I’ve received a few pictures already of two fences being erected on both sides of the drainage canal inside of Adair Park’s dog park.  Decatur Active Living Asst. Director Cheryl Burnette was good enough to provide this explanation as to why it is necessary…

As many of the Adair Dog Park users may know, the park has had multiple drainage problems over the past year. There is a drainage channel running down the middle of the park through which rain run- off is directed. Part of the fence boundary runs across the bottom of the drainage. The bottom edge of the fence has been catching a lot of leaves, small limbs and other debris causing the water to be redirected to the east. When this occurs, the water floods the Historic Mary Gay House.

The best solution to this problem was to construct a fence on either side of the drainage channel with an opening at the south end of the park (the top of the hill) so that dogs and dog-owners would still be able to access both sides of the dog park. Leaving the space on either side of the channel was necessary to get equipment up the channel in the event that repairs are needed. Both sides of the park will still be accessible. This solution was a compromise to respond to the need to keep the channel open without reducing the size of the park.

Do you park illegally at Glenlake Park?  You may want to read the following message from Decatur Deputy Police Chief Keith Lee…

The Decatur Police Department has recently received complaints about illegal parking in Glenlake Park. After consulting with members of the Decatur Active Living Department it became apparent that these parking violations hinder the ability of emergency vehicles to efficiently respond to critical incidents. Additionally, the misuse of handicap accessible parking spaces prevent their use by authorized drivers. Effective Monday March 12, 2012 the Decatur Police Department will begin issuing parking citations to illegally parked vehicles in the park. Patrons of Glenlake Park are encouraged to utilize the on-street parking available on Church Street. Additional parking is located in the Decatur Cemetery. There is a convenient walking path connecting Glenlake Park to the cemetery. The cemetery is open daily until 7:00 pm.

Creative Loafing’s Omnivore blog received word from a restaurant manager, that popular Sichuan Restaurant, “Tasty China” is planning a third location “near Emory”.  As detailed in the post, Tasty China is where the now famous Peter Chang got his start…

Those addicts know that the infamously peripatetic Peter Chang was chef at the original Tasty China. Then he left. Then he came back to open “Peter Chang’s” with the Tasty China folks. Last month, he left town again — back to Richmond, Va. — and the restaurant has been renamed Tasty China 2. Chang retains no interest in the restaurant, according to [restaurant manager] Lissandra.

Seems like Emory Point would be the most obvious location, but who knows!

• Oakhurst hydration station for Publix Marathon needs volunteers! [Be Active Decatur]
• Mary Mac’s beloved waitress to retire [Fox5]
• T’was crossover day in the GA Legislature [CL] with no regional transit agency in sight!
• Cool Beltline construction pics [Curbed]
• Book on historic Ponce de Leon Avenue released [Patch]
• MARTA begins building pedestrian bridge over GA 400 [ABC]
• Atlanta map circa 1946: More expressways thru business dists dammit! [ATL Urbanist]

“Decatur’s Kitchen Garden”, located on over an acre of land owned by the United Methodist Children’s Home just outside of the Decatur city limits, plans to break ground next Wednesday morning.

According to a press release put out yesterday…

Decatur’s Kitchen Garden is designed to foster community, offer education about healthy food traditions and growing practices, and enhance biodiversity through cutting-edge sustainable resource management. Through a Global Growers market initiative, good produce will generate supplemental income for community producers when it is distributed directly to DeKalb County residents through local markets, restaurant liaisons, community food co-ops and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

“The Garden will host more than an acre of urban market garden space, to be cultivated by culturally diverse community producers from our local refugee communities and nearby neighborhoods,” stated Susan Pavlin, Director of Global Growers Network. “A range of annual and perennial foods, with an emphasis on specialty cultural crops, will be grown at this community market garden site,” she continued.