By Tom Doolittle
The DeKalb County School System has had a tough year—certainly with its administration in the media. Regional print journals and television news have covered Superintendent Crawford Lewis’ under-market surplus car purchase, bullied student Jaheem Harrera’s suicide and $400,000 investigation payment to a former judge, a state-level review of scholastic testing fraud, the condition of Cross Keys High School, school board member Eugene Walker’s influence in a tax abatement case and recently and a GBI investigation involving a high level school administrative official (Pat Pope) in charge of over $200 million in SPLOST 1 and 2 capital projects. These issues all have at least one thing in common: they involve expenses and effort having little to do with educating students.
At least two of these matters, the Pope and Walker cases are related to a question of undue influence stemming from conflicts of interest. In turn, relating to employee hiring ethics, the DeKalb School Watch blog has highlighted the names of nearly a dozen highly paid school administrative executives who have family members in positions to have influenced their being hired. The blog has also pulled the number of administrative positions that pay over $100,000 a year from state Department of Education records, some for non-teaching positions initiated this year as tax revenues have plummeted.
All of these issues might at least partly explain why Georgia House Representative Kevin Levitas (D-Northlake/Tucker) has authored "The DeKalb School Board Transparency Act" which among other things would regulate conflicts of interest among school board members and DCSS employees. When asked about the process for the local legislation’s passage, Levitas e-mailed, “I think that we need to pass this bill as quickly as possible… to install a much-needed check in the system...”
The school system has no specific ethics code while the county government’s rules, legislated and passed by public referendum in 1990, do not apply to DCSS. After Levitas made his state legislative proposal public, the school board proposed its own ethics code. A vote to implement the DCSS policy was deferred at the last open school board meeting, to the dismay of at least one member, District 4’s Paul Womack. Womack said, “Either the board passes policy that is strong or stronger (than Levitas’ bill) or I will actively support his proposal.” With regard to the school board’s failure to vote last week, Womack mused, “It’s a mystery to me why anyone would oppose it.” Board members Walker, Roberts, Redovian, Copeland-Wood and Cunningham voted to defer the item.
Levitas e-mailed that he had not seen the school board’s rules draft, so he had no comment about it. The legislative bill, as currently crafted is ten (10) pages versus a three-page DCSS draft “policy”. One fundamental difference is that Levitas’ 10-page bill governs employees as well as school board members, in fundamentally stark contrast to the school board proposal which in part, seeks specifically to stay out of the administration’s business. Levitas stated, “I think it is important that neither DCSS employees and administrators nor elected officials have a conflict (potential or actual) regarding their exercise of their respective duties.” Regarding employees, many of Lavitas’ stipulations would have an impact on cases such as the highly-publicized Pat Pope investigation. For example, employees could not, “Engage in or accept private employment … for private interests when such employment or service is incompatible with the proper discharge of such person's official duties or would tend to impair his or her independence of judgment or action in the performance of his or her official duties.”
Not all prohibitions in Levitas’ legislation would necessarily be judged by an ethics commission. For most “business” conflicts, the law’s emphasis is on “transparency” or disclosure, stating, “Any board member who has a financial interest in any contract or matter pending before the board shall disclose such interest (in board records).” A board member’s or employee’s business or familial relationship, sometimes framed as “cronyism” and “nepotism”, is then advertised to the public, and subjected to discussion in a school board meeting after a 45-day public review period. In essence, if undue influence is deemed to exist by the school board, a contract or purchase is killed and punishment or sanction is not at issue—there is no role for an ethics body in such cases.
However, one type of conflict of interest is directly prohibited by Levitas, without any involvement by school board or ethics commission. In what the state representative termed as an “inherent” conflict at a recent public forum at Henderson Middle School, school board members would be prohibited from holding other public appointments or elective offices. If the regulation had already been in place when he was elected to the school board this year, Dr. Eugene Walker would have been forced to resign a position on the DeKalb Development Authority which he had held for several years. Walker resigned by choice after a public uproar when the finance authority proposed a tax abatement for the Sembler Company’s Town Brookhaven project, an action that would have reduced school system tax revenue. Sembler and individuals associated with the company had earlier made financial contributions to Walker’s school board candidacy.
Of course, as in all appointed commissions, public satisfaction is primarily dependent on the members chosen and the public’s trust in what interest they serve. In Levitas’ bill, the DeKalb Legislative Delegation chooses the commission members. An interesting twist in the proposal is the Delegation has the option of requiring that all members be from outside of DeKalb County.
Levitas said he expects the county-wide legislative Delegation to support the proposal because, “I have had very positive feedback from people across the county and hope that they will express their support to their respective legislators.”
Tom Doolittle is a 16-year resident of the Northlake area, was a columnist for former Community Review newspaper and now distributes news to several local blogs and websites. The writer has two children who have attended Lakeside High School.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Lakeside High Partner Offers H1N1 "After School" Vaccine
Our Partner in Education, North Atlanta Urgent Care (NAUC), has received a large shipment of H1N1 immunizations. They will be at Lakeside this Friday afternoon, December 11th, from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. to immunize Lakeside families and members of the community. Due to traffic and parking concerns at dismissal, we recommend that community members arrive after 3:45 p.m. to get their shots.
NAUC can give the immunization to anyone over 6 months of age. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to sign the consent form.
The cost is $20/shot. You can pay for the immunizations at Lakeside by cash or check.
North Atlanta Urgent Care currently has a limited number of seasonal flu vaccines available as well. If they have any left Friday, they will bring them to Lakeside. The cost is $25.
NAUC will also have H1N1 and seasonal flu immunizations available at their office at 2700 Clairmont Road any time this weekend or during the week. They invite the Lakeside community to come by their office before Friday to get flu shots-especially if you are interested in the seasonal flu shot, since those quantities are limited.
Their hours are: Monday - Thursday: 9AM - 8PM, Friday: 9AM - 7PM; and Saturday & Sunday 10AM - 6PM. Their phone number is 404-327-8744 if you have additional questions or want to find out if they still have seasonal flu shots.
Remember: Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to sign the consent form.
Our thanks to North Atlanta Urgent Care, a great Partner in Education, for letting us know the H1N1 shipment has arrived!
Lakeside High School PTSA
Lakeside High School
NAUC can give the immunization to anyone over 6 months of age. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to sign the consent form.
The cost is $20/shot. You can pay for the immunizations at Lakeside by cash or check.
North Atlanta Urgent Care currently has a limited number of seasonal flu vaccines available as well. If they have any left Friday, they will bring them to Lakeside. The cost is $25.
NAUC will also have H1N1 and seasonal flu immunizations available at their office at 2700 Clairmont Road any time this weekend or during the week. They invite the Lakeside community to come by their office before Friday to get flu shots-especially if you are interested in the seasonal flu shot, since those quantities are limited.
Their hours are: Monday - Thursday: 9AM - 8PM, Friday: 9AM - 7PM; and Saturday & Sunday 10AM - 6PM. Their phone number is 404-327-8744 if you have additional questions or want to find out if they still have seasonal flu shots.
Remember: Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to sign the consent form.
Our thanks to North Atlanta Urgent Care, a great Partner in Education, for letting us know the H1N1 shipment has arrived!
Lakeside High School PTSA
Lakeside High School
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Henderson Park Community Garden Progress
Subject: Henderson Park Meeting Summary
Presenters/Speakers:
Revonda Moody, Park Planning and Development
Marti Watts, Silverman Construction Program Management
Steve Provost and Regan Carr, jB+a (the landscape architects awarded the master plan contract)
Revonda and Marti provided an overview of the master plan process for the 7 acres adjacent to the Henderson Park soccer fields. The second meeting will be held on January 20. A third meeting will be held sometime in February. During the second meeting, jB+a will present a preliminary master plan. The master plan process is scheduled to conclude end of February/early March. Master plan construction should be completed by December of 2010.
Steve and Regan presented aerial photos, a topographical survey, and a site analysis, which included the locations of specimen trees. Before they’d finished, it was clear to attendees (including TYSA’s representative) that the site isn’t appropriate for another soccer field.
One attendee, who uses the hiking trails, said he’d like to keep the site as a natural area and make the trails more accessible. The community garden suggestion seemed to get a lot of support. Another attendee suggested a picnic area with grills and shelters (which would be perfect next to the community garden!), which the TYSA rep said would be useful for soccer families, giving them a place to gather before and after games. The TYSA rep had one word of caution, though: he said that parking should be addressed for any additional amenities, explaining that the soccer parking lots are already overflowing during weekend games.
Important and encouraging news for the community garden:
1. In January, DeKalb County will launch its community gardening initiative. Its purpose is to define the relationship between community gardening clubs/groups and the County (for ex, the County rents the site to the club for a fee and the club assumes certain responsibilities, including individual plot rentals), and to set forth rules for community gardens operating in DeKalb parks. Revonda said that a list of available sites will be included and that Henderson Park made the list. (If fact, she said that our proposal from last February can still be used; we’ll just need to attach the additional initiative-related paperwork to it. I’ll look into that once the initiative is launched.)
2. If our community garden is approved (that is, if there is no opposition to it from the community), Revonda said that we shouldn’t have to wait for the master plan to be completed, but that we can get started based on the County’s initiative.
The Henderson Park Master Plan project will be added to the DeKalb County Parks & Recreation web site (http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/parks/) (see Mason Mill Park Master Plan Development as example). Minutes from the meeting will be included.
Short notice and dreadful weather contributed to very low attendance, with as many county and consultant representatives attending as community members. Thanks to those of you who were able to make it. I hope we can improve our turnout for the next meeting, not only as a show of support but also for the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the preliminary plan.
Regards,
Susan Farrar
Presenters/Speakers:
Revonda Moody, Park Planning and Development
Marti Watts, Silverman Construction Program Management
Steve Provost and Regan Carr, jB+a (the landscape architects awarded the master plan contract)
Revonda and Marti provided an overview of the master plan process for the 7 acres adjacent to the Henderson Park soccer fields. The second meeting will be held on January 20. A third meeting will be held sometime in February. During the second meeting, jB+a will present a preliminary master plan. The master plan process is scheduled to conclude end of February/early March. Master plan construction should be completed by December of 2010.
Steve and Regan presented aerial photos, a topographical survey, and a site analysis, which included the locations of specimen trees. Before they’d finished, it was clear to attendees (including TYSA’s representative) that the site isn’t appropriate for another soccer field.
One attendee, who uses the hiking trails, said he’d like to keep the site as a natural area and make the trails more accessible. The community garden suggestion seemed to get a lot of support. Another attendee suggested a picnic area with grills and shelters (which would be perfect next to the community garden!), which the TYSA rep said would be useful for soccer families, giving them a place to gather before and after games. The TYSA rep had one word of caution, though: he said that parking should be addressed for any additional amenities, explaining that the soccer parking lots are already overflowing during weekend games.
Important and encouraging news for the community garden:
1. In January, DeKalb County will launch its community gardening initiative. Its purpose is to define the relationship between community gardening clubs/groups and the County (for ex, the County rents the site to the club for a fee and the club assumes certain responsibilities, including individual plot rentals), and to set forth rules for community gardens operating in DeKalb parks. Revonda said that a list of available sites will be included and that Henderson Park made the list. (If fact, she said that our proposal from last February can still be used; we’ll just need to attach the additional initiative-related paperwork to it. I’ll look into that once the initiative is launched.)
2. If our community garden is approved (that is, if there is no opposition to it from the community), Revonda said that we shouldn’t have to wait for the master plan to be completed, but that we can get started based on the County’s initiative.
The Henderson Park Master Plan project will be added to the DeKalb County Parks & Recreation web site (http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/parks/) (see Mason Mill Park Master Plan Development as example). Minutes from the meeting will be included.
Short notice and dreadful weather contributed to very low attendance, with as many county and consultant representatives attending as community members. Thanks to those of you who were able to make it. I hope we can improve our turnout for the next meeting, not only as a show of support but also for the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the preliminary plan.
Regards,
Susan Farrar
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Northlake's Henderson Mill Elementary Has Guide Dog
(borrowed from DeKalb School News Advisory, 11/18/09)
Guide Dog in Training Teaches & Learns at Henderson Mill ES
When Nike enters Ms. Kosik’s classroom at Henderson Mill Elementary; he is there to learn. He takes a seat, is quiet and waits for instruction. But Nike isn’t like the other fifth graders around him; he has four feet, a furry tail, and he already knows for sure what he is going to be when he grows up. In fact, he’s already landed a job.
Nike is a black Labrador retriever who belongs to the Guide Dog Foundation and in a few months, he will be a guide dog for the blind. In the meantime, he’s in ‘guide school’; and being a member of Henderson Mill’s family is all a part of his training.
“The foundation was so excited that Nike could come to school because mostly, the folks that have the time to raise these puppies don’t have young children. Then you have cases where the dogs are not exposed to young children and they’re afraid of them. This pup has been used to 400 kids loving on him from day one,” said Judith Kosik, a Henderson Mill teacher in the school’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program.
Born in New York on January 23, 2009, Nike began coming to Henderson Mill when he was only seven weeks old and nine pounds in size. Back then, Ms. Kosik was just beginning her involvement with the Guide Dog Foundation after accepting an appeal that came via email from an advocacy group for blind children.
Nike is raised by Ms. Kosik on weekends. Her job is to take Nike into public places so he can get used to large numbers of people, different noises and different situations where he will likely guide his blind owner. The nine and a half-month old pup comes to school each Monday and visits with different classes.
Tuesday to Friday, Nike is raised by the women of the Metro State prison who participate in the Vision Project. They provide care and training for ten or 12 dog puppies each year. In return, the women earn college credit from Middle Georgia College and have employment skills and certification as veterinary technicians when they leave jail. Fifty women have participated in the program so far, with 15 finding work in the field later. There have been no repeat offenders among these women. A similar program will open at the men’s jail in Macon in June.
Kosik explains that since many guide dogs do not get the chance to be around young children during their training, it is the number one reason they do not make the “final cut” for guide dog training. Thus, Henderson Mill is helping Nike become a better guide dog.
“He truly is an affectionate little guy and he really loves being here…Nike goes to restaurants and stores and banks and post offices—he goes everywhere I go on the weekends, but this is clearly his favorite place to be,” said Kosik.
Henderson loves Nike’s time at the school just as much as Nike, but at the idea of him coming to school Principal Rebecca Jackson admits there was a tiny ounce of hesitation.
“I grilled her,” she laughs recalling Ms. Kosik’s proposal. But Principal Jackson’s end-all response was, ‘Bring the puppy and let’s see how it goes.’
“You have to think what benefits the children. There’s always that question. You know the benefit for the dogs, but you have to ask, ‘what’s the benefit for the students?’ and I think they have benefited,” said Jackson.
Benefited, they have. Nike is helping Henderson Mill by providing some inspiration for standards-based lessons, and for providing ongoing behavior incentives for special needs students. He also provides a willing audience for the school’s struggling or very young readers. Last year, he even helped one fifth grader get over her fear of dogs.
Nike helped bring life to a third grade reading series book about a guide dog and was also interviewed by hearing impaired third graders so that they could better understand how dogs like Nike are raised.
As tempting as it is, Nike’s classmates know not to pet him when he’s working (when he’s donning his yellow cape), but there are special occasions when the students are allowed to cuddle up to the Labrador and show their affection.
When he graduates from ‘puppy school’ as Ms. Kosik calls it, there will be guaranteed tears from the Henderson Mill family, but Nike will return to the Guide Dog Foundation’s New York campus well prepared thanks to the students and staff at the DeKalb elementary school. From there, he will undergo four to five months of very intensive training on their campus and in and out of New York city in order to get acclimated to the transit system of which blind persons often use for mobility. Nike will also be trained with blind clients to see with whom he best fits. There is also the possibility that Nike may become a service dog for disabled veterans.
Fortunately for Ms. Kosik, the day Nike departs, she will begin taking care of a new 7wk to 10wk old pup. Until then, the school is savoring every second it has with Nike. He’s been an exemplary student, a great friend and whether sleeping or moseying around the cafeteria with Ms. Kosik, one thing for sure is Nike makes Monday mornings at Henderson Mill a joy!
Guide Dog in Training Teaches & Learns at Henderson Mill ES
When Nike enters Ms. Kosik’s classroom at Henderson Mill Elementary; he is there to learn. He takes a seat, is quiet and waits for instruction. But Nike isn’t like the other fifth graders around him; he has four feet, a furry tail, and he already knows for sure what he is going to be when he grows up. In fact, he’s already landed a job.
Nike is a black Labrador retriever who belongs to the Guide Dog Foundation and in a few months, he will be a guide dog for the blind. In the meantime, he’s in ‘guide school’; and being a member of Henderson Mill’s family is all a part of his training.
“The foundation was so excited that Nike could come to school because mostly, the folks that have the time to raise these puppies don’t have young children. Then you have cases where the dogs are not exposed to young children and they’re afraid of them. This pup has been used to 400 kids loving on him from day one,” said Judith Kosik, a Henderson Mill teacher in the school’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program.
Born in New York on January 23, 2009, Nike began coming to Henderson Mill when he was only seven weeks old and nine pounds in size. Back then, Ms. Kosik was just beginning her involvement with the Guide Dog Foundation after accepting an appeal that came via email from an advocacy group for blind children.
Nike is raised by Ms. Kosik on weekends. Her job is to take Nike into public places so he can get used to large numbers of people, different noises and different situations where he will likely guide his blind owner. The nine and a half-month old pup comes to school each Monday and visits with different classes.
Tuesday to Friday, Nike is raised by the women of the Metro State prison who participate in the Vision Project. They provide care and training for ten or 12 dog puppies each year. In return, the women earn college credit from Middle Georgia College and have employment skills and certification as veterinary technicians when they leave jail. Fifty women have participated in the program so far, with 15 finding work in the field later. There have been no repeat offenders among these women. A similar program will open at the men’s jail in Macon in June.
Kosik explains that since many guide dogs do not get the chance to be around young children during their training, it is the number one reason they do not make the “final cut” for guide dog training. Thus, Henderson Mill is helping Nike become a better guide dog.
“He truly is an affectionate little guy and he really loves being here…Nike goes to restaurants and stores and banks and post offices—he goes everywhere I go on the weekends, but this is clearly his favorite place to be,” said Kosik.
Henderson loves Nike’s time at the school just as much as Nike, but at the idea of him coming to school Principal Rebecca Jackson admits there was a tiny ounce of hesitation.
“I grilled her,” she laughs recalling Ms. Kosik’s proposal. But Principal Jackson’s end-all response was, ‘Bring the puppy and let’s see how it goes.’
“You have to think what benefits the children. There’s always that question. You know the benefit for the dogs, but you have to ask, ‘what’s the benefit for the students?’ and I think they have benefited,” said Jackson.
Benefited, they have. Nike is helping Henderson Mill by providing some inspiration for standards-based lessons, and for providing ongoing behavior incentives for special needs students. He also provides a willing audience for the school’s struggling or very young readers. Last year, he even helped one fifth grader get over her fear of dogs.
Nike helped bring life to a third grade reading series book about a guide dog and was also interviewed by hearing impaired third graders so that they could better understand how dogs like Nike are raised.
As tempting as it is, Nike’s classmates know not to pet him when he’s working (when he’s donning his yellow cape), but there are special occasions when the students are allowed to cuddle up to the Labrador and show their affection.
When he graduates from ‘puppy school’ as Ms. Kosik calls it, there will be guaranteed tears from the Henderson Mill family, but Nike will return to the Guide Dog Foundation’s New York campus well prepared thanks to the students and staff at the DeKalb elementary school. From there, he will undergo four to five months of very intensive training on their campus and in and out of New York city in order to get acclimated to the transit system of which blind persons often use for mobility. Nike will also be trained with blind clients to see with whom he best fits. There is also the possibility that Nike may become a service dog for disabled veterans.
Fortunately for Ms. Kosik, the day Nike departs, she will begin taking care of a new 7wk to 10wk old pup. Until then, the school is savoring every second it has with Nike. He’s been an exemplary student, a great friend and whether sleeping or moseying around the cafeteria with Ms. Kosik, one thing for sure is Nike makes Monday mornings at Henderson Mill a joy!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Vista Yoga Joins Vista Dance at Vista Grove
Vista Yoga is at the back of the shopping center, so it can have its own parking and adds comfort in anonymity to folks in workout cloths. Before you think the lack of visibility will hurt the business, you have to consider business manager (Mr.) Marty’s ideas about “visibility”—lots of people knowing lots of people in Northlake (Lakeside) neighborhoods. “Mr. Marty” says, “this community is cool”, explaining, “we know what we have in common: school, stability, longevity and we don’t have to drive far”.
“We’ll be e-mailing to the world”, Marty, the business manager says. The studio has a Facebook page that is covered with Facebook “fans”, confirming what Marty says is a hallmark of Northlake neighborhoods, “expressing our support for each other.” A long-standing list of clients from “Mrs.” Marti’s days at N.E. Athletic Club and years of practice as a physical trainer will no doubt be an immediate source of revenue. Vista Yoga's website profile's about a dozen instructors.
To symbolize the Yura’s attention on community service and a focus on the area’s education complex, teachers will get the same typical discounts as students and seniors.
So check out Vista Yoga starting with the Grand Opening this Saturday.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Cravey/Briarmoor History--A 12-year old's Treasure
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD?
By Damon Remigailo. December 14, 1987
note, August 2006: Damon was born in Atlanta in 1975, the son of Alice & Richard and brother of Richard, Jr. His family then and now resides on Silver Lace Ct. He graduated from Hawthorne Elementary, Lakeside High, and UNC, Chapel Hill. He and his wife, Heidi are expecting their first child in September 2006. They live and work in the inner city of Memphis, TN, he a youth minister, she a nurse practitioner.
Outline
What is the History of My Neighborhood?
I. Introduction
II. History of the Land
a. Indians
b. Families
c. Mills
d. Civil War
e. Farming
III. State Game Preserve
a. Quail
b. Zack D. Cravey as commissioner
IV. Development of the neighborhood
a. Lilian Grovenstein
b. John Taylor, Jr. and Sr.
c. John Honea
d. Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell
V. Neighborhood growth
a. Hawthorne School and Lakeside High School
b. Neighborhood Pool
c. Northlake Mall
VI. Future of the Neighborhood
VII. Conclusion
The purpose of this project is to learn about the history of the land where my family lives. It is also to learn about who owned the property before us, how the land was used and how the neighborhood developed.
A piece of property has a street address and a legal description. I live at 2531 Silver Lace Court in Atlanta, Georgia. The property 'deed says that it is lot 18, Block J, Briarmoor Manor Subdivision, land lot 247, district 18, DeKalb County. My parents bought it from Peachtree Development Corporation in June of 1979 and the deed was registered at the DeKalb County Courthouse.
The first people to own this land were the Creek Indians. By the eighteenth century there were around twenty thousand Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama. White settlers moved into Creek Indian Territory, and Andrew Jackson defeated the Creeks in 1814 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama. The Creek land was divided into five Georgia counties which were distributed by a lottery in land lots of two hundred two and a half acres each. Among these lands was the property where my family lives. It is in land lot 247 in DeKalb County which was originally granted to John E. Gilbert on December 18, 1821 for the grant fee of nineteen dollars.
Archibald Darrough bought land lot 247 for one hundred dollars on March 9, 1822 and sold it to John Blake for "two hundred dollars on July 24, 1822 •. John Blake operated Blake's Mill on the north fork of Peachtree Creek until his death in 1854. An. historical marker now stands on the site on Shallowford Road.
John Blake was also a farmer and owned twenty-three slaves. In his will he listed land lots 265, 266, 249: 264, 284, 232, 231, 283, 282 and 247, but land lot 247 was the most valuable because Peachtree Creek went through the property and was the source of power to run the mill. John Blake had three sons who lived in Randolph County, Alabama.
William W. McElroy bought land lot 247 for three thousand two hundred dollars on October 3, 1862. He was a farmer who fought in the Civil War. He married Margaret Tilly McElroy in 1840. They were founding members of the Doraville Associate Reform Presbyterian Church and were opposed to slavery. They are both buried in the Prospect Cemetery on North Peachtree Road in Chamblee. The church is now used as an antique shop and-the McElroy’s graves are behind the church.
When William died, the land was passed to J. W. F. Tilly and then to Stephen T. McElroy on February 18, 1868. S. T. McElroy was one of three children and was raised on the McElroy farm in Norcross. There is now a McElroy Road which runs south from Buford Highway in Doraville.
Stephen T. McElroy was born in 1845 and fought in the Civil War at Baker's Creek, Mississippi, where he was wounded in the left leg on November 18, 1862. His leg was amputated and he was given a disability discharge in 1863.
Stephen McElroy owned land lot 247 until he sold it to the Clark Stewart Company of Fulton County on February 3, 1921. The John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company foreclosed on the property on September 1, 1931, during the great depression. Lum C. Pitts bought it from the John Hancock Company on January 29, 1936.
On February 1, 1936 the Georgia Commissioner of Game and Fish, Zack D. Cravey leased land lot 247 from L. C. Pitts to be used for a game preserve. Pitts reserved the right to quarry any rock and granite for one year and to cut standing timber for two years.
For five years the game farm was used to breed and raise Georgia Native Bobwhite Quail, Asiatic Chukar Partridges, wild turkey and deer.
The quail hatchery was located where Hawthorne Drive divides into Hawthorne and Caladium Drives. The stone house which you can see today on Briarcliff Road near Hawthorne Drive was where the manager of the game farm lived. His first name was Barney.
The property lease was not renewed because the Atlanta climate was not appropriate for raising Quail.
Zack D. Cravey bought the land from Lum C. Pitts for himself and his family on January 11, 1944. He built a lake for fishing where the quarry had been. He built a cabin and stable. When Cravey Lake was being built, there was a rock crusher left from the quarry.
Briarcliff Road was already a state road from Atlanta to Tucker. It had been paved to Cravey Drive by Scott Candler, the Commissioner of DeKalb County, when the game farm was operating. Georgia Power Company built electric lines and the county extended the water system to the game farm. Cravey Drive was a dirt road then.
In 1950, John L. Taylor Sr., Zack Cravey’s son-in-law, built a house at the corner of Cravey Drive and Briarcliff Road and lived there until 1953.
Zack D. Cravey sold land lot•247 to his two sons and John L. Taylor, Sr. They formed the Peachtree Development Corporation to develop the land into lots for houses. They named the subdivision Briarmoor Manor. In 1954 Peachtree Development Corporation built the streets Cravey Drive, Briarmoor Manor Road, Sylvan Ramble and Hawthorne Drive. By 1961 Caladium Drive, Cosmos Court, Cosmos Drive and Hawthorne Place were developed. Some of the builders who built houses on these streets were :Fred Jones, Frances Milam and Joe Honea. In the 1970' s and 80' s Cravey Drive and Hawthorne Drive were extended and Canna Ridge Circle, Jasmine Court, Cravey Trail, Silver Lace Court and Hawthorne Cove were built. Joe Honea is now building on the last vacant land.
In an early plat my cul-de-sac, Silver Lace Court, was drawn as a through street named Begonia Way, I think the change was made because there was too much rock to continue the street.
The streets were named for flowers and trees by Margery Cravey Taylor, now Margery Gambrell, who is Zack Cravey's daughter. The land for Briarmoor Manor Recreation Club was donated by Peachtree Development Corporation which also gave the land for Hawthorne Elementary School.
Hawthorne School was opened in 1960. Its architect was John Portman who designed the Hyatt Regency, Peachtree Plaza and Marriott Marquis Hotels in downtown Atlanta. His architectural firm was called Edwards and Portman at that time.
At one time there were almost one thousand students at Hawthorne. That is why Henderson Mill and Heritage Schools were built.
Hawthorne School has had five principals. Their names are Bob Rowlet, Bill Strain, Norman Dasinger, Tedd Briggs, and Gary Durham. Now Hawthorne School has fewer than four hundred students.
Northlake Mall was built on the Cash, Priest and Weed family properties. Zack Cravey wanted his sons to buy the land where Northlake Mall is today but they said they already owned too much •land.
Before the shopping center was built, the land was used for farming cotton and soybeans. Briarcliff Road was just a dirt road east of Cravey Drive. The WSB radio tower has been a landmark on La Vista Road since about 1935.
John Henry Honea, Joe Honea's grandfather, was one of the first people to live in this area. In about 1898 he bought a large farm south of the present Briarcliff Road from about Hawthorne Drive to Briarlake Road. His farmhouse was at the corner which is now Briarcliff and Payton Roads.
Lilian Grovenstein has lived on Briarmoor Road since 1956 when she and her husband, Erling, were two of the first residents of Briarmoor Manor. John Taylor, Sr., built her house and several others on the street. The Westbrooks have also lived there for over thirty years.
One of the people who lived on Briarcliff Road during the 1950's was Mr. Armstrong, a football coach who lived at Shallowford and Briarcliff Roads. Dr. Gaines and Sally Richardson lived in stone houses on Briarcliff Road. The white house across from Echo Lake was where Dr. Pruit lived. Margerite Stedman, who worked for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, lived on •Briarcliff Road across from Hawthorne Drive.
In the 1950[‘s, there was a poor country family, named Pugh, who lived on Briarcliff Road, east of Cravey Drive. They lived in a wooden shack with no plumbing. Their two sons were named Rupert and Dean. The family lived on the food they could find or catch. Before Neal Pope built his house on Briarcliff Road in 1980, another family lived on the more than ten-acre property for many years. They built the stone foundation and gateposts for a house. They moved into the foundation and were going to wait until prices went down to finish building the house. Eventually they added a small frame upper level. After her husband died, the lady sold the property to Mr. Pope. She continued to live in her house and his house was built behind it. In 1987 the small house was torn down and the foundation was made into a greenhouse.
Varner Drive was named for a policeman in DeKalb County who fought in World War II. He gambled with other military men on his ship and sent the money he won home to his wife. He used the money to buy the property along what is now Varner Drive.
Shallow Ford Trail and Briarcliff Road
Shallowford Road was part of the old Shallow Ford Indian Trail which went from the present Decatur Courthouse to the Chattahoochee River where Roswell Road• now crosses it. The trail went north on Clairmont Road to La Vista, east to Oak Grove Road and north to Briarcliff Road where Lakeside High School stands now. The trail turned eastward again to the present Shallowford Road where it turned to the north. The shallow ford, for which the trail was named, is two miles south of the town of Roswell.
Briarcliff Road follows the ridge of the hills. That is why there are so many curves in the road. The ridge also•serves as the watershed for the area. Water which falls on the west side flows toward the Gulf of Mexico and water on the east side works its way to the Atlanta Ocean.
Briarcliff Road was straightened a little and moved to the north when it was paved in about 1938. Before then, it followed what is now Payton Road which was called old Briarcliff Road between about 1938 and 1960. Payton Road was given its current name in about 1960 when it was paved.
General ,Sherman's Union Soldiers March Nearby
There are two historical markers in my neighborhood which tell about General William T. Sherman's troops who marched through here on their way to Atlanta. One is on Shallowford Road in front of Thriftown Shopping Center. The other is on the west side of Briarcliff Road, just north of Shallowford Road.
On July 18, 1864, Blair's 17th A. C. of McPherson's Army of the Tennessee camped at the site of Blake's Mill where Thriftown now stands. The next day Blair's troops marched down the old Shallow Ford Road and east on what is now Briarcliff Road to join Logan's 15th A.C. at the present Midway Church at Henderson Mill Road. The two corps of federal soldiers were on their way to Stone Mountain to destroy the Georgia Railroad.
On July 19th, Dodge's 16th A. C. also marched south on the old Shallow Ford Road. They followed the indian trail to Decatur to report to General James B. McPherson, who was killed three days later by a Confederate soldier.
John Taylor Jr, and the Elephant Bone
When John Taylor Jr. was a boy living on Briarcliff Road in the early 1950's, he heard a story about a circus which had come to town years before. One of the elephants had died•and needed to be buried. This area was country then and so it was chosen for the grave.
John was playing in the woods one day when he found the elephant's leg bone. He dragged it back to his house. He used it as a bench in the yard and would sit on it and wave to people as they went by.
The Legend of Whitey
The land west of Briarcliff Road, between Shallowford•and Henderson Mill Roads was inhabited by wild animals before it was developed in the 1950's. There were stories about a monster which lived in the forest but they were never proven.
The so-called monster made lots of noise. It was probably nothing but the great white owl which the people called Whitey.
Whitey passed away in about 1960.
My study of the history of my neighborhood has taught me the answers to several questions and how to look for answers to my questions. I learned how to find the record of a transfer of deed at the courthouse. I learned how to plan and do interviews and how to look up family histories at the historical society. In my neighborhood, I looked for historical makers and for old gravestones.
I found out how the land was used before I lived here. My project also taught me how much the land and people have changed over the years. I enjoyed learning to know my neighbors better. Several of them shared their time and stories with me.
I hope people in the future care for this land as well as the people in the past. I would like them to remember the indians, the miller, the soldiers, the farmers, the animals, the developers, and builders and the homeowners. I like to think about the indians and the animals who once lived where my family and my neighbors live now.
Bibliography
The Collections of the DeKalb Historical: Society, Volume 1, The Year Book—1952. Decatur, Georgia: Bowen Press, 1952.
Cravey, Zack .D. “Game Farm in DeKalb,” The Atlanta Journal, 1936
Davis, Elizabeth L. and Ethel W. Spruil. The Story of Dunwoody. Atlanta, Georgia: Williams Printing Company, 1975.
DeKalb County Courthouse, Real estate documents section,• October 21, 1987.
"DeKalb County Elementary Schools: Ten Year Self Study”, 1982-1984, “Hawthorne.”
DeKalb Historical Society Archives, November 4, 1987 and November 9, 1987.
Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell, personal interview, November 6, 1987.
Lilian Grovenstein, personal interview, November 5, 1987.
Joe Honea, personal interview, October 27, 1987.
Hudgins, Carl T. "Mills and Other DeKalb County Industries and Their Owners." Read at the November, 1951, meeting of the DeKalb Historical Society.
Prospect Cemetery, United Methodist Church, Chamblee, Georgia, November 11, 1987.
John Taylor, personal interview, October 27, 1987.
Vanishing DeKalb. DeKalb Historical Society, 1985.
Special. Credits
Thank you:
Marie Brown, teacher
Gary Durham, principal of Hawthorne School
Delia Gilliland, DeKalb Historical Society archivist and genealogist
Lilian Grovenstein, neighbor• and early resident
Joe Honea, builder of many homes in my neighborhood
Alice Remigailo, mother
Richard Remigailo, father
John Taylor, Jr., neighbor and grandson of Zack D. Cravey
Margery Cravey Taylor Gambrell, daughter of Zack D. Cravey
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Lakeside High Debate Team Wins
Don't Debate Them!
The Lakeside Debate Team showed their stuff at the Bruce Rogers Speech & Debate Tournament October 23rd -24th in Warner Robbins, GA. Two Lakeside teams shared the Varsity Championship: Vincent Li and partner Jacob Altman with a 3-2 record in 5 rounds and Alex Lotito and partner Casey Williams, with a 4-1 record. Alex, Casey and Vincent also won speaker awards: 3rd, 5th and 6th place respectively.
The Lakeside Debate Team showed their stuff at the Bruce Rogers Speech & Debate Tournament October 23rd -24th in Warner Robbins, GA. Two Lakeside teams shared the Varsity Championship: Vincent Li and partner Jacob Altman with a 3-2 record in 5 rounds and Alex Lotito and partner Casey Williams, with a 4-1 record. Alex, Casey and Vincent also won speaker awards: 3rd, 5th and 6th place respectively.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
History Is “In The Making”—Teaching It That Way Requires Sea Change
("Northlake Romance" column dated April, 2004)
I learned Walter Henderson died at age 83 last week—a great-great Grandson of Greenville Henderson, one of this area’s progenitors and historical icons. I met Mr. Henderson (Walter) at the first “Henderson Heritage” meeting held at St. Bede’s Episcopal (focal point of Henderson lands) two years ago—and later, had several delightful conversations. Henderson called himself a “bionic man” (after many surgeries and implants) and had a zillion stories about growing up here and teaching at the old Tucker School. When he “slipped” into discussing political hanky-panky, he’d quickly extricate himself, to keep things light. Walter Henderson and recently deceased DeKalb County Historian Walter McCurdy (Smoke Rise) reminded us that people and families are part of the public infrastructure—assets to be called on—in life and death. Story tellers inevitably become part of the story.
Time marches on, so if History (as taught in public school) is only a series of events, then teachers are doomed to endlessly add more stuff to a box. Tomorrow, we will add today’s events to the timeline of recorded (and deduced) history. If time has always “lengthened” history, then technology has sped the delivery and dramatically increased the amount of information available. Think printing press, TV, later satellite transmission, the internet and future “compression” by continuous use of digital images. Clearly, the world of historical “content” is now unlimited and as such, has become a greater part of everyone’s BEING. As examples of the changing and expanding "availability" of historical data: is enhanced information delivery one reason President Bush faces “9-11” skepticism (history as we are living it)--or even the availability and ease of distribution of information about the days that led up to Pearl Harbor ("more history" about the past)?
I recently spoke about the high school History curriculum changes proposed by State Education Superintendent Kathy Cox with Northlake’s William Bradley (Brad) Bryant. Bryant, a former Chairman of the DeKalb Board of Education and now a Governor’s appointee to the state board, says that the big difference between teaching History now and when he was at Henderson High School (Class of 1971) are the resources available outside of school and the expanded variety of mediums in a total education. Bryant asks, “What is a more appropriate role for a K-12 curriculum in an era where people cognitively view everything they do as a part of education?”
Content without “context” is not education. Today, tough choices must be made to remove “tired required” data and make room for greater inquiry. Reading syndicated opinions in a daily newspaper continually brings me to terms with the inadequacy of my own “history” education. My schooling didn’t lack for information (data). I just wasn’t taught to ask “what does this mean to me”, “what is the small and big picture” and “why is history written by the winners”. Perhaps that was reasonable, because in 1975 (my senior year of high school) “The Information Age” was embryonic. Today’s communication resources have paradoxically freed students to pursue knowledge, instead of information—and question everything they are “taught”.
Today, should schools offer lessons “representative democracy” as a “form” of government or as a process? The “form” demands that we teach what, when, where of The American Revolution and the US Constitution—the “process” suggests a critical review of CSPAN proceedings. Which is more relevant and instructive in terms of training citizenship and responsibility—and possibly inviting a review of The Constitution (on one’s own time)?
History is always in the making. Continuing to add more information (content) to the current curriculum certainly would be a change, while teaching students to REASON (context) would be a “sea” change. Maybe our high schools can dissect the current public debate over curriculum changes as a good “history” lesson.
You can make your own local history—Attend Tucker Celebration on Main Street on Saturday, May 8.
Tom Doolittle wrote about the Northlake area and local community-building under the "Northlake Romance" byline from 2001 to 2004.
I learned Walter Henderson died at age 83 last week—a great-great Grandson of Greenville Henderson, one of this area’s progenitors and historical icons. I met Mr. Henderson (Walter) at the first “Henderson Heritage” meeting held at St. Bede’s Episcopal (focal point of Henderson lands) two years ago—and later, had several delightful conversations. Henderson called himself a “bionic man” (after many surgeries and implants) and had a zillion stories about growing up here and teaching at the old Tucker School. When he “slipped” into discussing political hanky-panky, he’d quickly extricate himself, to keep things light. Walter Henderson and recently deceased DeKalb County Historian Walter McCurdy (Smoke Rise) reminded us that people and families are part of the public infrastructure—assets to be called on—in life and death. Story tellers inevitably become part of the story.
Time marches on, so if History (as taught in public school) is only a series of events, then teachers are doomed to endlessly add more stuff to a box. Tomorrow, we will add today’s events to the timeline of recorded (and deduced) history. If time has always “lengthened” history, then technology has sped the delivery and dramatically increased the amount of information available. Think printing press, TV, later satellite transmission, the internet and future “compression” by continuous use of digital images. Clearly, the world of historical “content” is now unlimited and as such, has become a greater part of everyone’s BEING. As examples of the changing and expanding "availability" of historical data: is enhanced information delivery one reason President Bush faces “9-11” skepticism (history as we are living it)--or even the availability and ease of distribution of information about the days that led up to Pearl Harbor ("more history" about the past)?
I recently spoke about the high school History curriculum changes proposed by State Education Superintendent Kathy Cox with Northlake’s William Bradley (Brad) Bryant. Bryant, a former Chairman of the DeKalb Board of Education and now a Governor’s appointee to the state board, says that the big difference between teaching History now and when he was at Henderson High School (Class of 1971) are the resources available outside of school and the expanded variety of mediums in a total education. Bryant asks, “What is a more appropriate role for a K-12 curriculum in an era where people cognitively view everything they do as a part of education?”
Content without “context” is not education. Today, tough choices must be made to remove “tired required” data and make room for greater inquiry. Reading syndicated opinions in a daily newspaper continually brings me to terms with the inadequacy of my own “history” education. My schooling didn’t lack for information (data). I just wasn’t taught to ask “what does this mean to me”, “what is the small and big picture” and “why is history written by the winners”. Perhaps that was reasonable, because in 1975 (my senior year of high school) “The Information Age” was embryonic. Today’s communication resources have paradoxically freed students to pursue knowledge, instead of information—and question everything they are “taught”.
Today, should schools offer lessons “representative democracy” as a “form” of government or as a process? The “form” demands that we teach what, when, where of The American Revolution and the US Constitution—the “process” suggests a critical review of CSPAN proceedings. Which is more relevant and instructive in terms of training citizenship and responsibility—and possibly inviting a review of The Constitution (on one’s own time)?
History is always in the making. Continuing to add more information (content) to the current curriculum certainly would be a change, while teaching students to REASON (context) would be a “sea” change. Maybe our high schools can dissect the current public debate over curriculum changes as a good “history” lesson.
You can make your own local history—Attend Tucker Celebration on Main Street on Saturday, May 8.
Tom Doolittle wrote about the Northlake area and local community-building under the "Northlake Romance" byline from 2001 to 2004.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
State Senator, WWII Navigator and Citizen Joe Burton Passes Away at 86
I was proud to have been able to meet and know Joe Burton--the finest of men and citizens. He exemplified the "strong bones" which built this sturdy NE DeKalb area in the 1950's and 1960's. He and they set the tone for future generations of volunteers, voters and neighbors. Joe remained conservative and frugal with everything but his time, commitment and compassion.
Please read the following funeral announcment:
SENATOR JOE BURTON was 5th District Senator of DeKalb County which included portions of DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties, in the Georgia State Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 1982 after serving 10 years in the state House of Representatives. Senator Burton, a Republican, was vice chairman of the Special Judiciary Committee and serves on the powerful Appropriations, Ethics, Natural Resources, and Rules Committees. Senator Burton initiated a Senate Study on the education of preschool children with special needs which became part of the national survey which led to federal legislation requiring states to address the problem. He passed legislation to ensure educators were prepared to serve special needs students, including the requirement that Georgia teachers, principals and counselors take a course on how to identify and educate special needs children. Another of Senator Burton's long list of legislative achievements ensuring the safety of children included his work to assure their safety in difficult custody battles. Senator Burton was active in legislation to help the physically and mentally disabled. He successfully passed legislation in the House and the Senate to require barrier free access to public buildings, including designated handicapped parking and curb cuts. Senator Burton initiated legislation to reduce arrest warrant process time thereby freeing police officers to do their job of fighting crime on the streets rather than on paperwork. He planned to introduce legislation to broaden applications of high technology in specific crime fighting areas including uninsured motorists and insurance fraud. Senator Burton was honored by the Association of Handicapped Student Service Programs in Post-Secondary Education, the Easter Seal Society, and Birthright International for his legislative efforts and community service. He was a member of Goodwill Industries Advisory Board, the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and he was a Board Member of Friends of Disabled Adults, which gives free wheel chairs to disabled citizens. Born August 30, 1923 in Atlanta, Senator Burton earned his BSIM degree from Georgia Tech March 2001.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution provided an interesting obituary:
http://www.ajc.com/news/joe-burton-86-of-152147.html
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Henderson’s Mill Site “Preserved” but not dedicated
(Originally published in Community Review Newspaper, Decatur)
By Tom Doolittle
This is Installment 3 of the The Parks of Northlake, a continuing series. This installment explores a popular historic icon that has not attracted formal preservation support. Such examples added to existing parks and school properties, make up a growing “system” of recreational property envisioned by various advocates in the 25 square miles around Northlake Mall.
Last year, travelers along Northlake’s Henderson Mill Road were confronted by a hand-made sign across from the St. Bede’s Episcopal Church lower parking lot and the well-known civil war marker there. It presumptuously read, “Want a Park?” and pointed to the former location of Greenville Henderson’s (grist) Mill. The mill was the historic epicenter of Henderson’s vast domain, ultimately lending its name to a significant Northlake arterial road, a public school and countless other privately owned enterprises. The name “Henderson’s Mill” was always iconic, as it may have had an earlier owner and changed hands several times before it burned down in 1911.
The mill stood where 9.1 acres is still owned by descendants of Robert E. Bolton, until recently by Bolton’s daughter, Lucille (married name Chamblee). The 1915 county map (DeKalb History Center) shows R.E. Bolton owning over 70 acres around the mill—what are now St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, the Full Gospel Atlanta Church, the Henderson Creek and Glenrose subdivisions. Lucille B. Chamblee passed away last year at age 95 according to her daughter, a local resident inheriting the property with her brother.
Efforts to engage Mrs. Chamblee in community discussions about Henderson’s Mill had been unsuccessful in recent years. “She had been approached by hundreds of developers and just got to the point where she wouldn’t talk to any visitors,” her daughter says. Born 1938, the younger Chamblee says she never thought about the mill, but remembers playing under a bridge where Old Henderson Mill Road (now the Chamblee property entrance) crossed the creek. “We called the road the Old Mill Cut.” Walter Henderson (one of Greenville’s great-great grandsons), taught Chamblee’s daughter at Tucker’s first public school. Henderson, who has lived his entire 82 years on Chamblee-Tucker Road, most vividly remembers a big millstone lying on the Chamblee’s property and the dam for the mill pond, where a concrete structure remains today.
Local Lore Helps Moderns Reach for a Past
Much of what local residents understand about the mill and other Henderson landmarks comes from documents at Henderson Mill Dental Care, located across from Henderson Middle School. The dentist’s entrance foyer has several mill pictures and a picture album is the centerpiece of the lobby. A faux mill serves as the entrance monument of the Henderson Mill Condominiums near Chamblee-Tucker Road and the Embry-North Hills Business Association web site has adopted a mill logo (www.embrynorthhills.com ). Quinn’s Mill Restaurant on Northlake Parkway (closed around 1985) had claimed that its water wheel was Henderson’s.
Paul Graham is a historian who can be reached via the DeKalb History Center to discuss his research on early local landowners and their legacies. His “Browning District” project has implications for popular stories, in essence separating myth from fact. Graham presented new information about the extent of Greenville Henderson’s land holdings at an Embry-North Hills Business Association meeting earlier this year, saying “virtually all of Greenville Henderson’s land was west of what is now I-285”. Also, he says that the mill may never have had a water wheel—records from the 1870’s refer to steam power.
Rosemary Allen has operates the Ruth M. Allen Arts Center at 2638 Henderson Mill Road, in a house that was built by one of Robert Bolton’s sons, abutting the former mill location. Allen is a well-known activist in the Chamblee-Tucker/Embry Hills area and considers the Henderson legacy the key to the area’s identity. Allen has inquired with the National Historic Registry in Savannah about a formally dedicating Henderson’s Mill for historical significance. The arts center’s cultural program is listed on the Northlake Community Alliance web site.
District 54 State Representative Sally Harrell lives within a stone’s throw of the mill location. Harrell says, “You feel like you’re a part of history (living across from Greenville Henderson’s resting place).” Harrell also says she loves looking at the civil war marker near St. Bede’s, but says it won’t be fully appreciated until we have a reason to get out of our cars.
Public, Private or Public/Private Preservation
DeKalb’s History Center has a section dedicated to informing the public about the economic significance of county’s milling past, the 19th century equivalent to current day power centers. The Center publishes a map of 28 former mill locations, some now well known place names, like Flakes Mill and Browns Mill. Mason Mill is a large county park. Sue Ellen Owens, the Center’s Executive Director, spoke about DeKalb’s mills to a group convened at St. Bede’s Church in 2001. The meeting was also attended by county Greenspace program officials. Park and preservation ideas fell flat because the property was not for sale, and still isn’t. But must a property be purchased to dedicate a historic landmark?
The county’s greenspace funding limitations may moot the question within another year. The chief of the county’s Greenspace office, Tina Arbes, estimates that there may be 300 or more properties that the county government would preserve, if the funds existed. “We have purchased 66 individual properties which make up 25 projects and expect to purchase 75 more properties (which include those which county commissioners have requested action),”says Arbes. There are only $18.6 million remaining from bond funds for “new” properties. The county has also successfully negotiated property donations valued at $3.8 million and the county also assembles funds from the Blank Foundation and the Georgia Greenspace Fund.
Neighbor Scott Grosse lives within a few hundred yards of the mill location on Henderson Mill creek. He says, “I’ve always liked the idea that people could have a park within a ten minute walk of their homes.” Although the land is not for sale, Grosse suggests that limited public access to the mill location might be possible, even if homes are developed in the future. “Some kind of public/private arrangement might work if county funds aren’t available—the whole property may not need to be preserved.”
Getting Involved With Greenspace
Honey Vandercreek is Commissioner Elaine Boyer’s appointee to the Citizens Advisory Commission for the Parks Bond Fund. She says she got involved to ensure that taxpayer funds were well managed—and says that they are, under quite hectic circumstances. She wanted everyone to know that the Advisory Commission’s meetings are open to the public. They are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month in the Maloof Center on Commerce Drive in Decatur.
Next meeting: January 13, 5:30 PM
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Northlake “Overlay” Crime Prompts Overtime Officer Discussion/Gwinnett CID Model Lowers Crime Figures
October 28, 2008
On August 27 and October 13, crime meetings in “Northlake” were hosted by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce at the newly refurbished Doubletree Hotel. The October meeting was advertised as a discussion for paying for added police protection.
The initial Doubletree meeting was convened abruptly after highly publicized “smash and grabs” in Northlake Mall and concern by property managers about panhandlers confronting hotel guests and shoppers. Police data also shows a 28% increase in area pedestrian robberies and 14 % in car break-ins in year-over-year data, incidents that inflame e-mail traffic among local neighborhood shoppers.
Twenty-one year neighborhood resident Mary Kay Woodworth attended the August crime meeting. Woodworth lives in a neighborhood close to the Northlake Overlay. Woodworth wrote in an e-mail, "My husband and I are concerned about the general decline in the area. We have recently purchased a new home…and feel that the perception (and reality) of crime in this community is of real damage to property values.” Woodworth added she is however encouraged by the “influx of new and renovated businesses”.
One of those new businesses is the Doubletree Hotel, which represents a large investment upgrade of the former Radisson at I-285. John LaBruzzo, the Doubletree’s Acting General Manager, has been caught off-guard by crime in the lagging East DeKalb commercial center, saying that he was not prepared for and is “disappointed” in the crime levels he has seen since opening less than six months ago.
LaBruzzo elaborated, “The recent spate of crime in the Northlake area only prompted (those) that came to the safety meeting to come together to avert the possibility of a negative perception maturing into a negative reality.”
DeKalb Police Department and Simon Properties, Inc. representatives were quick to relate an increase in reported incidents to a deteriorating economy, saying the entire region has the same issue. In an August 28 written statement, Simon stated, “…the incidents that have recently occurred at Northlake Mall are not isolated to the DeKalb county community, rather part of a larger crime ring that has taken place at 11 different locations throughout the metro-Atlanta area.”
Actually, crime statistics for the Atlanta region publicized by daily newspapers would indicate that increases in the Northlake Overlay are far lower than those in other deteriorating suburban counties—and the rest of DeKalb (see “Favorable” below).
According to police at the most recent October business meeting, department personnel are now inside the mall and Simon said, “an additional team of mobile security officers patrolling the property…has also been added to the current security program.” Apparently, security had been improved over 2007 also. According to data acquired by GoDeKalb.com from a police representative, there were only five reported incidents at the mall in the 12 months prior to September, 2008, extraordinarily fewer than 42 (mostly auto entries) in the 12 months previous. To put that in perspective, there were more than 30 incidents combined at the three apartment complexes in the overlay district in each of those time periods years, according to the same data.
Many business managers, like Robert Pillar at Hertz Car Rental and adjacent property owner Amin Haji on Northlake Parkway have yet to attend a crime meeting, but expressed interest when reached by GoDeKalb.com. Pillar says he has had an occasional car theft and police have coordinated stake-outs with him. Haji is close to opening a banquet hall between Hertz and DeKalb Tire. Although no apartment company representatives attended the first meeting, the second meeting attracted managers from gated communities owned by Worthing Southeast (The Heights and nearby Five Oaks) and Venterra Realty of Ontario, Canada (purchased Camelot and renamed “Providence”).
Thirty-seven (37) of approximately 500 reports between September 2007 and September 2008 were from one parking lot—that of the LA Fitness center on Crescent Center Parkway. The LA Fitness incidents were all “entering an auto", crimes that police representatives at both Doubletree meetings say are easily prevented. Police say most such vehicle break-ins are a result of carelessness by car owners, failing to pay attention to items left in plain site. The meetings resulted in tips to business managers for assisting the police with preventative practices.
DeKalb Police Captain Pat White presented a possible model for Northlake property owners to band together and pay for off-duty police. White discussed the program being operated by the Stone Mountain Industrial Park Association (SMIPA) in the management office of the business area. SMIPA’s off-duty coverage has been in place since 1992 and employs five rotating off-duty officers, one each night, the length of shifts being purposely varied. The association spent $95,000 between last October and this September, according to Patillo Construction Company Human Resource Director Jill Golod, who acts as the SMIPA manager. Member dues are $85 per year for each business owner and $15 for a business’ additional participants. Golod says she has no statistics, but says the longevity of the program bears out its success and popularity.
Taking Aim at “Extended Stays”
A few business members at this month’s meeting, including the Doubletree’s LaBruzzo, were concerned about some area hotel properties not being maintained and attracting a “criminal element”. Insurance executive Ray Williams, once a DeKalb Chamber of Commerce board member and Leadership DeKalb graduate, asked an attending representative of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (DCVB) what could be done about “extended stay” hotels, and got a garbled response about DeKalb not having many such hotels.
“Extended Stay” is actually a legitimate market-rate industry segment that caters to executive travel. However, the “extended stay” label is increasingly becoming attributed to industry a growing phenomenon of former “motels” serving transient low-income residents faced with difficult economic conditions—also sometime called “weekly rate” hotels. For instance, when GoDeKalb.com asked Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District (GVCID) Executive Director Chuck Warbington about crime in the CID, he said that weekly-rate hotel occupancy boomed with the Hurricane Katrina exodus.
The Northlake Inn, formerly a Ramada Inn and offering very low weekly rates, had only six (6) reported incidents in the past year, but Northlake Parkway businesses within a stones throw of the deteriorated hotel like the Stake and Ale restaurant have had dozens. Northlake Community Alliance (NCA) Chairman Tom Ulbricht told the October audience that the Inn’s owner has a redevelopment permit currently working its way through DeKalb’s permitting process—the property to become a home for the elderly.
This week, at the North Briarcliff Civic Association (formerly “Hawthorne”) annual meeting, DeKalb Police code enforcement officer said he had that same day conducted an inspection of the Shallowford Lodge in I-85 area “sweep”. The officer said he issued a citation for “a ton of violations”, equating the I-85 initiative to a similar effort on Glenwood Road, south of Memorial Drive.
Gwinnett CID Size Like Northlake "Area"- Crime Down With Extra Hires
GVCID’s Warbington makes no bones about the source of the crime in his several “hot spots.” Warbington flatly confides, “Crime in our commercial hot spots is directly related to extended-stay hotels, budget hotels now catering to transients. They (the deteriorated properties) are either producing crime or producing the atmosphere for it to happen”, Warbington told GoDeKalb.com
Extra policing was one of the primary reasons the GVCID was organized, says the self-taxing district’s head man.
“What’s interesting is the economy’s worse, but crime has been reduced (in the district). Warbington provided GoDeKalb.com with police department data tallied specifically for the CID area for the first half of 2008 showing 226 incidents compared with 317 incidents in the same six months of 2007—a reduction of 30 percent. GVCID 2007 figures had been nearly identical to the “Northlake” areas near Shallowford Road and Chamblee-Tucker (police sub-area 180) in 2007 before the CID’s extra effort.
The CID covers 12 square miles and has over 1,000 member-business properties in commercial/industrial areas along I-85 and three corridors that intersect the interstate—Pleasantdale Road, Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Indian Trail and Beaver Ruin Roads, The CID, which also extends into the city of Norcross, allocated $350,000 of a $1.75 million 2008 budget for the officers and spent “in the $250,000 range through September.
Relatively Favorable Figures in the “District”?
A look at several sources of data appears favorable for the Northlake Overlay District, when juxtaposed with other areas in DeKalb. The actual figure of nine pedestrian robberies through September, 2008 appears low compared to over 900 in DeKalb for only six months in 2008. Also, according to a police report provided to a developer with interests in Northlake, the numbers for the Overlay have been comparable to Perimeter Center in 2008, an area that enjoys paid off-duty police coverage in its Community Improvement District.
Other “Northlake” commercial areas such as I-85’s Shallowford and Chamblee-Tucker corridors had more than ten times the attacks on pedestrians than the Northlake Overlay.
The “Northlake” area is loosely bounded by Toco Hills in the south, I-85 to the North and Northlake Parkway/Lawrenceville Highway in the east—essentially police sub-precincts 230, 180 and 240 respectively. Single-family residential neighborhoods make up most of these areas, but bear little of the area’s reported crime. Only 17 percent of police incidents in area 240 were on neighborhood streets.
More than 60 percent of all “residential” crime is in commercial area apartment complexes or along apartment corridors. There were 11 “residential burglaries” in the Northlake overlay zone in the 2008 count—almost an insignificant number as compared with the I-85 commercial areas. Year-over-year starting in September, 2007 showed double that number at the three complexes, still almost an insignificant number as compared to the I-85 commercial zones. Two of three apartment complexes in the overlay area are gated.
About the author:
Tom Doolittle is a 15-year Northlake area resident and news source since 2002. Doolittle chartered Northlake Community Alliance, Inc. and conducted the Northlake Business Forum between 2001 and 2003.
http://godekalb.com/archives/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9031&Itemid=2873
On August 27 and October 13, crime meetings in “Northlake” were hosted by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce at the newly refurbished Doubletree Hotel. The October meeting was advertised as a discussion for paying for added police protection.
The initial Doubletree meeting was convened abruptly after highly publicized “smash and grabs” in Northlake Mall and concern by property managers about panhandlers confronting hotel guests and shoppers. Police data also shows a 28% increase in area pedestrian robberies and 14 % in car break-ins in year-over-year data, incidents that inflame e-mail traffic among local neighborhood shoppers.
Twenty-one year neighborhood resident Mary Kay Woodworth attended the August crime meeting. Woodworth lives in a neighborhood close to the Northlake Overlay. Woodworth wrote in an e-mail, "My husband and I are concerned about the general decline in the area. We have recently purchased a new home…and feel that the perception (and reality) of crime in this community is of real damage to property values.” Woodworth added she is however encouraged by the “influx of new and renovated businesses”.
One of those new businesses is the Doubletree Hotel, which represents a large investment upgrade of the former Radisson at I-285. John LaBruzzo, the Doubletree’s Acting General Manager, has been caught off-guard by crime in the lagging East DeKalb commercial center, saying that he was not prepared for and is “disappointed” in the crime levels he has seen since opening less than six months ago.
LaBruzzo elaborated, “The recent spate of crime in the Northlake area only prompted (those) that came to the safety meeting to come together to avert the possibility of a negative perception maturing into a negative reality.”
DeKalb Police Department and Simon Properties, Inc. representatives were quick to relate an increase in reported incidents to a deteriorating economy, saying the entire region has the same issue. In an August 28 written statement, Simon stated, “…the incidents that have recently occurred at Northlake Mall are not isolated to the DeKalb county community, rather part of a larger crime ring that has taken place at 11 different locations throughout the metro-Atlanta area.”
Actually, crime statistics for the Atlanta region publicized by daily newspapers would indicate that increases in the Northlake Overlay are far lower than those in other deteriorating suburban counties—and the rest of DeKalb (see “Favorable” below).
According to police at the most recent October business meeting, department personnel are now inside the mall and Simon said, “an additional team of mobile security officers patrolling the property…has also been added to the current security program.” Apparently, security had been improved over 2007 also. According to data acquired by GoDeKalb.com from a police representative, there were only five reported incidents at the mall in the 12 months prior to September, 2008, extraordinarily fewer than 42 (mostly auto entries) in the 12 months previous. To put that in perspective, there were more than 30 incidents combined at the three apartment complexes in the overlay district in each of those time periods years, according to the same data.
Many business managers, like Robert Pillar at Hertz Car Rental and adjacent property owner Amin Haji on Northlake Parkway have yet to attend a crime meeting, but expressed interest when reached by GoDeKalb.com. Pillar says he has had an occasional car theft and police have coordinated stake-outs with him. Haji is close to opening a banquet hall between Hertz and DeKalb Tire. Although no apartment company representatives attended the first meeting, the second meeting attracted managers from gated communities owned by Worthing Southeast (The Heights and nearby Five Oaks) and Venterra Realty of Ontario, Canada (purchased Camelot and renamed “Providence”).
Thirty-seven (37) of approximately 500 reports between September 2007 and September 2008 were from one parking lot—that of the LA Fitness center on Crescent Center Parkway. The LA Fitness incidents were all “entering an auto", crimes that police representatives at both Doubletree meetings say are easily prevented. Police say most such vehicle break-ins are a result of carelessness by car owners, failing to pay attention to items left in plain site. The meetings resulted in tips to business managers for assisting the police with preventative practices.
DeKalb Police Captain Pat White presented a possible model for Northlake property owners to band together and pay for off-duty police. White discussed the program being operated by the Stone Mountain Industrial Park Association (SMIPA) in the management office of the business area. SMIPA’s off-duty coverage has been in place since 1992 and employs five rotating off-duty officers, one each night, the length of shifts being purposely varied. The association spent $95,000 between last October and this September, according to Patillo Construction Company Human Resource Director Jill Golod, who acts as the SMIPA manager. Member dues are $85 per year for each business owner and $15 for a business’ additional participants. Golod says she has no statistics, but says the longevity of the program bears out its success and popularity.
Taking Aim at “Extended Stays”
A few business members at this month’s meeting, including the Doubletree’s LaBruzzo, were concerned about some area hotel properties not being maintained and attracting a “criminal element”. Insurance executive Ray Williams, once a DeKalb Chamber of Commerce board member and Leadership DeKalb graduate, asked an attending representative of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (DCVB) what could be done about “extended stay” hotels, and got a garbled response about DeKalb not having many such hotels.
“Extended Stay” is actually a legitimate market-rate industry segment that caters to executive travel. However, the “extended stay” label is increasingly becoming attributed to industry a growing phenomenon of former “motels” serving transient low-income residents faced with difficult economic conditions—also sometime called “weekly rate” hotels. For instance, when GoDeKalb.com asked Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District (GVCID) Executive Director Chuck Warbington about crime in the CID, he said that weekly-rate hotel occupancy boomed with the Hurricane Katrina exodus.
The Northlake Inn, formerly a Ramada Inn and offering very low weekly rates, had only six (6) reported incidents in the past year, but Northlake Parkway businesses within a stones throw of the deteriorated hotel like the Stake and Ale restaurant have had dozens. Northlake Community Alliance (NCA) Chairman Tom Ulbricht told the October audience that the Inn’s owner has a redevelopment permit currently working its way through DeKalb’s permitting process—the property to become a home for the elderly.
This week, at the North Briarcliff Civic Association (formerly “Hawthorne”) annual meeting, DeKalb Police code enforcement officer said he had that same day conducted an inspection of the Shallowford Lodge in I-85 area “sweep”. The officer said he issued a citation for “a ton of violations”, equating the I-85 initiative to a similar effort on Glenwood Road, south of Memorial Drive.
Gwinnett CID Size Like Northlake "Area"- Crime Down With Extra Hires
GVCID’s Warbington makes no bones about the source of the crime in his several “hot spots.” Warbington flatly confides, “Crime in our commercial hot spots is directly related to extended-stay hotels, budget hotels now catering to transients. They (the deteriorated properties) are either producing crime or producing the atmosphere for it to happen”, Warbington told GoDeKalb.com
Extra policing was one of the primary reasons the GVCID was organized, says the self-taxing district’s head man.
“What’s interesting is the economy’s worse, but crime has been reduced (in the district). Warbington provided GoDeKalb.com with police department data tallied specifically for the CID area for the first half of 2008 showing 226 incidents compared with 317 incidents in the same six months of 2007—a reduction of 30 percent. GVCID 2007 figures had been nearly identical to the “Northlake” areas near Shallowford Road and Chamblee-Tucker (police sub-area 180) in 2007 before the CID’s extra effort.
The CID covers 12 square miles and has over 1,000 member-business properties in commercial/industrial areas along I-85 and three corridors that intersect the interstate—Pleasantdale Road, Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Indian Trail and Beaver Ruin Roads, The CID, which also extends into the city of Norcross, allocated $350,000 of a $1.75 million 2008 budget for the officers and spent “in the $250,000 range through September.
Relatively Favorable Figures in the “District”?
A look at several sources of data appears favorable for the Northlake Overlay District, when juxtaposed with other areas in DeKalb. The actual figure of nine pedestrian robberies through September, 2008 appears low compared to over 900 in DeKalb for only six months in 2008. Also, according to a police report provided to a developer with interests in Northlake, the numbers for the Overlay have been comparable to Perimeter Center in 2008, an area that enjoys paid off-duty police coverage in its Community Improvement District.
Other “Northlake” commercial areas such as I-85’s Shallowford and Chamblee-Tucker corridors had more than ten times the attacks on pedestrians than the Northlake Overlay.
The “Northlake” area is loosely bounded by Toco Hills in the south, I-85 to the North and Northlake Parkway/Lawrenceville Highway in the east—essentially police sub-precincts 230, 180 and 240 respectively. Single-family residential neighborhoods make up most of these areas, but bear little of the area’s reported crime. Only 17 percent of police incidents in area 240 were on neighborhood streets.
More than 60 percent of all “residential” crime is in commercial area apartment complexes or along apartment corridors. There were 11 “residential burglaries” in the Northlake overlay zone in the 2008 count—almost an insignificant number as compared with the I-85 commercial areas. Year-over-year starting in September, 2007 showed double that number at the three complexes, still almost an insignificant number as compared to the I-85 commercial zones. Two of three apartment complexes in the overlay area are gated.
About the author:
Tom Doolittle is a 15-year Northlake area resident and news source since 2002. Doolittle chartered Northlake Community Alliance, Inc. and conducted the Northlake Business Forum between 2001 and 2003.
http://godekalb.com/archives/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9031&Itemid=2873
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Northlake ITP and OTP Stable During Recession (2006-08)
This article can also be found at:
http://www.godekalb.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=232:northlake-itp-and-otp-real-estate-stable-amidst-recession&catid=43:dekalb&Itemid=33
http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2009/03/micro-markets-matter-northlake-real.html
http://www.hendersonroad.com/news_&_events.htm
March 5, 2009
Northlake area property prices either never “bubbled” or the bubble hasn't burst yet. Data for the Lakeside High School zone from 2006 through the end of 2008 indicate that housing prices in Northlake have not suffered Metro Atlanta's property value losses. The average resale prices in the entire Lakeside High School zone increased by .24% from 2006. Northlake's resale price changes differ from inside to outside the Perimeter, as home values tend to do. Northlake ITP values, almost all in the Lakeside zone, have actually increased during the "down-turn" while Lakeside's OTP resales lost a mere 3.2% for traditional “first suburb” housing stock (single-family homes built before 1980).
Between 2006 and 2008, Atlanta Metro area resale prices of all homes dropped by more than 17 percent according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, quoting industry sources. During the same time period, single-family detached home resale prices fell by 15.1 percent, according to figures supplied by Marietta-based SmartNumbers.
The Northlake numbers were compiled from First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) data provided by Judy Brooks of Re/Max Brookhaven. Brooks has worked almost exclusively in the 30345 zip code for 23 years and is the current president of the Dresden East Civic Association (DECA). Referring to neighborhoods with steady performance Brooks said, “I find stability comforting (as an agent and homeowner), it helps buyers and sellers at the same time.”
Sally English, an Associate Broker and longtime Northlake area sales leader with ReMax Executives on Northlake Parkway, credits nearby employment centers for the steady housing market. The locally born Henderson High School and Vanderbilt University graduate said "Emory University, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Atlanta VA Medical Center and Clifton Corridor are stable source of employment for many residents in the Lakeside High School district. These employers have not experienced the volatility of (private sector) employers."
“First Suburb”, pre-1980 homes represent 90% of Lakeside zone recession re-sales
Average prices of the few detached homes built after 1980 in the 30345 zip code increased by about 5 percent. However, only 75 units sold from 2006 through 2008. Those sales prices averaged $783,604, whereas the “first suburb” units in 30345 averaged about $375,000 and dominate the resale market.
Tucker OTP Completes Northlake Picture
About half of Tucker’s 30084 zip code and Tucker High School zone is arguably in the Northlake commercial core's influence area. In fact, the 30345 and 30084 zip codes curiously occupy opposite sides of Lavista Road at Northlake Mall. An analysis of Tucker’s residential prices (largely OTP), will follow in another report. However, a quick look at the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s (AJC) median resale data for all homes, although home values are well below ITP values, Tucker (30084) property maintained value at a rate within 1 percent of zip code 30345 between 2006 and 2007. AJC data is not available for 2008.
In fact, the property value disparity between Northlake's ITP and OTP areas bodes well for a new market pulse. ReMax's English elaborated, "Many of the homes in Tucker have values attractive to a first time buyer. This, combined with convenient commuter access to in town employment centers will provide a lot of opportunity for first time home buyers looking to take advantage of the new $8,000 tax credit."
Sales of New and Post-1980 Built Homes
Although new, larger home construction is a subject of fascination (so-called “McMansions”, they are factually not much a part of the Northlake area real estate market. Only 74 new single-family homes (13.8% of all sales) in the Lakeside portion of 30345 were sold from 2006 to 2008, prices ranging from $605,000 to $1,640,000. Only 10 homes built in 2008 were sold in 2008 in Lakeside/30345.
Lakeside Realtors Hurt By Slowing Activity
The lack of a price bubble in Northlake has not been without cost to area realtors, hurt by significantly lower and slower sales activity in the area. Resale volume decreased from 331 to 218 (34%) between 2006 and 2008, for pre-1980 homes. Just as significantly to realtor income, time on the market increased from 50 to 86 days. Van Johnson of Re/Max Executives on Northlake Parkway and immediate past president of the Georgia Association of Realtors expressed quite candidly that the Northlake area has not escaped the lower sales volume and industry retraction felt nationally. “Consolidation is hitting everywhere”, Johnson said, “we’ve gone from 200 to 64 agents and Atlanta is down to 600 from 1,000.” The local broker and Northlake Community Alliance Trustee said the state agents association members have decreased from 48,000 to 30,000 in the past two years. “A lot of 1 and 2-person firms will probably fold” Johnson explained.
Foreclosures Less An Issue Here
John Mangham, a Lakeside High School alumnus and foreclosure investor with the firm Epicity, said, “the stable environment and the hidden gem that is the eastern side of the northeast I-85 corridor is a very comfortable place to own a home.” Mangham, a regular guest with real estate investment television host John Adams researched the 30345 zip code, and reported, “in 2008, (there was) only one sale per month (equivalent to 6.8% of sales) from foreclosures.” The average for all DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett, in 2008 was 36.1% of sales, according to Mangham.
Mangham also said that homes valued from $300,000 to $700,000 have not been hit nearly as hard by foreclosures as other value ranges. About 51% of Lakeside re-sales were above $300,000 in 2008 (79% at $250,000 or above, only 7% below $200,000).
The authorTom Doolittle, is a 15-year Northlake area resident , was a Charter Trustee for Northlake Community Alliance, Inc. (NCA), founded and facilitated the Northlake Business Forum (NBF), wrote "Norlthlake Romance" for Community Review News and contributes to GoDeKalb.com and local websites.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
NCA, Streetscape “Attract” in 2009, Lavista Traffic Timing a “Go”
June 30, 2009
Slow commercial property transactions near Northlake Mall reflect national trends, but community leaders recently pointed to some new business activity and public interest in street appeal near the 1970’s era “inner-ring” business area.
On June 18, a crowd of about 150 responded to a well advertised 9th Northlake Community Alliance (NCA) annual meeting at the nine-month old Doubletree Hotel (owned by Legacy Management Group, Inc.). The meeting was upbeat, being the first since the Lavista Road streetscape improvements were completed last summer. NCA Chairman Tom Ulbricht of the Winding Woods area, a former land planner with DeKalb and Fulton Counties, conducted a reelection of several trustee positions that were “turning over” and made a wide range of announcements (below).
NCA as Community Liaison
Ulbricht said that the 501-c-3 volunteer organization is committed to increased outreach efforts into the various communities around the mall. He also made an appeal for financial contributions to help with public information initiatives, including replacing the familiar green and white meeting announcement signs that are stolen regularly. Based on an informal count, this year’s annual meeting at the Doubletree Hotel was attended by at least three times the number of people as last year at Briarlake Baptist Church. Interest in and awareness of the group from local residents has picked up since the completion of the street improvements.
The nonprofit community group also seems to be the “go to” agency for development inquiries about the commercial district around the mall. NCA Trustee meeting guests in the past year include an Emory University official to discuss the medical school’s newest hospital here and representatives and JLB Partners, a firm that is building apartments next to Northlake Mall. NCA has consistently emphasized that the group takes no position on individual property zoning decisions.
NCA’s Ulbricht says he is aware of pending projects including: an assisted care facility waiting for financing and county permitting, to replace the publicly maligned Northlake Inn and the Candlewood Suites Hotel, both on Northlake Parkway east of I-285. Ulbricht also stated that a two-story dental office has been proposed across from Briarlake Baptist Church. During the evening meeting, Ulbricht generalized that other large scale redevelopment in the area is being held up by economic conditions.
Other development on hold: the Isakson-Barnhart company, owner of the locally familiar “Best Buy” Center, presented a redevelopment plan, pending the purchase of the now-closed Siemens Electronics site to the District 2 community council last year. The retail/housing company says the property purchase is on hold due to national financial conditions.
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that “Northlake/I-85” is the retail submarket with the lowest property vacancy rate in the Atlanta region.
Traffic Timing for “Lavista Grid” will bid in July
Anyone who travels along Lavista Road near I-285 knows what its like to sit at traffic lights with no crossing traffic anywhere in sight. Unfortunate stranded drivers also grit their teeth while inching from one stop light to another attempting to cross the 1969-christened interstate highway. If all goes as planned, we may soon see congestion relief from a new traffic “timing” system along Northlake’s primary artery. Solving convoluted intersections runs a close second with mall improvements on the “locals” wish list.
The NCA chairman wrote in an e-mail, “I have been told by county transportation director John Gurbal that the Northlake grid traffic light system overhaul... will be included in the Stimulus Money, 1st round, for advertising probably (this month). It has been signed by the Governor.” Ulbricht added that the project will probably take several months to select a bidder and begin the project.
The county government’s public information officer did not respond to several requests for specific information about “traffic timing” plans in Northlake.
Streetscape News
Ulbricht talked about the Lavista Streetscape and landscaping condition. Sidewalk, lamppost, benches and curb landscaping installation were completed last summer (2008). Ulbricht acknowledged that some trees were lost to the multi-year drought that depleted water supplies in North Georgia. He also mentioned NCA’s numerous volunteers that have mowed and cleaned Lavista Road curbs once per month for many years. According to Ulbricht, the volunteers have been asked to stop their work by the streetscape project manager Post, Buckley, Shue and Jernigan (PBS&J) which hired a subcontractor to maintain the landscaping.
No questions were raised at the annual meeting about Lavista’s current condition. However, one former school board member took issue with the lack of follow-on care, complaining, “the money that was paid to plant the Northlake area and put in the lighting has been misspent if there is no upkeep.” PBS&J did not respond to phone messages about its subcontractor’s status.
An additional $570,000 from Federal and local sources will pay for streetscape expansion along the periphery of Northlake Mall along Briarcliff to Northlake Parkway as far as the funds will allow.
Mall Steps Up, Replacing Crescent Moon
Many residents within two miles of Northlake Mall, opened in 1971, attend NCA meetings asking about plans for changes at the “inner ring” shopping center. Marie Moore, the mall’s fourth manager in six years, was installed just a few weeks before the 2008 NCA annual meeting. Now in place for a year, Moore was able to provide news with some confidence. “Northlake Mall is on Simon Properties radar screen”, the Cobb County resident implied the home office is evaluating the mall and its market and that she personally is “looking for unique and complimentary businesses that add to the property and fulfill the needs of the surrounding community.” Referring to “grassroots” activities that she hopes to make the mall “the center of the community”, Moore mentioned opening meeting spaces and outdoor activities like the movies last year.
The Northlake Mall general manager announced that a “casual diner” will fill the former Crescent Moon space in September. Crescent Moon went out of business about a year ago.
See www.nlake.org for additional information about board meetings, tree-planting and other volunteer efforts.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Downturn Graceful Here
Northlake Resale Data
(Jan 1, 2006-Dec 31, 2008)
Northlake “ITP” (Tucker not studied)
“30345/Lakeside” (52% of all Lakeside High School zone re-sales)
Year Avg Sale Resale Vol
2006 $377,413 158
2007 $375,734 133 0.44% loss year over year
2008 $372,951 96 0.74% loss year over year
Pre-1980 homes Tot 387
Pre-1980 homes (64% of all sales, 84% of all re-sales)
“Total Lakeside” (parts of 30345, 30341, 30340, and 30033)
Year Avg Sale Resale Vol
2006 $362,698 255
2007 $350,751 269 3.3% loss year over year
2008 $333,706 214 4.8% loss year over year
Pre-1980 homes Tot 738
Pre-1980 homes (71% of all sales, 90% of all re-sales)
By Zip Code Pre-1980 homes (2006-2008)
Zip Resale Vol
30345 425
30033 149
30340 101
30341 63
Total 738
Time on Market
2006 50 days
2007 61 days
2008 86 days
Atlanta Metro Averages
All sales: -8.2% (Sept 2007 to Sept 2008)
All re-sales: -17% (2008)
*Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution
Re-Sales: Single-family detached homes only
2006 $227,776
2007 $228,564 +0.4%
2008 $193,349 -15.4%
*Source: Steve Palm, SmartNumbers, Marietta, GA
Tom Doolittle is a 15-year Northlake area resident in the Lakeside school zone, was a Charter Trustee and wrote the 501-c-3 Charitable Organization application to the IRS for Northlake Community Alliance, Inc. (NCA), founded and facilitated the Northlake Business Forum (NBF) from 2002 to 2004 and writes articles about the Northlake area for GoDeKalb.com and local websites.
(Jan 1, 2006-Dec 31, 2008)
Northlake “ITP” (Tucker not studied)
“30345/Lakeside” (52% of all Lakeside High School zone re-sales)
Year Avg Sale Resale Vol
2006 $377,413 158
2007 $375,734 133 0.44% loss year over year
2008 $372,951 96 0.74% loss year over year
Pre-1980 homes Tot 387
Pre-1980 homes (64% of all sales, 84% of all re-sales)
“Total Lakeside” (parts of 30345, 30341, 30340, and 30033)
Year Avg Sale Resale Vol
2006 $362,698 255
2007 $350,751 269 3.3% loss year over year
2008 $333,706 214 4.8% loss year over year
Pre-1980 homes Tot 738
Pre-1980 homes (71% of all sales, 90% of all re-sales)
By Zip Code Pre-1980 homes (2006-2008)
Zip Resale Vol
30345 425
30033 149
30340 101
30341 63
Total 738
Time on Market
2006 50 days
2007 61 days
2008 86 days
Atlanta Metro Averages
All sales: -8.2% (Sept 2007 to Sept 2008)
All re-sales: -17% (2008)
*Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution
Re-Sales: Single-family detached homes only
2006 $227,776
2007 $228,564 +0.4%
2008 $193,349 -15.4%
*Source: Steve Palm, SmartNumbers, Marietta, GA
Tom Doolittle is a 15-year Northlake area resident in the Lakeside school zone, was a Charter Trustee and wrote the 501-c-3 Charitable Organization application to the IRS for Northlake Community Alliance, Inc. (NCA), founded and facilitated the Northlake Business Forum (NBF) from 2002 to 2004 and writes articles about the Northlake area for GoDeKalb.com and local websites.
Northlake--the "brand"
Northlake is the name of a mall, a suburban office retail district and also geographic area of about 20 square miles, in approximately 2.5 miles around Northlake Mall--in DeKalb County, Georgia. Northlake, the business district, sits right on top of the Northeast part of Atlanta's "ring road" (bypass), Interstate 285. I-285 was opened in 1969 while Northlake Mall was under construction and the mall opened in 1971, just a few months after Perimeter Mall.
Unfortunately, "Northlake" is not a community name--at least not adopted easily by nearby residents.
That may be about to change. In conjunction with a revamped DeKalb County Comprehensive Land Use Plan that defines Lavista Road business center as a "Regional Center", it is now zoned for eight to fifteen-story apartment and condominium buildings in a mixed-use setting--via what is called an "zoning overlay", planned with Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) funds. The area shown for residential towers can easily accomodate 4,000 new living units. The mall property is underutilized by "mixed-use" standards as a retail-only site with acres of surface parking area. Thousands of new residential units within a half-mile of the mall may necessitate centrally-located schools and other "town-like" public services.
What will make the "Northlake Core" gain "town" status would also be the development of a commuter rail station on the CSX rail line near Montreal Road or across I-285 at Crescent Center. Prior to WWII (and the industrial parks of the late 1960's), a train station existed at Montreal Road. Past is prologue and we will be using trains more than cars again, particularly from town to town.
A rail station always determines an area's "brand". It will then be convenient for the entire 15 square-mile area around "Northlake Station" to tell people from outside Atlanta and other regions in the Metro area that we live in "Northlake" or near the "Northlake Station".
Think 10-15 years for the "brand" to complete itself.
Unfortunately, "Northlake" is not a community name--at least not adopted easily by nearby residents.
That may be about to change. In conjunction with a revamped DeKalb County Comprehensive Land Use Plan that defines Lavista Road business center as a "Regional Center", it is now zoned for eight to fifteen-story apartment and condominium buildings in a mixed-use setting--via what is called an "zoning overlay", planned with Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) funds. The area shown for residential towers can easily accomodate 4,000 new living units. The mall property is underutilized by "mixed-use" standards as a retail-only site with acres of surface parking area. Thousands of new residential units within a half-mile of the mall may necessitate centrally-located schools and other "town-like" public services.
What will make the "Northlake Core" gain "town" status would also be the development of a commuter rail station on the CSX rail line near Montreal Road or across I-285 at Crescent Center. Prior to WWII (and the industrial parks of the late 1960's), a train station existed at Montreal Road. Past is prologue and we will be using trains more than cars again, particularly from town to town.
A rail station always determines an area's "brand". It will then be convenient for the entire 15 square-mile area around "Northlake Station" to tell people from outside Atlanta and other regions in the Metro area that we live in "Northlake" or near the "Northlake Station".
Think 10-15 years for the "brand" to complete itself.
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