Saturday, February 18, 2017

City Proposes Limiting Allowed Paint Colors on Private Homes

From NextDoor

The City of Doraville has on its February 21 Council agenda a discussion of setting limits on allowed paint colors on private homes.

From the discussion via NextDoor (emphases added)
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Hello Doraville residents. I noticed in the agendas from the Work Session Meeting from 2/16/17 and for the upcoming Council meeting on 2/21/17, that there are proposals made by Sharon Spangler and Shannon Hillard for restricting the external colors that can be used for single home dwellings as well as restrictions for front yard gardens and the type of materials that can be used. There are no specifics listed in the agenda as to what these restrictions could be. I strongly urge anyone who does not like the idea of adding more ordinances that restrict what we can or cannot do with our private properties, our homes, please attend this meeting and let your voice be heard. I will be there since I most certainly do object to this kind of nonsense.

I do not want to see such restrictions become a part of the city's ordinance code. I made a point of not moving into an HOA and certainly do not want the entire city to become one. There are enough ordinances regarding how we maintain our homes in Doraville as it is. I find these proposed types of restrictions a violation of my property rights and freedom of expression. If I want to paint my home purple (and I almost did), then it is no one's business if I do. Don't like it? Then don't look at it. There are far more important things to consider than what color someone's house is.

If I want to use old metal drums for planters or reuse/recycle other types of containers for a front yard garden then I don't see the issue. As long as it is clean and safe, who cares? Once again, how one decorates their home via house colors and gardening styles should not be restricted with very few exceptions in regards to public safety.

The words that are the city's motto, that are on the city's website, their newsletter are the following:

Diversity, Vitality, Community

Diversity:a range of different things; variety. How much variety will exist if everyone's home has to be a neutral color? Or can only be blue, green, or yellow? How different will one home look from another if all planters must be made of a certain material and can only be a certain size?? If all the flower beds are rectangles?

Vitality: the state of being strong and active; energy. And now opinions will vary on this one, but I find nothing so dull and lifeless as a bunch of identical homes with identical lawns. Do we not gain strength and life from diversity?

Community: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. Now this one is even trickier. Does Doraville want a community of diversity and vitality where people of different cultures, with different opinions and ideas are able to come together to live in relative harmony? Or does Doraville want a different kind of community?
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This is what happens when a city council  has the latitude to edit property rights piecemeal according to the whims of small niche groups.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

DeKalb Commission Meets in Dunwoody in February

DeKalb County commissioners are trying to make themselves more accessible to the public by holding their first evening meeting.
The DeKalb Board of Commissioners will convene at Dunwoody City Hall at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, one of three evening meetings scheduled this year.

30 minutes are available for public comment starting at 6:30 pm, presumably at the end of the meeting.


Monday, February 6, 2017

We're Still Proud

Thank you for a great season, Falcons!  We'll be back in the fall.
(Patrick, listen up - I want a #11 jersey for Valentine's Day)