It’s zoning kismet!

The AJC reports that the city of Avondale has shut down Christ Liberty Family Center inside its city limits after it was discovered the church was operating without a permit and didn’t meet local zoning rules “that require houses of worship to have three acres of land and 100 feet of frontage for parking.”

Sounds like a pretty cut-and-dry story, right?  Oh sorry, I forgot to mention who owned the land the church was using…

The owner of the building, Joe Gargiulo, said the code violations are just a way for the city to lash out over its failed annexation bid on land that he owns.

As we well know by now, Gargiulo owns 10 of the 23 properties in the “no-man’s land” between Avondale and Decatur, which the two cities attempted to annex by way of the Georgia Legislature during the last session, but failed after losing one of the required signatures to get it out of committee.  Gargiulo is/was an outspoken opponent of the action.

So, what might have been a pretty straight forward, “You didn’t apply for a permit or even attempt to abide by zoning laws.  Either appeal or move on.” is now a story of bubbling animosity and accused ulterior motives.   Now THAT’S a story!

Dave at Little Shop of Stories lets us know that the Julie Andrews book-signing event announced a few weeks ago, has been canceled.

The shop hopes to reschedule the event for next month.  Stay tuned.

Like this apparently.  From last night’s city Planning Commission meeting docs…

Click to enlarge or click over to the PDF to check out the latest site and floor plans.

The DNO e-pub reports that the plans received approval from the planning commission last night.

With the recent announcement that Cakes & Ale would move from its current location at West Ponce de Leon Ave and Ponce Place into three spaces to the immediate south of the MARTA plaza along Church Street, it was unclear what would happen to the current occupants of those three retail spots.

Well, thanks to a hand-made sign, we now know that one of those tenants is making a short move up Church Street, across the MARTA entrance plaza, into the space recently vacated by “Classy Fashions”.

Anne’s got the info…

The Winnona Park Neighborhood Association would like to invite you a to the Winnona Park Community-wide Yard Sale on this coming Saturday. Over 25 families are participating, so there will be lots of great finds.

Start at 140 Winnona Drive, 30030. We will have maps available while they last, directing you to the sales we know about. Please forward all this information to your mailing lists, if appropriate.

Join us from 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM, May 15th.

Read the rest of this entry »