Groundbreaking Ceremony For the New Ballfields at Brook Run Park

This announcement was distributed at about 6 PM today.  I've reproduced it here unedited.



Groundbreaking Ceremony For the New Ballfields at Brook Run Park

Friday September 15, 2017
12:00 p.m.
Southwest Corner of North Peachtree Road and Barclay Drive

The ceremonial groundbreaking event will celebrate the beginning of construction for the new ballfields at Brook Run Park.

Please join City of Dunwoody Council members, city partners, and city staff for the celebratory event.

The two new fields, which will also serve as the new home for Dunwoody Senior Baseball, will have rectangular multi-purpose field overlay/striping complete with a durable all-season synthetic turf. The fields will be set-up for shared use by Peachtree Charter Middle School for the school’s gym and outdoor classes. The facility will also include a new concession building, new bathrooms, a playground, bleacher stands, batting cages, and parking. 

The fields will be located at the corner of North Peachtree Road and Barclay Drive, an eight acre property adjacent to Peachtree Charter Middle School. A new bus turnaround and drop off with ADA access and handicap parking will also be included at the new site.

A lunch will be served for attendees following the groundbreaking celebration.

PARKING: Please park at Brook Run Park by the pavilion (about midway down South Georgia Way in Brook Run Park) and then walk towards the multi-use trail/Barclay Drive where there is a crosswalk which leads to a paved access road/fire lane onto the site.

# # #

SDOC recovering from Tropical Storm Irma

Just work-related info for today.

Irma's dirty side came through Metro Atlanta yesterday and power went out in our neighborhood at 2:30.  Power just got back up 90 minutes ago.

SDOC's studio suffered no damage but work scheduled have been shifted due to the outage.  (This is the "Acts of God" clause in your contracts, folks.)  We're getting our home and helping our community get back to normal in time for work and school tomorrow.

I'll be in touch with each of you with specific new ETA's for any scheduled jobs.

Help each other through the storm damage and we'll all be better off, and soon.

Dunwoody Homeowners Association Meeting September 10

What's left of Irma is supposed to come to town Monday afternoon.  We're taking care of business Sunday night.  DHA meetings are open to the public.  Please come be part of the conversation.

Board of Directors Meeting

Sunday, September 10, 2017 @ 7:30 P.M.
North DeKalb Cultural Arts Center, Room 4
5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd, Atlanta, GA 30338


1. Announcements and introduction of distinguished visitors

2. Approval of minutes for August 6th, 2017 meeting— Adrienne Duncan

3. Brief review of plans for city council candidate forums on October 15 – Robert Wittenstein

4. Update on Shops of Dunwoody items (Doggy day care and covenants) – Robert Wittenstein

5. Review and discuss Adopt-A-Spot at Peeler/Winters Chapel – Robert Wittenstein

6. Review and discuss proposed terms for support of Grubb Properties redevelopment plan for Perimeter Center Parkway East (Set of 3 mid-rise buildings currently housing City Hall) – Exec Committee

7. Request for sponsorship – Run Dunwoody, Rick Woods, Dunwoody Rotary

8. Request for support for Austin Elementary School Dunwoody Dash, Despina Lamas

9. Request for support for Kingsley Elementary School PTO, Erika Harris

10. Request for support for Peachtree Charter Middle School CV Classic, Allegra Johnson and Fran Bartel

11. Request for support for Spalding Garden Club Candlelight Home Tour – Mary Millar Request for support of effort to publish stories of Dunwoody centered around the life of Joyce Amacher, Lynne Byrd

12. Board only session: Votes as needed on any motions including:

Approval to proceed with Adopt-A-Spot plan ($5,000 included in budget)

Approval of sponsorship request, Rotary Run Dunwoody

Austin Elementary School request for funds ($1,000 included in budget)

Kingsley Elementary School request for funds ($1,000 included in budget)

Peachtree Charter Middle School request for funds ($1,000 included in budget)

Request for support of Spalding Garden Club (not budgeted)

Request for support for Joyce Amacher book (not budgeted)

Support or oppose Grubb Properties development of 41, 47 and 53 Perimeter Center East
Adjourn

Next meeting:  Sunday, October 1, 2017

INTRODUCING: Rebecca King for Atlanta City Council District 7

www.rebeccalking.net

Another campaign season is upon us and SDOC gets back to its political wheelhouse.

My good friend and Panhellenic colleague, Rebecca King, is running in City of Atlanta's District 7 race.

My job was to get this site up and functional, pronto.  There's only two months in the election season and everything has to work yesterday.

This site is going to evolve over the next couple of months as more information is available and more events are scheduled.

I was provided with a logo and color scheme and the site was built to Rebecca's specifications.

The key item now is the Donations tab.  That required an e-commerce solution to accept donations, a PayPal setup, and an SSL certificate for security.

Social media is alive and kicking too.  You'll see campaign events planned and statements on the local issues as well as endorsements as the campaign goes on.

If/when Rebecca gets elected, the site can easily be converted to an elected official's portal.

Enjoy, and Happy Labor Day!

Last Call to Qualify for City Council Elections

If you're interested in joining the fray for three of our seven city council seats this November, today is your last day to get to City Hall and qualify.  Get your district straight, make sure you've lived there for at least 6 months and you too can be a candidate.  All of the excitement you can handle will set you back $360 for entering the race.

The rumors and backstories and questions about our current candidates are starting to fly.  The DWG is staying tuned to watch how they develop.  Yes the "home business activity" angle will come into the discussion.  You have been warned.

Here's the lineup as of 10 AM today:

District One:

Pam Tallmadge (I)  http://pam4dunwoodyga.us/  (Original campaign site from 2015)

Joe Hirsch  http://www.dunwoodyjoe.com/

District Two:

Jim Riticher (I)  http://riticher.com/  (Original campaign site from 2013)

Bobby Zuckman  No campaign website yet.  Here's his LinkedIn profile:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertzuckman/

District Three:

Tom Lambert  http://www.votetomlambert.com/

Henry Bierenfeld  No campaign website yet.  Here's his LinkedIn profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bierenfeld/

UPDATED: Follow up on the Manget Way group home - the status three years later.

In spring and summer of 2014, the Center for Discovery purchased a home on  Manget Way in order to convert it to a treatment facility (or group home, depending upon who you ask) for teens with eating disorders.

I'll not rehash the entire controversy in this post but here are some historical references:

http://sdocpublishing.blogspot.com/2014/04/zoning-retrospective-group-homes.html
(Commentary from this blog)

From the Dunwoody Crier:

http://www.thecrier.net/news/article_95a74d8c-b99a-11e3-8672-0019bb2963f4.html

http://www.thecrier.net/news/article_a1cf7334-16b3-11e4-9da8-0019bb2963f4.html

http://www.thecrier.net/news/article_e8a04420-1c38-11e4-9c21-0019bb2963f4.html

The denoument where the City of Dunwoody settled the inevitable federal lawsuit:

http://www.reporternewspapers.net/2016/07/10/dunwoody-city-council-settles-lawsuits-manget-way-home/

It is now 18 months after this process was legally resolved.

As per my usual this time of year, I submit ORRs to do research on the status of home-based businesses.  License, physical location, cross-reference code enforcement complaints, etc.   As I'm going through the lists and updating the map, a couple of map points jogged my memory about this event.  On the Dunwoody Home Business map, grey markers are used to note homes that have been involved in some zoning controversy but were not home businesses.  (That is, the home owner does not live in the house full time and work there as a secondary use.  The home was converted entirely to a commercial housing facility.  )  Manget Way was one of those markers.

"I wonder what's happening there now?" I thought.

A little Google fairy dust later generated some interesting results.

The facility seems to be open for business.  Here is their website with a video presentation of the homel:
http://www.centerfordiscoveryatlanta.com/location/

Note the street address is obviously Dunwoody but they list the city as Atlanta.  Six of one, half dozen of the other I suppose.

Then since I had the list of business licenses in front of me for the map project, I did a search to see if there was a business license associated with the property.

There is no business license issued to the Center for Discovery home on Manget Way, or to the LLC that made the purchase, Dunwoody DV, LLC.  The only licenses issued to Manget Way addresses are to other home/business owners.

Then I did a search on the LLC.  There is no sign of any company called "Dunwoody DV LLC" in Georgia or any other state.  There is not even a public record of the LLC being dissolved or terminated.  (Another series of records I look up for the home business map.)

My previous searches on code enforcement complaints came up empty on Manget Way complaints.  I have an ORR in the hopper right now and that will bring out more current answers.

So as a result of this extended legal process, there seems to be a mixed bag of outcomes.  Some homeowners sold their properties and relocated when word of this facility spread.  When someone sells a property, that means someone else is buying and those new neighbors don't seem to have any complaints thus far.  All is quiet according to the code enforcement docket.

On the other hand, a  multi-million dollar company is operating freely without a license and without paying the same business taxes that the rest of us have to pay.   I'll be interested to see if our city government follows up on that.

UPDATE 7/17/2017
It came to my attention that there is some confusion about the information above.

1)  The "business license" in Georgia is a colloquialism for an Occupational Tax Certificate.  So when the blog states that Center for Discovery is operating with out a license, it should be understood that "license" is shorthand for "occupational tax certificate".

2)  Center for Discovery is a for-profit business.  There is nothing about it that qualifies as a not-for-profit that would exempt it from taxes or other regulations (Federal Fair Housing Act notwithstanding).

3)  According to the main corporation's press release (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/02/prweb14076227.htm), the opening of Manget Way was announced in mid-February of this year.  There was reference to an "open house" in the blog post.  According to their Facebook page, that open house was held on February 23.  https://www.facebook.com/events/1360773197295404/.  The ORR for code complaints covering this time period is in progress.  We will find out if there were any code complaints associated with this address.