Carmel, California (pic courtesy of John)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

You are cordially invited to attend the 4th annual Decatur Christmas Tree Lighting

Thursday, November 29th at 7 p.m.

East Court Square will be blocked off. The 4/5 Academy will sing. Hot chocolate and sweet treats will be served. Santa will provide the countdown to the lighting of the tree. There is even a little something extra special planned this year (not necessarily AHID with schnapps), so you don’t want to miss this community tradition!

A special thanks to all the sponsors who helped make this possible: Apolinsky & Associates, attorneys, Cakes & Ale, Café Alsace, The Cookie Studio, The Cook’s Warehouse & Sherlock’s Wine Merchant, The Decatur Downtown Development Authority, Erbert and Gerbert’s, Greene’s Fine Foods, Homegrown, King Tree Experts, Leon’s Full Service, Little Shop of Stories, McCurdy & Candler, attorneys, Mingei World Arts, Mudhouse Design, My Own Bookkeeper, Our House, Squash Blossom, Starbucks, Veritas Planning Group, Vivid Boutique, and Wild Oats & Billy Goats.

Here’s a brief idea of some of the work it takes to make this night happen.

See you Thursday night!!!

This Week

Carmen Agra Deedy & John McCutcheon, prize-winning storyteller and Grammy-nominated musician, Monday, December 3rd, 7 p.m., First Baptist Church, Decatur, to benefit the DeKalb Library Foundation. You can find additional information here. This should be a terrific evening for a great cause. Carmen, author of the new Return of the Library Dragon, is perhaps the best storyteller I’ve ever witnessed. John is an amazing multi-instrumentalist (and also an author). This is a perfect family event.

Bill Roorbach, author of Life Among Giants, Tuesday, December 4th, 7:15 p.m., Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

FMFats points to this report from Tomorrow’s News Today that 101 Concepts plans to open a 5th Meehan’s Public House in the former Maddy’s space along Scott Boulevard.  A bit of context about 101 Concepts and Meehan’s from TNT…

Over the years, the four partners that make up 101 Concepts have developed a number of concepts, easily the most successful being Meehan’s Public House.  Previous 101 Concepts have included a Food 101 in Morningside, now home to Rosebud, and an Italian eatery, Mangia 101, in Brookhaven.  Another Meehan’s was once in Alpharetta but was too big to do well on days other than March 17th.

Currently there are Meehan’s restaurants in Vinings and Sandy Springs, along with more recent openings downtown and in Atlantic Station.  The  new  location will be Meehan’s only freestanding restaurant.  Other current 101 Concepts include Food 101 and Cibo E Beve, both on Roswell Road across from Fountain Oaks Shopping Center.

Ok.  Let’s take the Zoning Ordinance Update Task Force’s recommendations one-by-one.  Hopefully we’ll get through them all by the time of the city commission meeting next week!

First up, a long-time favorite topic among DMers – parking!  Decatur’s parking ordinance has long been criticized as outdated and many simply would point to the numerous parking exemptions the Zoning Board of Appeals has had to make the past few years as proof.

Proponents on either side of various parking battles continued to state that ultimately updated parking standards were necessary.   For years the city asked for patience, as the 2010 Strategic Plan was created followed by the Zoning Task Force to tackle the issue and provide the recommendations.  Now, they’re finally here.  I give you the proposed updates to Decatur’s parking standards.

Here’s my attempt at a summary of the changes.  Let me know what I’ve missed by scouring the detailed docs on the city’s website.

Grandfatherd Parking

• Currently allowed – New uses and all expansion of existing buildings are required to meet the current parking regulations.
• Recommendation – Allow uses of a building to change or an expansion up to 10% without being required to meet current parking regulations.

Mins and Maxs

• Currently allowed – Retail – 1 space per 200 square feet, Restaurant – 1 space per 100 square feet, Office – 1 space per 400 suqare feet, Bowling Alleys – 5 spaces per alley, fraternity and sorority houses – 1 space per bed, and so on…
• Recommendation – 1 minimum requirement (1 parking space per 500 square feet) and 1 maximum requirement (1 parking space per 200 square feet) for ALL commercial uses.  1 minimum (1 parking space) and 1 maximum (2 parking spaces) per dwelling unit.  Also, shared parking shall count towards required spaces.

Shared Parking

• Currently allowed – 50% of parking can be “shared” within 300 feet.
• Recommendation – 80% of parking can be shared within 1,320 feet and 50% can be shared for residential within 300 feet.  Off-site shared parking must have “complementary uses and operating hours” and must be zoned commercial or institutional.

Oakview Road near Second Avenue, Decatur GA (pic submitted by Karen)

• Kristian Bush strips down at Eddie’s Attic [AJC]
• Columbia Ave gas station to become greenspace [Patch]
• Report of another Ford Fry Buckhead restaurant [TNT]
• Atlanta finds fault with Fuqua’s Glenwood Ave/Beltline development [CL]
• A silver lining to global warming? [NYT]
• Turn your beloved old bike into taxidermy [Atlantic Cities]

Photo courtesy of Bicycle Taxidermy

Decatur Planning Director Amanda Thompson sends in this announcement…

After over a year of study and deliberation the Zoning Ordinance Update Task Force (ZTF) will be presenting their final recommendations for consideration to the Planning Commission on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. and to the City Commission on Monday, December 3, 2012 at 7:30 pm. The proposed recommendations can be found at http://www.decaturga.com/index.aspx?page=641

Based on the direction of the 2010 Strategic Plan the proposed recommendations encourage community gardens, allow for shared parking in commercial areas, update regulations dealing with accessory dwellings and provide new standards for transitions between residential and commercial properties.

Thank you for your past participation on Open City Hall and at the public meetings held throughout this year. The task force members encourage you to attend these final hearings to share your thoughts and if you have written comments please email them to [email protected]

We’ll likely go into more detail on these recommendations in the coming days, but for now I thought everyone would like to know the info was available for their perusal and/or intense analysis.