Home Occupation Updates from Planning Commission

Last night was the perfect storm from Hell.  Husband gets home late from a meeting and I leave my carefully crafted notes on a table by the door as I rush out to City Hall, arriving half an hour late. 

Then discover that I am the only representative of The Public in attendance.

John's blog outlined the changes that were being made in the Zoning ordinance (which is temporary anyway, more on that later) that would affect home-based businesses and employees.

The bottom line is, most of the changes are being accepted as is - that home occupations may allow customer or employee contact, with some limitations.  The verbage regarding home-based daycare centers is being removed due to the fact that day care centers are going to have several "customers" in the home for several hours a day, with several parents picking up and dropping off in a short spurt each day.  Since I'm not familiar with all of the licensing and regulations and logistics of a home-based day care center, I'm going to hold comment on that one.  If someone out there is familiar with home-based daycare and would like to comment, the floor (comments area) is yours.

However - there still is a hearing process in place for any home-based work/business that will receive customers or employees and there was enormous resistance to any changes at all.  My friend Heather was dragged through FIVE meetings because the City staff had trouble reading their own regulations.  It was only supposed to be three.  After some verbal arm twisting the Commission whittled the number of hearings down to one (in front of Planning Commission) so that "the public can be notified".

In an ideal world, neighbors would talk to each other and bring issues to each other without dragging City Hall into it.  However we do not live in an ideal world and some neighbors would rather whine to the DHA or email nastygram blasts than talk to the person and attempt to resolve whatever questions they have.

There's some pros and cons to the recommendations.

Pro:  the business owner/employee has some protection in that they will get a fair hearing in public and can bring supporters to speak on their behalf.  Their fate is not at the mercy of an individual with an axe to grind, Internet access, and too much time on their hands.

Con:  for those business owners with irregular or occasional customer contact (as described in earlier posts) the process is the same.  There has to be public notification, additional expense, additional time spent, all to casually meet a single person - who may be visiting anyway in a non-business capacity - every few months or so.

Con:  Loophole City.  The zoning code places a greater burden on a homeowner for a "nuisance" allegedly caused by a business enterprise, than a "nuisance" allegedly caused by a social event. 

Is this the outcome that I believe will benefit the City in the long run?  No.  Is it a step in the right direction?  Yes, and I credit the PC with that because redefining the nature of a "residential neighborhood" is a huge question and there is a lot of persuasion involved in convincing some sectors of the public that they will not be harmed by it.  In addition, the Zoning Code as we see it today is not long for this world.  An RFP was recently awarded (but not linked on the City site) to completely revamp Zoning.  As I said at Community Council not long ago, the first step in setting up a comprehensive Zoning code is to clearly define "nuisance" - when do you have a problem that should involve City Hall, when you should talk to your neighbor, and when you should put on your grownup underpants and just deal with it - then use that definition as a uniform standard for any and all activity in a particular zoned area.

The question for "casual business visitors" is whether to go to the trouble of obeying the law.  Is it more trouble than it's worth to drag your case of one-visitor-every-three-months through public hearings?  Or do you feel safe under a "don't-ask-don't-tell" philosophy?  I'm usually in favor of obeying the law to the letter.  But do I submit the extra money and time into a process, or do I invest in doing the work I'm paid for?  For many entrepreneurs that's going to be a tough call for a while.

Dunwoody Election 2011 - Terry Nall

Mr. Terry Nall was the first to reply to my survey of candidates below.  Terry is running for District 1 at-large (city-wide vote) and his campaign website can be found at http://www.terrynallfordunwoody.com/
Thank you Terry and with no further ado, here are his answers, unedited:

1) What one qualification do you have for elected office that exceeds those of your opponents?


I will be the only active CPA serving on City Council. I bring conservative, comprehensive financial expertise to City Council and a belief that needs must come before wants.”

2) The City’s Economic Development Department’s stated purpose is “The City of Dunwoody Economic Development Director is responsible for leading efforts to retain, expand and attract businesses that support a broad array of employment opportunities; strategically grow its knowledge-based economy; and expand the City’s tax base.” What should be this department’s next priority task to accomplish this purpose?

I recommend the next priority task is to build, train, and grow a volunteer “ambassadors” program to assist with economic development tasks. See question #8 below.
3) What was the City’s best business decision to date? (Any level or department, since operations started.)

This is a tie. On the personnel front, the City’s best business decision to date is the hiring of Sharon Lowery as City Clerk and Chris Pike as Finance Director. Both are extremely experienced and well-qualified for their respective positions.


On the public works front, the City’s best business decision is to evaluate the condition of its roads via laser truck and inventory the condition of the storm sewer drains. Both infrastructures are liabilities that were inherited from DeKalb County and the evaluations provide elected leaders with proper information for establishing funding priorities.

4) What was one business decision made by the City (at any level, since operations started) that should not have been made? If you were given the chance, what would you have recommended be done differently?

The city recently made a significant (in my opinion) mistake in its Request for Proposal process to secure city services vendor contracts for 2012 and beyond. The procedures of the RFP for Publics Works and Parks Departments were openly admitted by the City Manager as not followed properly. The error was publicly known, yet my opponent on the evaluation committee wanted to award the two problem contracts regardless, according to emails obtained. Others on Council prevailed and authorized a rebid of the RFP. However, Council did not replace the evaluation committee members. I would have recommended a change of membership for the evaluation committee for the rebid process. Dunwoody is recognized as a City of Ethics and we must live up to it.

5) As a member of City Council, you will be able to appoint or recommend members of various commissions. Besides an interest in the subject, and a desire to serve, what qualifications do you want to see in a potential commission member?

Beyond the obvious items mentioned in the question, I would like to see a passion for Dunwoody, a demonstrated history of collaboration in working with multiple members of committees or community projects, and a record of good attendance and participation while working on committees or projects.

6) Which City department or commission (besides the Police) is the most critically important in developing the future of Dunwoody?

The Community Development Department and its associated boards of Community Council, Planning Commission, and Zoning Board of Appeals, is the most critical to developing Dunwoody’s future. The planned total re-write of the Zoning Code, coupled with a future turnaround in the economy, will affect development projects that could set the course of Dunwoody for decades to come.

7) Which City department or commission do you feel is underserved and needs more attention in terms of funding and other resources (including personnel)?

Public Works is underfunded at its current levels. Though some progress has been made on repaving of roads, the progress remains sluggish and other needs, such as redesign of bottleneck intersections and computerized synchronization of all city traffic lights, remain unfunded despite having had three years of annual surpluses.

8) In what ways should the City and Chamber of Commerce (or any other private entity) collaborate and in what ways should they be working separately to grow the City’s economic base?

In a collaborative “joint” fashion, the City and Chamber of Commerce can help retain existing businesses and recruit new businesses to Dunwoody. To be successful in either area, the community needs well-trained “ambassadors” who live and/or work in Dunwoody and would sell and resell businesses on the merits of Dunwoody as a superb location for employees and senior executive families to work and live during “location scouting” visits. The confidential introduction of ambassadors to these businesses could extend to assimilating newly relocated employees to Dunwoody into the fabric of our community. Similar to how volunteer police reserves will supplement a police department, volunteer ambassadors could supplement an economic development department.


In a separate fashion, but with collaboration and cooperation when needed, the City and Chamber of Commerce could provide a number of Leadership Dunwoody and Opportunity Dunwoody programs. “Leadership Dunwoody” would help broaden established community leaders across Dunwoody for the expanded benefit of charities, schools, churches, and government service. “Opportunity Dunwoody” would work with newer arrivals to Dunwoody who were community leaders in their prior communities in an effort to acclimate and integrate them into the many community service opportunities available in Dunwoody.

9) Elected officials are constantly contacted with requests to have specific issues addressed by local citizens. If elected, how will you prioritize what issues get on the Council agenda, what will get further private discussion, and what will be tabled?

I have experience with a number of multi-person governance bodies. The best method of dealing with issues raised is to socialize the presented issues “one-on-one” with other Council members. Issues should not be raised for the first time at a formal meeting without the prior knowledge or involvement of others who would be involved in the decision. This pre-meeting work determines whether there is broader support for the issue from others, what other information is needed about the issue for others to make an informed decision, and helps identify any inadvertent, unintended consequences of the issue. This is called consensus-building and is needed by others on Council.

10) Open Mike Question: Make any statement you like on what issue or action will be most important to you as an elected official.

A key principle during my term will be to “maintain a small, efficient, disciplined government with accountability.” Government serves a limited purpose and we should stick to our priorities of needs first. We also need accountability. We’re no longer a start-up and we have well-paid, experienced staff in place. Certainly no one is perfect, but we need Council members to not be afraid to ask the tough questions when things go wrong. I am that person and that CPA.

Opportunity Knocking - City of Dunwoody is Hiring

... a Community Development Director

Excerpted essential job duties from the official description linked above:

•Supervise the initiation, amendment, and implementation of ordinances and resolutions relevant to community development such as zoning, land division and development, and building;



•Assures that citizen complaints and inquiries relating to departmental activity are researched and resolved in a timely fashion;




•Communicates official plans, programs, policies and procedures to staff and the general public;

•Directs ongoing research into new technologies and trends, and recommends implementation of programs and equipment to help the Department achieve its objectives more efficiently;


•Coordinates, researches and evaluates projects and programs that will enhance and preserve the City’s economic base;
 


•Ability to identify the department’s future direction in response to changing community needs, and to develop, implement, and monitor appropriate plans, schedules, and action steps;


Can you say "Hot Potato"?  I knew you could.  :-)  Who will step up and put their hat in the ring for this one?

Remember in an earlier post (linked here) where I said you can learn a lot about an elected official by who they appoint or hire?  The Council has final say on City hires and policies to be implemented - but it's people in roles like that that tell them what direction to go in, policy-wise.

Let's pay attention to who applies and who gets hired.  That could put an awfully big spin on some referendums coming up, as well as elections.

Speaking of which, I'm still waiting to see if there will be any responses to my one-woman campaign forum.  IMHO, I'll know who's responsive to the average Dunwoody citizen, and who may not be, based on who bothers to answer and who doesn't.  But like everything else, that's just one opinion.  That ends up on this blog.