City Responds To Flooding in Midway Woods
Decatur Metro | February 1, 2010 | 10:28 amUPDATE III: Asst. City Manager David Junger responds “Our Storm Water Engineer Julie Gyuricza received this complaint this morning and she is investigating the nature and cause of the flooding. We do not have enough information currently to know why this area flooded.”
UPDATE II: Jon writes in with a second report…”So it turns out there was a major blockage in one of the 18 inch pipes, and the city has already come out and taken care of it. They have also said they will be on the lookout for the area in the future. I’m really pleased with how quickly the city has responded to us. I hope you let everyone know, because the city earned it’s reputation on this one….”
UPDATE: Jon writes in “Peggy already has the drain crew out looking at the area. It’s really great to see the city respond so quickly.”
Four days ago, Paula reported “rumbling on the Midway Woods yahoo group about the stalled development at Midway and S. Candler. …the latest is that the clearing of the lot has caused huge run-off problems and flooding.”
Yesterday evening, the President of the Midway Woods Neighborhood Association, Jon Rork, wrote in asking for help…
As you know, there are two new developments starting on the border of Decatur with Midway Woods. One is on Midway itself, the other is on the old horse farm at Midway and S. Candler. The two developments border Dearborn Park, and both are in City limits, so I believe. Anyhow, the neighbors of houses who are adjacent to the park have noticed that since the developers have started work, there has been significant issues with drainage on Midway/Deerwood whenever it rains, to the point that there is now severe flooding when there hadn’t been before the development began.
I attached some pictures I was sent so you can get a sense of what we’re talking about. The Midway Woods Neighborhood Association wants to get this fixed ASAP, but we don’t know who to contact to help us. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I’ll work on finding out what the city can or has already done about this issue. In the meantime, if you have any useful advice for these water-logged Midway neighbors, dish away!
The dump trucks hauled away what seemed like 1 billion loads from that hill to create the new subdivision on the north side of Midway. It literally looks like they’ve shaved away the top of a mountain. The number of trees removed was astonishing and I’m not even much of a tree hugger. The process took months to do was very steady. Now, nothing.
I haven’t seen progress over there in months. Do these types of projects take the winter off? Or is this another one of those eyesores where a big project is begun but never finished. There’s another one on Lenore Street near McKoy Park; a site was cleared, asphalt and curbs put in and sewage pipes projecting to the sky. The Lenore site hasn’t been touched in 6 years I know.
I can’t really tell if the proposed subdivision on the old horse farm is active or not. I kind of doubt it. I think that area is just being used as a staging area for the all the work about to take place on Candler St. They’re widening the bridge to 3 lanes and creating drainage infrastructure for all the run off that comes down S. Candler. Traffic is about to get a lot crazier.
The development at the corner of Candler and Midway is to be known as Parkside Overlook. Three years ago, at least, the 8+ acre property was sold, the quaint farmhouse was torn down and the horses moved away. The economy tanked and now it sits dormant.
Notice a trend? What can be done?
Two updates from Midway Woods NA President, Jon Rork, above.
Are those developments in the city limits?
Well, the city is looking into the problem, so I would assume “Yes”.
Yes, Nell, all 3 that I mentioned are within city limits.
I wasn’t quite sure if this was on the border and the city was being proactive because it was affecting Decatur. That line is very confusing over there.
You’re right, Nellie, the city limits line is very confusing around there. But this particular location was chosen specifically because it is in the Winnona Park school district. This development was highly contested by many residents because of obvious reasons; loss of green space, influx to schools, flooding/drainage concerns, etc. (Proper drainage to Shoal Creek was a huge issue and was supposed to be addressed accordingly. Hmph.)
I’m not particularly bothered by these types of subdivisions in Decatur. It’s what a lot of people want—a new house with all the amenities and no imperfections. What irks me is when they do all the land-moving, tree cutting, etc and then the work stops leaving behind an eyesore and a hazard. Many of these developments have fallen prey to the economy, but the one on Midway was begun well AFTER the economy tanked.
That “development” on the north side of Midway is HORRIBLE!!!! Maybe I lack vision, but even if someone eventually builds something there, I just can’t picture anyone wanting to buy it. I’m surprised that this kind of thing was allowed to happen in City of Decatur. The whole thing is very un-Decaturish. I feel for the folks that have to live next to it… it looks just like like a poorly managed landfill right now.
I’d be interested to know what it going on over there too. A friend in Midway said that she heard a rumor that the developer was going to let Midway residents garden on the site. Huh????? I’m all for gardening… but I don’t get it. To begin with… there’s nothing remotely resembling topsoil left over there.
The only community garden for Midway Woods I know of discussed is actually at the abandoned Oldfield property where another three acres were clear cut where we were promised it would not happen. Not the one on Midway since it is in the City of Decatur.
The area that was clearcut used to contain many old-growth, mature trees, and provided habitat for tons of birds, as well as some coyote and deer. Now it’s an empty, bald eyesore that is endangering homes because of the runoff, and it seems unclear if the proposed development will even continue much less if there will be buyers…. what a shame. What a waste.
really? there are deer and coyote still found ITP? cool!
Yes – I lived in Midway Woods for 8 years, and my husband came pretty much face to face with a coyote right along where the clearcutting now is. And there is at least one deer – a male nicknamed “Rudy” that lives along the stretch of woods by the creek. And lots and lots of birds, including owls that we would hear *all* the time, and hawks. Was really neat to have that kind of wildlife in such a generally urban location.
Perhaps not as exciting as a coyote, but I’ve seen a fox in midway woods.
On the Glennwood estates listserv today residents are discussing what to do with a coyote that someone has trapped in their back yard. It had just killed a neighborhood dog. There’s also a general consensus that cats that go missing in the neighborhood have fallen to the Wile E. types.
So in the end, perhaps not really as cool as it would appear to be.
This site is one of the saddest developments I have witnessed in many years of dealing with developers and their legacies. The site used to be the entrance to Midway Woods: a hillside of trees and undergrowth that was a welcome relief from the general madness of Fulton/DeKalb traffic. Now it is a barren mudpit held up by retaining walls. Not a tree left anywhere. I see the man who lives next door shoveling mud out of the curbs after every rain shower. Poor guy’s house now overlooks a manmade cliff into a field of dirt. And, no, there’s been no activity there for some time now. In the county I used to live in there was an ordinance on the books that stated something to the effect that if a parcel was rezoned and then remained vacant or unused for a period of time, it would revert back to the original zoning. One would think, especially in progressive Decatur, that someone official would be keeping an eye on this site. Until something happens there, we continue to not use Midway, and instead drive through Winona Park to access our home. That whole Midway-Candler area is just too depressing right now.
Does anyone happen to actually know what powers the various municipalities actually have in overseeing this kind of thing? Does anyone actually know what (if there was one) the agreement was between developer and City? I’ve heard some rumblings about tree ordinances and zoning and such, but I just don’t have a good sense of what part of this human-made disaster is outright disregard for the law and what part is lax oversight by the Powers That Be.
Suggest you communicate with Amanda Thompson [email protected] . She is the City zoning administrator.
Well — I know for a fact that there was at least one development idea for this site a few years ago that kept almost all the trees. A few neighbors were INCENSED at the thought of any development and simply would not compromise at all. The developer, after spending a lot of money on plans, meetings, talking with neighbors, etc. finally had to give up. It’s a shame that a couple loud people were able to run a responsible developer out so that this kind of thing could move in.
This development has had at least a 10 year history. Just so everyone is up to date. According to the original agreement that got approved by the City a 30′ tree buffer was supposed to be left on the front side of the development to provide neighbors that separation. Those came down when the City required a larger sized drainage system. The developer clearly really doesn’t care about the trees and has basically said that all the trees had to come down because the topography was more difficult than orginally planned even though there were sevreal specimen trees that were supposed to be left. The City of Decatur rushed out the day the bulk of the tree cutting happened but in the end what could they really do? In regards, to the zoning reverting at this point it would simply revert back to residential that could clear cut everything so reverting back to the original zoning doesn’t really matter at this point. Here’s the problem (if you want to hear me lament about the removal of trees you can read my blog on the website) moving forward is what critical snd that this developer and let me make this clear – the developer is only supposed to put in streets, sewage and electric taps, no one has made a whiff of mention about houses – has either horibbly misrepresented himself in being able to handle this kind of development or has really become a victim to the weather. The real problem is how do we stop the erosion? Clearly the entire Eastern wall and retention fences and what looks to be about a third of the Eastern side of the property washed away this weekend. Where’s the wall? Where are the fences? I think Belvedere will be cleaning them out at a creek clean-up. What is going to be done? At this rate the whole hill will wash away. Both the front wall and the western wall on the side have already had cracking and pieces washing away. I really feel sorry for Ryan and his family because the destabilization of the hill could really effect his home. At this point it is clear the developer needs fines and site visits after every rain to force him to pay more attention and really start enforcing some type of structural integrity on the hill. We can have another system wide failure like we did this weekend if quick action is not taken.
Beth – do you know what kinds of penalties can be levied against the builder for not following whatever agreements were in place, and who is responsible for enforcing them?