Creative Loafing has an interesting story about the the New Broad Street deal for the GM Plant. The article quotes Real Estate Service firm, Carter and Thompson Dawson on their skepticism about the feasibility of the proposed development. Also, it mentions that under the current deal, Dekalb County would pay for the project’s infrastructure through bonds. These bonds wouldn’t be repaid for by the development’s success, but instead by millage rate increases for all citizens of the County.
This is old news to many of you, but early this week a big announcement put Doraville back in the spotlight. The AJC reported that Sembler & Co — the only developer still negotiating with GM for their former Doraville plant — has floated a proposal to build a new football stadium for the Falcons on the site.
In most cities I’ve traveled to, the areas around sports arenas have been wastelands that people don’t feel safe driving through. They increase traffic & inconvenience nearby residents. I personally doubt that a stadium would do much to improve property values for current homeowners in this area.
What is interesting is how this idea has created some strange bedfellows. City councilman, Bob Roche has come out in favor of the idea as has his opponent in the last council race, Chris Avers. The other council people seem to be keeping their mouths shut for now, although on one message board councilman Spangler’s wife made a comment that this proposal is essentially vindication for Tom Hart, proving he was right about the way to “revitalize” the city.
This is fairly big news – even being discussed on this morning’s Georgia Gang. What do you think about the proposal? Is this the best use of the land the GM plant sits on? Is it realistic? Will it be the best thing for Doraville’s current residents? Since most of these developments are subsidized by local governments, I think that makes Doraville an especially unlikely spot for this stadium.
I know zoning topics make most people’s eyes glaze over, mine included, but there is something happening now that is worth downing a little caffeine to study. Briefly, many Doraville residents have had enough of dumps and garbage processing plants settling into the land around the tank farms because that area is located between and right on top of two major neighborhoods – Tilly Mill and Oakcliff. The proposal is that we outlaw any heavy industry (toxic, dangerous, hugely noisy, soil-contaminating sorts of business, not shops or small manufacturers) in that area and that we do this by getting rid of all zoning that would allow these businesses. The zoning that does allow for slaughterhouses, GM plants, etc. is called M-2 zoning, and it is the type of zoning you would find a lot of in Chicago and Detroit and other large manufacturing cities. In these cities, of course, such plants are far from the residential areas. This is not the case in Doraville. I have heard the argument that if we carefully work on M-2 zoning definitions, we can limit the types of heavy industry we allow. I tend not to believe this. We already have ordinances against garbage-processing plants, and yet we just admitted such a plant (Apex) into that area anyway. We can’t outlaw the tank farms because they’re already all over the area. That is the only reason the zoning would be called M-2P. That would mean no heavy industry except for the petroleum industries. (The “P” stands for petroleum) Maybe we will become less dependent upon petroleum products in the future, and the tank farm will shrink. I hope so. Or maybe we can do away with the heavy industrial zoning without a whole new M-2P zoning name. I don’t know.
At Wednesday night’s meeting, residents gave their opinions on changing the zoning in the area around the tank farms to keep more heavy industries from coming in. Several residents spoke as did Tex Pittfield who owns some of the gasoline distribution centers in the tank farm. All the speakers were in favor of getting heavy industry out of our neighborhoods with the exception of one resident and a businessman who lives in Dunwoody but owns an industrial site in Doraville. (Even he had mixed feelings, he said) The big surprise, at least for me, was Tex Pittfield speaking in favor of changing our zoning. He thinks we should “cocoon” the tank farms and feels that having more trucks coming in and out of that area will eventually result in a catastrophic accident. I think John Noonan taped the meeting, but I’m not sure about that. Speakers included a woman who said she’d “never done anything like this in her life,” and several residents from neighborhoods closest to the tank farm area. There were some good points made, some complaints, some fears voiced, etc. People complained that odors from the garbage sites already in that area are drifting into their neighborhoods and lowering their property values.
We elected our council members to protect us, the Doraville residents, and to protect our neighborhoods from blight and danger to the best of their abilities, to protect our children from breathing bad air or being kept awake at night by the sounds of heavy industry, to prevent our neighborhoods, particularly Oakcliff Estates, from being such a cut-through for heavy industrial trucks that we can’t get off our own streets. I know how diligently the council members work and I feel certain they won’t let us down. Basically, we will meet the future as (1) a livable city or (2) an unhealthy, blighted, dismal place that collects, contains, and processes waste from other Atlanta cities. I urge you to let your council representatives know your feelings on this subject.
Because there is wide-spread concern about the nestling in of various garbage processing businesses inside the tank farm area, why not change the zoning there to M2-P as Stuart has been suggesting for – what – a year now? That way nothing can go in that area except more of the tanks which, hopefully, are on the downturn at this point. If the holdup here is that Stuart suggested this originally and his popularity is in question, Ben Crawford agrees with him as would anyone who’s given this issue any thought at all.
Surrounding areas have already tightened their ordinances to outlaw these dumping grounds from coming in to their cities. Doraville is the logical place for everyone to send their trash because we have NOT. Georgia actually imports trash from other states which provides a limitless opportunity for dumps. To insure the safety and comfort of our residents. We need to CHANGE THE ZONING!!! in the tank farm area before one of the many dump-destinationed trucks crashes into one of the many highway-headed tankers. While this issue has been bandied about at City Hall, Apex, a grease-processing plant, has settled there in spite of its infractions. That particular area could be changed by the city council to M2-P right away by having public hearings and then voting on it. Two months time at most. What’s the problem here???
Check out the video clip below of a recent newscast that discusses the GM site and its redevelopment. Vernon Jones, with Mayor Jenkins standing to his left, speaks at length about the county’s commitment to get this project right. I heard on the radio yesterday that GM has received over 1000 inquiries about the site from all over the world. This has the opportunity to be something very special.
A huge thank you to the Dunwoody North Civic Association blog for putting this video out there. That site is one of the best sources for news about North Dekalb County — whether online or off.
(1) A relatively small minority of people are responsible for a majority of government bureaucracy and regulation. The Doraville requirement to register and pay a security deposit to conduct a yard sale exemplifies government regulation necessitated by some people’s lack of simple common sense or laziness and lack of respect for their neighbors. The household at 3563 Stewart Road recently advertised a yard sale by duct taping signs to highway traffic signs. The advertising signs were left up after the sale was over, the paper signs becoming rags in the recent rains. The real problem as the need for regulation however, was that the duct tape damaged every one of the signs it was applied to. This household ought to be charged for the replacement of every sign damaged by the duct tape. At about $50 a pop that’s a pretty penny, but I’d guess the household didn’t even register nor was cited.
(2) On another note, I went to Tower Liquor early New Year’s Eve to pick up some Gran Marnier after deciding to christen 2008 as the year of the Cosmo. The place was electric with activity and the collection of sales and alcohol taxes. Modifying our $50 billion a year war on drugs by replacing the prohibition of soft drugs with regulation, taxation, education and treatment is in order, given drug are as cheap and plentiful as ever.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/17438347/how_america_lost_the_war_on_drugs
Old ladies are not pushed down and their purses taken for money to buy a bottle of Chardonnay, the mafia is not operating stills, and I’ve never heard of the US military assisting in the interdiction of truckloads of tequila in Latin America.
(3) Have you seen the two new homes under construction on formerly vacant land on the southwest corner of Aztec Road and Chestnut Drive, the only corner at that intersection that is not within Doraville limits? Without even considering interior trim level that can escalate price, I anticipate the smaller of the two will list at $400,000 and the larger at over $500,000. The construction, especially given its initiation in a weak housing market, clearly demonstrates our areas potential. I doubt the development would have occurred or be at the level it appears it will be without the townhomes on Chestnut.
Happy New Year
Is anyone knowledgeable as to what is likely happen to the GM Plant’s assessed property value for property tax purposes after plant operations cease and the property sits idle?
I suppose GM could seek a reduction in appraised value if plant tooling and fixtures of a size and scale that are included in the property’s value are removed or scrapped. GM could conceivably seek a decrease in assessed value based on the cost of remediating any environmental hazards left behind.
I think it difficult for the county to increase assessed value prior to sale, the property not being subject to comparable sales valuation (though there are state guidelines about the assessed value of unusual properties). My guess is that the appraised value stays the same over time as the property sits idle without being sold, less any immediate removal or devaluation of tooling.
General credit market trouble arising from subprime mortgage troubles probably have the commercial/industrial real estate market treading water. A frozen assessed value becomes a drag on the city budget as the value of other properties increases, even if only at the rate of inflation. Regardless of exact circumstances, a frozen assessed value will not adversely impact Doraville property tax revenue/millage rate in the near or medium terms, the city being able to adjust its budget over time if redevelopment/reuse is delayed, unless there is a substantial initial reduction in assessed value.
I hope Bonita Hoffmeister and others can get the DeKalb Police to help get the various restaurants and clubs in unincorporated DeKalb (and around Doraville) to follow the current laws, especially since Vernon Jones torpedoed some rule improvements last week. I don’t know if he’s behind this enforcement kick discussed in this article in the AJC, but whether it was him or his political enemies, more work like this would help protect workers and patrons at these establishments, and also help protect the neighborhoods around them.
On a side note, it was hard to refer to Vernon Jones (DeKalb Co. CEO) by name, after a few weeks of seeing him called “Snuggles” over at the PeachPundit.
It may be a poor time to raise a new subject, since we have another 3 weeks of campaigning ahead of us, and none of the remaining candidates are likely to make a big issue of it. But several candidates in the original election did exactly that, and while those candidates are defeated, there are several citizens who have raised this as a “serious issue” several times over the last two years, and have been successful in stopping a major development for at least a year or more. I certainly support stopping or changing development if it will harm the local or wider community, but in the materials and presentations I’ve seen, this project’s opponents haven’t made this case. I do not know what the specific complaints are about this development, and I would like to hear more valid problems. The issue I mention in the title of this post is one that I have further questions about.
Read the rest of this entry »
Apparently Halpern Enterprises, a shopping center outfit with a large presence in Doraville, redevelops if/when the environment is right!
Here’s an article from the AJC on line