Local historic districts, development in commercial districts and potential live-work housing are key components of Decatur Strategic Plan Goal #3…

Goal 3: Protect existing neighborhoods while promoting growth in desired areas and adopting standards that guide future growth

Decatur’s neighborhoods are the foundation for the high quality of life that the city enjoys today, and must be preserved and protected. However, if the city is to adequately respond to changing demographics, it must accommodate new housing and retail options. The community expressed the desire to accommodate new growth and protect existing neighborhoods by continued emphasis on appropriately scaled and designed development within existing commercial districts.

Task 3A Adopt new transitional design standards.

In recent decades, Decatur has used buffers and height limits to transition between existing neighborhoods and new development. These have focused on separating such areas, rather than unifying them. As an alternative, new design techniques should be explored to provide appropriate connection between new development and existing neighborhoods, such as improved architectural design, scale and massing, and landscaping.

Task 3B Continue to encourage private residential, retail, and commercial development in existing commercial districts.

Commercial districts are ideally suited to accommodate the housing types needed to serve Decatur’s future. Development here should provide multifamily units for sale or rent, townhouses, live-work units, senior housing, and other options.

Task 3C Encourage the creation of new local historic districts.

The creation of local historic districts is the best tool at Decatur’s disposal for ensuring the physical preservation of historic neighborhoods. The City should support efforts to establish additional historic districts.

Task 3D Strive to realize long-term build-out visions for commercial areas expressed in the Concept Plans.

Please see the Concept Plans for examples of how new development in these areas could occur.

Task 3E Reexamine historic design standards and restrictions against historic home demolition.

The preservation of neighborhood character is as much about protecting historic homes as it is ensuring compatible new construction. While new construction is now regulated by zoning, retaining the historic character of existing homes is also critical. A citywide reexamination of regulations affecting the preservation of historic homes should be undertaken, and regulatory changes made, if appropriate.

Task 3F: Study if live-work housing can be implemented in existing neighborhoods without a negative impact on nearby homes.

As technology and employment continue to evolve, more Decatur residents are running small businesses from their homes. Although current zoning regulates the types of home businesses that can occur, these may need to be reviewed or modified periodically to ensure their relevance.

Task 3G: Improve the predictability and efficiency of the process for new development approval by establishing development standards and requirements that are consistent with the goals of the strategic plan.

The City of Decatur finally unveiled its “to-do” list for the next 10 years last night at a Open House at the Holiday Inn Conference Center.  The list is still in draft format, which means that resident input can still help modify and refine goals, but ultimately much of this list will end up as the city’s specific mission over the next 10 years.

That’s pretty darn important.

So while you’re obviously welcome to flip through the entire list of “tasks” HERE right now, I’m going to try to give a bit more exposure to the specific tasks proposed in the plan by featuring one goal and its associated tasks, once a day, until we’ve gotten through them all.

So, let’s just start from the beginning, shall we?

Goal 1: Retain and enhance the character of existing commercial districts and expand it to new districts

Walkable, human-scaled commercial districts in Downtown and Oakhurst are a hallmark of Decatur today. In the coming decade, as these areas grow and evolve, and as new commercial areas at east Decatur Station and the east lake Marta station emerge, they must do so in a manner that preserves and replicates their best aspects. this means ensuring that development occurs in a way that reinforces and expands the lively, pedestrian-friendly development patterns that make these places special, while respecting their context.

Task 1a: Refine citywide commercial design standards.

Design standards should  be refined to support quality commercial and mixed-use growth. these should recognize the unique character and scale of Decatur’s neighborhoods, and avoid one-size-fits-all approaches.  Updated standards for utility burial, architectural design, and parking should be explored as part of these refinements.

Task 1B: Adopt new sign ordinance requirements to encourage more compatible signage in commercial districts.

Task 1C: Update the Downtown Decatur Special Pedestrian area guidelines and expand the downtown streetscape program.

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