DoraBlog

Just when we thought that we might start to see some positive growth in the city with the new council, a waste disposal company (the one that handles Doraville’s garbage pick-up) has proposed making an area near the tank farms into a dump — literally. Planning committee member, Stuart Anderson, has been circulating a petition to prevent this dump from coming to Doraville (he is doing this outside of his capacity on the planning committee. Here’s a statement he sent me about the coming fight, along with some information about how you can get involved:

I’m not coming to you as a planning commissioner; requests and comments are my own.

For the last several years and before I became a planning commissioner; I’ve been aware of the security and numerous other difficulties presented by increased truck traffic that the “temporary” transfer station and other roll back demolition dumpster services represent to the city. And to the petroleum services businesses in the Woodwin Rd., Winters Chapel, Flowers Rd. area.

There has recently been a proposal for a raw garbage “processing” facility to be allowed to operate on Winters Chapel; in the tank farm; adding the traffic burden of full size compacter and larger garbage trucks; from three or more cities.

I have it from more than one source that the smell of this business would wander into other neighborhoods as well, but would for the most part prevail into the Winters Chapel, Chicopee, Homeland neighborhood.

The restrictive re-zoning of permitted businesses in the proposed M2-P area would address the above raw garbage dump, [that could be granted with a variance btw] but would, more importantly set a higher bar for incompatible businesses; setting up shop in an area, where a very current and sensitive group of products are being managed and distributed from.

Discussions are on going with the association of petroleum industries and the High Tower School.

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I ask for your participation in the citizen’s petition portion of this effort

Download the petition here. You can print it out, sign it, and get it back to Stuart. You can drop it off for him at city hall or e-mail him at psycleracing@hotmail.com to ask about the best way to drop it off.

This is an important issue and the residents of this city need to start rallying now in order to prevent what could turn out to be a really harmful development.

Update: Earlier today, Donna Pittman sent me this e-mail on the issue:

Hello Joseph once again I just want to make a correction Advanced Disposal has not come to Council nor the City with any sort of formal proposal about a relocation of there transfer station or dump. They did contact various council members asking our opinion and did show us a site on Winters Chapel about relocating but did not get a good feeling from the council and said he was not going to pursue at this time.

There is no where allowed in Doraville for solid waste so it would have to come before the council for a zoning change and as said before the council did not seem favorable for this also it would require public hearings before this could even begin to take place thanks for your asistance.

Update (Mar 7, 2008): Stuart sent me another e-mail in response to Donna Pittman:

You make my point Donna; this was a multi faceted proposal for a raw garbage processing operation; there were two or three different ways proposed to make this happen.

This is not about a proposed garbage processing facility as much as it is about a re-zoning to keep this
from happening in the future; since this was not a formal agenda item and not denied, it is still a possible
agenda by some.

This re-zoning is foremost for the security of the city as well as the petroleum industries located in our tank farm facility.

I supported initiation of traffic signal photo enforcement at the Buford Hwy/Motors Parkway/I-285 intersections given the accident experience. Is anyone aware of any report or study examining the effectiveness of photo enforcement of reducing accidents at those intersections?

Doraville’s photo enforcement likely generates considerable revenue. I write to suggest that the city considering using some of its traffic safety photo enforcement revenue to install pedestrian crosswalk signals at these intersections. These are the only signalized Buford Highway intersections between Chamblee Tucker and Oakcliff Road not equipped with crosswalk signals, and are perhaps the most dangerous! The circumstances at these intersections are particularly problematic for pedestrians in ways beyond the two identified below.

(1) Buford Highway is up to 8 lanes wide (100 feet) at these intersections. The duration of cross-Buford Highway traffic green signal phases are such that pedestrians that begin to cross when the signal first turns green may not be able to complete their crossing before the green signal changes. For those that may not be aware, one of the reasons for push button crosswalk signal requests is to establish a combined “Walk”/Flashing “Don’t Walk” signal phase of a duration that enables pedestrians that begin crossing on a “Walk” signal to be able to safely complete crossing before a vehicle signal phase change occurs. (Word to the wise—if there’s a button use it. Otherwise the green you started to walk on can change to yellow in as few as three seconds!)

(2) The numerous protected left (left green arrow) turns limit the time available to pedestrians to cross given that three of four crosswalks are subject to highway traffic during these signal phases. What’s more, these green arrow left signal’s locations in the middle of the road are not very if at all visible to pedestrians.

I further suggest the city consider using traffic safety revenue from the photo enforcement to install additional pedestrian signals at other signalized Buford Highway intersections in Doraville. All other signalized intersections excepting one located between Chamblee Tucker and Oakcliff Roads exclusive are equipped with only one signalized crosswalk, though there may be two Buford Highway crosswalks at the intersections. Pedestrians crossing a such non-crosswalk- signal crossings are crossing on the green phase which as described above may be of insufficient duration to effect complete crossing before a phase change.

As information, I’m initiating communication with GDOT about signalization of the Buford Highway crosswalks. There’s a very good case for GDOT to signalize the crosswalks at the I 285 interchange, but I’m almost certain GDOT would not signalize the others without local matching funds. A package of improvements whereby GDOT funds signalization of the crosswalks at the I 285 interchange, all the legs of which cross state routes, combined with Doraville and perhaps DeKalb County bearing the much of the cost of the other crosswalk signalizations seems reasonable.