Geez, that was fast.

Last year it took 12 days for the 2010 Decatur Craft Beer Festival to sell out.  This year it took 7 hours to sell all 4,000 tickets!  I’m not sure what caused the mad rush this year beyond general increasing popularity, but I bet the 12 noon start time didn’t hurt things.  This morning it seemed like the whole Twitter world was spitting out reminders every few seconds.  I remember a couple years ago, when I was one of a lone few reminding folks of such things.

Regardless, big congrats to the Beer Fest!  I think that pink elephant might be a good-luck charm.

Decatur CD parking lot.  Decatur, GA  (photo submitted by Marcia)

Both “walkability” and “child care” in the same post?  It’s a Decatur blogger’s dream come true!

Tonight, the Decatur City Commission will vote on approving amendments to the zoning ordinance to allow family home daycares in R-85 and R-60, approved by the Decatur Planning Commission last week.

So?  Well, of particular note is a conversation recorded in the minutes from the Planning Commission meeting (page 22) between some of the commission members and Planning Director Amanda Thompson.  The issue at hand is the lot size requirement in the proposed ordinance, because while the state regulates 35 square feet per child of indoor space, there is no outdoor requirement.  (In Georgia, family daycares can watch a max of six children per day.)

In response to an unrecorded question from commission member Scott Doyon, Ms. Thompson explained that she had recommended a 10,000 square foot lot size “because it would allow an adequate play space as well as a buffer between neighboring properties.”  She also admitted that most R-60 lots are smaller than 9,000 square feet and thus would not meet the minimum lot size to allow a family home daycare.

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Below you’ll find a quick summary of how Decatur’s 2006 bond projects projections panned out, according to a 2006 vs. 2010 Bond Projection spreadsheet (pdf) recently compiled by the City of Decatur.  The spreadsheet was created at the request of the city commission to provide residents with a breakdown of how the individual projects in Decatur’s 2006 $16.4 million bond have fared financially.

The City Manager has contended previously that many of the larger discrepancies below are a result of going with “long-term solutions to address facility needs instead of making short-term renovations and repairs.”

Note that my numbers below do NOT include the “Funding Other Sources” columns found in the spreadsheet.  So if there’s a particular discrepancy that interests you, I’d suggest checking out the full spreadsheet first to make sure that spending wasn’t off-set with another form of funding.  (Example: Land acquisition for parks)

Legend = (2006 projection vs. 2010 projection)

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Photo from around 7:15p yesterday evening.  Stopped for a couple pedestrians in the crosswalk ahead.