls for a graduated setback and height limits when dealing with commercial property that is adjacent to R60. I’m not sure if property across the street is technically considered adjacent under law (it doesn’t specify), but it sounds like the developer and DDA are willing to work within its guidelines.
• It sounds like this project will have to go before the city commission for approval because of its residential element. I’m assuming that should give concerned citizens an opportunity to voice their opinions. Let me know if I’m wrong.
• The project admits its targeting singles and “Dinks”. Maybe renting apartments will fill vacancies faster than the 1 bedroom condos at the Renaissance. But don’t forget the other new apartments going in a Trinity Triangle. This won’t be the only show in town.

Relations already seem strained between the neighborhood and the city. A note to local residents from the neighborhood group claims a general “lack of regard” from the city about the neighborhood’s concerns and notes a comment from Lyn about not buying next to C2 if they didn’t want to deal with issues such as this. The neighborhood group also believes that the DDA wants the maximum number of units built at the site regardless of what it takes.

Ultimately I think its a positive development to hear that the neighborhood has some influence on how this private land is being developed. It may not be a perfect working relationship and the neighborhood certainly won’t get everything it wants (I’m really at a loss in terms of the cut through traffic argument. I’m not sure anything can be done.), but any resident input will ultimately be better than none.

Also, we need to remember that city employees aren’t the same as elected officials. When the time comes, if you make enough noise, the city commission is much more likely to sit up and listen. They sure did regarding the Oakhurst Historic District.

After being killed in committee nearly a month ago, the bill to create a city of Dunwoody is back on the voting block this coming Tuesday (according to the AJC). I’m not sure what prompted the quick resurrection of the bill (maybe John over at Dunwoody North will fill us in) , but if passed this time around, citizens of the prescribed area would vote on city status this November.

So, why am I writing about Dunwoody in a blog about Decatur? Because my friends, even though we may proudly proclaim ourselves residents of Decatur first, we also pay taxes to another master: DeKalb County.

And why does that matter? Because DeKalb and all of its existing cities (Decatur, Avondale, Stone Mountain, Chamblee) love to fight over our tax money.

A quick recap: Every city that exists or is created within the county takes countless millions in property taxes away from unincorporated DeKalb. DeKalb understandably doesn’t like this and fights against city creation like an overprotective mother watching her son grow up and try to move out of the house. It also has horded much of the 1% Homestead Option Sales Tax (last estimates showed that Decatur was being underpaid by a cool $500,000) that the cities say is rightfully their’s. (The GA Supreme Court should decide this 7 year battle some time this year. A date has not yet been set.)

A quick aside…The other side of this coin is that it is usually the wealthier communities (with higher property taxes) that want to withdraw themselves from county services and ultimately that leaves the county’s poorest unincorporated areas with even less available funding to repair the countless problems that plague them on a daily basis.

So, how would the creation of another city, like Dunwoody, affect those in and around Decatur? Well, as Mayor Floyd has mentioned recently in talks about annexation, if Dunwoody becomes a city, unincorporated DeKalb residents should expect taxes to go up (due to a loss in the tax base) and county services to get even worse as a result. Around Decatur, this might affect the way people in our potential annexation areas think and subsequently vote on annexation into the city.

So, keep an eye on Dunwoody’s city creation and watch for when the Georgia Sumpreme Court finally rules on the HOST dispute. I’ll obviously report on both here. If Decatur can get its share of that 1% sales tax and/or can successfully annex more commercial land into the city, property taxes should come more in line with unincorporated areas (according to Floyd) while retaining the benefit of better services.