The AJC reports that residents at the Gables owned property at N. Driud/Briarcliff have received a letter saying that the “sale of the property will no longer occur as intended.”  Most take that to mean that the once controversial “Town Briarcliff” project is now dead.

Good riddance.

As many of you may know, Sembler’s big-box meets mixed use – with a smattering of poorly designed parking and traffic flow – projects have never been my cup o’ tea.

Maybe Sembler now is just pooling its resources to develop some mega-mixed-use up at the old GM Doraville plant.

At this morning’s school board meeting, DeKalb school officials voted unanimously against selling some 30+ acres of land to the Sembler Company to build its much-criticized mini-city.

It’s an important victory for local residents that have opposed the development’s insanely grand scale at an already congested intersection, though Sembler still has plans to build a scaled-down version of “Town Briarcliff” on the 70 acres it already owns at the corner of Briarcliff and N. Druid.

Town Briarcliff? Is that like City Decatur? Nothing institutionalizes community like “Town [Insert Road Name Here]“!

Hmm…I wonder what the school board thinks about letting their tax dollars go towards the TAD. Yeah, not so much.

UPDATE: Fresh Loaf’s Scott Henry also reports from the meeting and gives the story a bit more context.

Sembler is still planning to develop another 70 acres on Briarcliff Road that it has under contract from the county housing authority, but the loss of the school property means no frontage on North Druid Hills Road. That, in turn, means plans for a grand boulevard linking the two roads will likely be scrapped.

In other words, it’s back to the drawing board for all concerned.

(Photo courtesy of the AJC)

Regardless of whether its due to the stagnant real estate market or the impending uphill battle against the DeKalb school board, the AJC is reporting that Sembler has told Commissioner Jeff Rader that they will be presenting a scaled back version of its plans for its mini-city at Briarcliff/N. Druid Hills Road to the school board this Friday.

Perhaps the real estate market, coupled with angry residents and an seemingly unwilling school board were a bit too much for the mighty Sembler.  We’ll have to wait ’til after the school board meeting tomorrow at 10:30a to see just how far they’ve scaled back the plan.

Ah…there’s nothing quite like the sweet smell of slightly less congestion.