In a letter to the Decatur City Commission, as part of tonight’s City Commission agenda, City Manager Peggy Merriss proposes a temporary moratorium on demolition of single family dwellings and the “removal of certain trees within the R-60, R-85, and HDSF zoning districts”.  Here’s the full letter…

The purpose of this memorandum is to propose that at the October 21, 2013 City Commission Meeting, the City Commission consider establishing a temporary moratorium on the demolition of single-family dwellings and the removal of certain trees within the R-60, R-85 and HDSF zoning districts. It is anticipated that it would be recommended that the moratorium be effective from October 22, 2013 until January 24, 2014.

At your regular meeting on Monday, September 16, 2013, the City Commission approved the selection of the Decatur Coding Studio Team, led by TSW, to prepare a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for the City of Decatur. Phase One of the project includes development of a detailed technical report that will provide a table of contents for the new UDO and outline exactly what should be changed.  The current schedule calls for the technical report to be presented to the City Commission in January, 2014. Extensive stakeholder interviews and community engagement on desired code changes are scheduled to occur during the temporary moratorium period.

The temporary moratorium would preserve the status quo during this period of study, research and deliberation.  The temporary moratorium would allow staff and the City’s consultant team the opportunity to identify primary areas of concern from the community, particularly as those concerns relate to demolitions and removal of trees on private property. Temporarily halting further single-family demolitions would also provide time for research and analysis of a number of issues that community members have raised about recent single-family development that would inform decisions about the direction that the UDO should take such as:

• the number and type of demolitions;
• the size and scale of new single-family detached residences;
• the type and number of variances granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals; and,
• other general development issues.

It would also allow time for the tree canopy analysis to be completed and reviewed and the issues of boundary trees and tree removal on private properties to be researched before additional trees are removed.  We would also anticipate review of current staffing and professional services contracts to determine if changes or modifications in service delivery need to be considered.

At this point we anticipate that the temporary moratorium on demolitions and tree removal would only apply to development or redevelopment of detached single-family dwellings and would prohibit removal of any healthy trees with a 12-inch or greater “diameter-at-breast-height” (DBH).  Commercial zoning districts are already subject to the existing tree ordinance. The temporary moratorium would not apply to demolition of dangerous structures or dangerous or diseased trees, as determined by a certified arborist or urban forester. An appeals process for exceptions to the temporary moratorium requirement will be available.

Decatur Commissioner Fred Boykin sends along this info that was included in the most recent Bicycle South newsletter…

Next Tuesday October 8^th at 10AM the DeKalb County Commission will consider a proposal to condemn approx 10’ (average) off the Church St edge of the CSX railroad right of way from Glendale to Erskine for the purpose of building a trail bridge over I-285 and a continuous multi-use trail along the route. If you’ve ever ridden the trail, you know this is the worst & most dangerous section between Decatur and Stone Mountain! PATH and the County have the funds, GDOT has approved the bridge, the permit is in place and the Clarkston City Council is in support and now is the opportunity to make this happen.

However, the DeKalb Commission has postponed this vote once before because the Commissioner for the district, Sharon Barnes-Sutton, has expressed some doubt about the need for a bridge. If you live in DeKalb and want a safe way to ride or walk this trail, then now is the time to contact her & the other Commissioners: Jeff Rader, Larry Johnson, Elaine Boyer, Stan Watson & Kathy Gannon. Click HERE (http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/boc/contact.html) for contact information. Please do it now! The vote is only a few days away.

Decatur has a Town Center plan.  A transportation plan.  Parking studies. An Environmental Sustainability Board.  We legalized backyard poultry a long time ago.

Basically Decatur has put a lot of codes, ordinances and plans in place over the last many years.  Plus, there are additional codes/ordinances and revisions that have been proposed over the past few years that have been back-burnered, waiting for this process to occur.  Well, it’s looks like it’s time to get started.

Last night, at the Decatur City Commission meeting, the commission approved the “Decatur Coding Studio Team” of consultants who will work on unifying the city’s codes into one document.  According to a letter from Planning Director Amanda Thompson…

The team will be led by TSW, a local full service planning, architecture and landscape architecture fum. TSW was the project manager for the City’s 2010 Strategic Plan. They have assembled a team that includes: Code Studio, a national fum based in Austin, Texas with expertise in zoning and development codes; Placemakers for public outreach; Pond Engineering; Karen Hueber a specialist in historic preservation; and, Maddox Nix Bowman and Zoeckler for legal review services.

TSW and Placemakers both worked on the 2010 Decatur Strategic Plan.  Code Studio is based out of Austin and has worked with other “liberal” leaning cities like Denver and Chapel Hill in developing a unified code.

What is the Unified Development Code?  Well, the City of Roswell’s website on UDCs describes it as…

…a single (“unified”) tool that addresses contemporary development and zoning practices in a format that is consistent and easily understood by administrators, developers, and community members.

The City Commission will also establish a “Stakeholder Steering Committee consisting of seventeen (17) members including representatives from each appointed volunteer authority, board or commission, and City Commission appointees from the community and other special interests. This committee would serve as an advisory group throughout the process.”, according to Ms. Thompson’s note.

The City Commission set a budget of $83,000 for phase 1 of the plan, which includes…

…establishing the overall public involvement schedule, communications methods, stakeholder interviews and a stakeholder steering  committee. It will also include the preparation of a detailed technical report that will outline the new table of contents for the UDO and exactly what will be changed. The technical report would be presented for adoption by the City Commission in January 2014.

So dust off your “I live for public involvement” hats and iron out your “I’m Proud to be a De-Communicate-R” t-shirts.  This certainly isn’t the last you’ll hear about this process between now and January.

Funny…I just this past week openly wondered on the status of this transportation project.

At tonight’s meeting, Decatur’s City Commission will vote on an agreement between the city and the Georgia Department of Transportation for the Clairemont-Commerce-Church Street Pedestrian Safety and Bicycle Trail Improvements.  The agreement, which was originally announced way back in November 2011, will provide $2.1 million for the project from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Livable Centers Initiative program.

The entire C-Streets project is estimated to cost $4.2 million.  So where will the rest of the funding come from?  A letter from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon details the sources…

Qualifying for this November’s local election closed yesterday afternoon.  Only one race – School Board District 1 Post A – has more than one candidate.

Here’s the rundown…

City Commission

Fred C. Boykin Jr. – District 1 Post A

Patricia M. Garrett – District 2 Post A

School Board

Mark Arnold – District 1 Post A

Lewis Jones – District 1 Post A

Bernadette Seals – District 2 Post A

Annie P. Caiola – At-Large

Related: Decaturish has an interesting post on how inexpensive it is to run a campaign in Decatur this fall.