Christina writes in…

AutumnFest…will take place the weekend of October 23-24, 2010 across from City Hall in Avondale Estates. The festival showcases talented local and regional artists with everything from fine art to folk art, jewelry to textiles.

In addition, there will be live entertainment all weekend, great food, and a children’s activity area sure to please kids of all ages. More information can be found on our website, www.avondalearts.org.

You can check out a list of arts vendors, children’s activities, and musicians at Autumn Fest on their website.

Ugh.

The AJC is reporting that a “60-ish” man stabbed his wife to death and then attempted to kill himself in the same fashion at their Avondale Estates home this morning.

Avondale Police are saying that it was most likely “domestic-related.”

I received word of this through the church’s lawyers yesterday, but it looks like the ol’ AJC beat me to it…

A federal judge has ordered Avondale Estates to let a church resume its activities as it pursues a discrimination case against the small DeKalb County city.

Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr. on Thursday ordered the city allow Christ Liberty Family Center to re-open for worship and other activities. The church plans a service at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at its leased property, 137 Maple St.

Remember this story?

How Avondale shut down the Christ Liberty Family Life Center because the church was operating without a permit and didn’t meet the city’s requirement that all houses of worship be located on a minimum of three acres and have 100 feet of frontage for parking?

Well, now the church is filing suit in federal court against the city over its three acre minimum, which applies exclusively to places of worship.  Here’s their press release…

AVONDALE ESTATES – Christ Liberty Family Life Center filed suit today in federal court against the City of Avondale Estates to reclaim its liberty of religion under the U.S. Constitution. In late April, Avondale Estates shut the Church down because the City requires that religious facilities must be located on at least 3 acres of land. Avondale Estates puts this onerous requirement only on religious facilities and not on other places of public assembly.

For almost three months, the Church has been forced to assemble in various temporary meeting places for worship, each ill-suited to conducting church services. Dr. Emma Byrd, spokeswoman for the Church, has witnessed the burden first hand. “It’s been devastating for us. We haven’t been able to get a stable location,” said Dr. Byrd. “The congregation has been bleeding members and money.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Winnona Park Stud writes in…

You have been clamoring for a downtown grocery store.  Publix is moving into downtown Avondale Estates.

It will anchor a large mixed use development. with 2 to 3 Publix hovering on Decatur’s perimeter and a lil’ Kroger squarely within the critical zone, is this the nail in the downtown decatur grocery store dream coffin?

It’s zoning kismet!

The AJC reports that the city of Avondale has shut down Christ Liberty Family Center inside its city limits after it was discovered the church was operating without a permit and didn’t meet local zoning rules “that require houses of worship to have three acres of land and 100 feet of frontage for parking.”

Sounds like a pretty cut-and-dry story, right?  Oh sorry, I forgot to mention who owned the land the church was using…

The owner of the building, Joe Gargiulo, said the code violations are just a way for the city to lash out over its failed annexation bid on land that he owns.

As we well know by now, Gargiulo owns 10 of the 23 properties in the “no-man’s land” between Avondale and Decatur, which the two cities attempted to annex by way of the Georgia Legislature during the last session, but failed after losing one of the required signatures to get it out of committee.  Gargiulo is/was an outspoken opponent of the action.

So, what might have been a pretty straight forward, “You didn’t apply for a permit or even attempt to abide by zoning laws.  Either appeal or move on.” is now a story of bubbling animosity and accused ulterior motives.   Now THAT’S a story!

This past Saturday, “Our Way Cafe” in the Avondale Estates’ Twin Oaks strip mall on E. College Avenue suffered damage from a fire caused by a clothes dryer motor.  Tweets from @stacyreno and @danayoung, sent Dave and Geoff to the scene where they documented the damage.

While initial eyewitness accounts reported minimal damage, Dave followed up yesterday with news that the “kitchen and walk-in areas were destroyed and smoke damage throughout.”

Dave also reported yesterday that a “fire recovery fund” had been opened at Decatur First Bank.  Here are the details from Rob Elrod…

We have set up a Fund for Ava Marie’s Our Way at Decatur First.

Please ask folks to make checks payable to: Our Way Cafe Recovery Fund with an ATTN: Ms. Ann Berg on the checks. The checks can be sent to the bank at 1120 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA 30030.

A year after Decatur led a failed effort to annex a portion of College Avenue into Decatur and Avondale Estates’ city limits, Avondale Estates has now taken the lead and is making a serious effort, during the current state legislative session, to bring this strip of “blighted” land under the two cities’ jurisdiction.

In a letter to his community this morning, Avondale Estate mayor, Ed Rieker, urged Avondale residents to contact elected state and county representatives and urge them to support Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield’s effort to pass legislation that would bring College Ave land west of Sam’s Crossing into the city of Decatur and land east of the Crossing into Avondale’s city limits.

The mayor’s letter includes an attachment that summarizes Avondale’s argument to approve the annexation, which Rieker promises he “will also be distributing…to those elected officials at the state and county level that we are lobbying to help State Representative Stephanie Stuckey-Benfield pass the annexation legislation during the 2010 session that started today.”

Among the mayor’s stated reasons for annexation are to “regulate future growth and development, increase the presence of law enforcement and to beautify the gateway into our city.”  Rieker notes that the area under consideration, which consists of 23 properties belonging to nine separate owners, has become “blighted and considered by residents an area prone to criminal activity”.

Read the rest of this entry »

DeKalb History Center Executive Director Melissa Forgey sends along the details…

The DeKalb History Center’s 2009 Archives Lecture Series concludes in November with a presentation by Terry Martin-Hart on the history of Avondale Estates. The City of Avondale Estates was founded by George Francis Willis in 1924 after a trip he took with his wife to Stratford-upon-Avon.

In 1999, Terry Martin-Hart released the book Images of America: Avondale Estates, through Arcadia Publishing, which shows the history of this unique town through a vivid collection of historic photographs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Michele Hennessy, a Glennwood teacher and owner of the soon-to-open Savage Pizza in Avondale Estates gives us a quick update…

We have an existing location in Little Five Points that has been open for 13 years. The new location is slated to be open at the end of May. It is located on the corner of Clarendon and Laredo Dr. We will deliver to the Avondale and Decatur areas. It has a huge patio, nice bar and overall a beautifully designed building.