Category: Government

1489 LaVista Road and BriarVista Elementary Information

Jesse Thompson Leave a comment

On Thursday night, October 7th from 5 to 7pm, the Bruster's at Toco Hills will be hosting a Spirit Night benefiting BriarVista Elemenatary.  Bring out the family and have some ice cream and help benefit BriarVista.

BriarVista is IMPERATIVE to our neighborhood.  We as a neighborhood need to go out of our way to help this school in anyway we can.  Even if you don't have children, or don't plan on sending your children to BriarVista, imagine if that school was closed down (which could of happened last year).  How do you think you property value would be effected by a overgrown unkept school.

Speaking of BriarVista, DID YOU KNOW, that there is a fitness trail on the property for all residents to use?  It is a great gem that just needs a little shining up.

WHNA, LLCC and the BriarVista PTA have teamed up and set in motion a restoration plan for the BriarVista Fit Trail.  The first work day will be this Saturday from 9am-11am.  We are in need of 5-10 volunteers to help clear overgrowth and spread woodchips.

Please contact Brian Bilski at treasurer@woodlandhillsatlanta.org if you are interested or have any questions.

Finally, I want to invite you to our next Town Hall meeting regarding 1489 LaVista Road.  After a lot of back and forth with a lot of groups, I feel that we have a reasonable compromise offer on the table.  If your interested, please plan on attending.  We will be meeting at Peachtree Baptist on Thursday Night, Oct 7th at 7:30 PM.  So grab some ice cream from Bruster's and head on over to the church.  Without your support at previous meetings, we wouldn't have had any say in the redevelopment of the property.

Hope to see you all soon.

Brad Grulke

Woodland Hills Neighborhood Association

1489 LaVista Road Public Hearing

Jesse Thompson Leave a comment

Title: 1489 LaVista Road Public Hearing
Location: 330 W Pounce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030 on the 1st floor in Conference Room A
Description: DeKalb County Planning and Development Department Public Hearing

We have learned that the DeKalb Planning Department has already agreed to signed off on the entrance from the property to and from Shepherds Lane with limited access from LaVista (no access to LaVista). They considered this a \"minor\" change. Without a strong turn out on Monday this will become a REALITY.

WE NEED YOU THERE TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR NO ACCESS TO AND FROM SHEPHERDS LANE.

The meeting will be held on September 13th at 6pm at 330 W Pounce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030 on the 1st floor in Conference Room A. Please make every effort to attend. If you cannot drive there, let me know and we will find you transportation.
Start Time: 18:00
Date: 2010-09-13
End Time: 19:30

URGENT: 1489 LaVista Road Update

Jesse Thompson Leave a comment

Dear Residents,

Wednesday was the 1st meeting regarding the redevelopment of 1489 LaVista Road. It was with the Zoning Board of Appeals. Both Dr. Jacobson and the surrounding neighborhoods asked for and were granted a deferral until the vehicular access to the property is discussed at next Monday's DeKalb County Planning and Development Department Public Hearing.

Monday's meeting is absolutely crucial. We have learned that the DeKalb Planning Department has already agreed to signed off on the entrance from the property to and from Shepherds Lane with limited access from LaVista (no access to LaVista). They considered this a "minor" change. Without a strong turn out on Monday this will become a REALITY.

WE NEED YOU THERE TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR NO ACCESS TO AND FROM SHEPHERDS LANE.

The meeting will be held on September 13th at 6pm at 330 W Pounce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030 on the 1st floor in Conference Room A. Please make every effort to attend. If you cannot drive there, let me know and we will find you transportation.

Woodland HIlls position on Shepherds Lane access is as follows:

No vehicular access onto Shepherds Lane from this property

We have several concerns regarding Shepherds Lane car access.

1. Shepherds Lane is a residential street.
2. At the other end of Shepherds Lane, we already have curb cut access to three businesses: QuikTrip, Marcus Institute, and Shepherds Construction. One of WHNA long term goals is to maintain and enhance the residential integrity of Shepherds Lane. By allowing driveway access to Shepherds Lane by another business, we open up the possibility of more "developmental creep."
3. While today we are only talking about this property, there is a long term possibility that the south side of LaVista Road from Shepherds Lane up to the church could be redeveloped as a whole. Next to 1489 LaVista, heading towards Briarcliff, are two existing O&I properties (1493 and 1501 LaVista) and Sloan Square Apartments. It is our understanding that the business owners at 1493 and 1501 are nearing the end of their careers and may be open to selling those properties. Also, it has been brought to our attention that Sloan Square may want to redevelop in the near future. If these three properties, with or without Sloan Square, get redeveloped together, we could not only be looking at a single property accessing Shepherds Lane, but possibly an entire office park.

For those reasons, we are completely against car access to Shepherds Lane.

We propose that Dr. Jacobson should be granted full access to and from LaVista Road. No other business on LaVista has limited access to LaVista Road, why is this property any different?

Sincerely,

Brad Grulke
WHNA President

1489 LaVista Road O&I Buildings

Jesse Thompson Leave a comment

Dear Residents,

As you are aware, 1489 LaVista Road is in the process of being redeveloped to house office space. Back in 1981, this property was rezoned from Residential to allow for O&I (Office and Institutional) building. As it stands today, the buildable area for O&I is smaller than the owner, Dr. Wendy Jacobson, would like to accommodate her offices.

When she presented her plans to us, there were several issues that appeared. I am writing to inform you of the Woodland Hills Board of Directors' stance on the redevelopment of this property. I hope you will support us in our stance. We feel it is fair to the neighborhood and to the developer. Our positions are as follows:
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1489 LaVista Road O&I Buildings

Jesse Thompson Leave a comment

As you may be aware, the property of 1489 LaVista Road (on the SE corner of LaVista Road and Shepherds Lane) was recently purchased. It was purchased by Dr. Wendy Jacobson, a clinical psychologist in private practice and associated with Emory University. She plans to use this location as her new offices. This property was rezoned from residential to Office and Institutional (O&I) in 1981.

As the property stands today, the buildable area is restricted to being 50 feet from Shepherds Lane and 50 feet from LaVista Road. Dr. Jacobson is asking for a variance to alter these restrictions from 50 feet to 20 feet on Shepherds Lane and from 50 feet to 40 feet on LaVista Road.

Her plans as of today call for two one-story offices on the location; a 750 sq foot office which she will use and a 1500 sq foot office which she will rent out.

Dr. Jacobson has been advised by GA DOT (Department of Transportation) and DeKalb DOT to have two car access points, affecting both Shepherds Lane and LaVista Road.

Last Tuesday, members of LLCC, LaVista Park, and Woodland Hills Board of Directors met with Dr. Jacobson and her husband to discuss the details of her proposals.

There will be two public hearings regarding the property. The first meeting will be with the Zoning Board of Appeals on September 8th at 1:00 pm. The Zoning Board of Appeals will hear this matter regarding the setback reductions and possibly other related issues to this property. The second meeting will be on September 13th at 6:00 pm with the DeKalb County Planning & Development. This is a Public Administrative Hearing to discuss the potential impact of primary entrance on LaVista Road and a secondary entrance on Shepherds Lane.

Please plan to attend these meetings. The September 8th meeting at 1pm is being held at the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Dr, Decatur, GA 30294. The September 13th meeting will be held at 6:00 PM at 330 W. Pounce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030 on the 1st floor in Conference Room A.

Woodland Hills will be submitting a letter to the DeKalb County Board of Zoning and Appeals, as well as to the DeKalb County Planning and Development Department. WHNA Board Members are in discussions to formulate our stance regarding these developments. We plan to finalize them and email the Board's position to you on Friday.

Please make every effort to attend these meetings and have your voice heard.

Sincerely,

Brad Grulke
President, Woodland Hills Neighborhood Association