Comments on: ZOUTF Task #1 – Expanding the Decatur’s “Pedestrian Zone”

By: iheartnelliebelle

iheartnelliebelle — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 19:21:45 +0000

I’d like the city to clean up the trash area on Ponce by Starbucks. Why are curbies allowed to on the sidewalk anyway? Business trash needs to be removed from the sidewalk and placed into dumpsters behind the building. If it’s absolutely impossible to ban the cans, please build a fence to hide them and keep little kids from playing between and moving them and the boxes around them into the path of pedestrians.

By: Greg Coleson

Greg Coleson — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 19:26:30 +0000

I would like to see the pedestrian zone expanded to all commercial property in Decatur. It seems like a great idea to have “streetscaping (e.g. wide sidewalks, street trees, benches, bicycle parking) whenever a site is redeveloped” on as many roads as possible

By: John Rose

John Rose — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:21:11 +0000

In the long-term, the only way to provide affordable housing for Decatur workers is to build at higher density in Decatur or improve connectivity between downtown Decatur and the surrounding area. Better to keep rents low by enough good housing to meet the demand rather than by subsidizing or building more low-quality housing (e.g. the apartments on Trinity) that isn’t in high demand.

By: SavvyShopper

SavvyShopper — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:22:35 +0000

I would recommend an extension along College Ave from Commerce to Sam’s Crossing. That stretch is all business and gets quite a few pedestrians due to the proximity to the Avondale MARTA station. It could use all the help it can get to become more pedestrian friendly. Then again, if Commerce is currently part of the Pedestrian Zone, the status hasn’t helped much. I’d be happy if we just had a safe way to cross that street.

By: Amanda Thompson

Amanda Thompson — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:16:06 +0000

Thanks for all the comments and thank you DM for giving this task force a better name than ZTF.
This item is referring to expanding the boundaries of the Special Pedestrain Area in downtown Decatur. This is a zoning overlay that requires streetscaping (e.g. wide sidewalks, street trees, benches, bicycle parking) whenever a site is redeveloped. So when you see the word “extension” it is not referring to extending a street. It is referring to extending the zoning requirements for streetscapes.
Amanda Thompson
Planning Director
amanda.thompson@decaturga.com

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 23:01:21 +0000

All right, all right…

By: smalltowngal

smalltowngal — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 22:21:29 +0000

You were perfectly clear, but I was thinking your comment was deeply nested in a long thread, because I was lured into reading that old thread DM referenced. Didn’t get my bearings until after I posted that comment, now see that (1) your comment is close to the thread surface here, and (2) we haven’t stampeded up a side canyon, after all.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 22:05:56 +0000

I thought that’s what I was doing.