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Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Is your home stuck between commercial growth and neighborhoods?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When country goes commercial, there are direct hits, and there are innocent bystanders.
In Snellville, a direct hit is Ga. 124.
North Road is an innocent bystander.
Ga. 124, also known as Scenic Highway - which elicits snickers these days - is a once-rural road intentionally sacrificed for strip malls, restaurants, big box stores and bumper-to-bumper traffic.
North Road has the misfortune of running parallel to Ga. 124. It is a residential street that in recent years has become a victim of the next-door development, its two lanes invaded daily by hundreds of motorists trying to avoid the commercial chaos.
In spots, its residential nature has given way to offices and the backs of Kroger, Home Depot and other stores. During the wee hours of the morning, tractor-trailer deliveries to those stores wake up nearby residents.
For many who live along North Road, the time to get out is now. But there’s a problem.
In most areas, the road remains under residential zoning. If homeowners sell under that zoning, they must sell it as a home, and they say no one will pay what their property is worth because of the traffic and nearby commercial environment. Interested buyers are mainly investors who pay low dollar for the homes, rent them out, and then - when the area eventually goes commercial or office/institutional - sell for a significant profit.
Homeowners — at least the large group of them who attended a meeting at Snellville City Hall on Monday — would rather sell directly to buyers who want the property for commercial enterprises.
That same day they submitted a petition to the city asking that the North Road area between Dogwood Road and Pharr Road be designated for commercial use on the city’s land use map. Some would like to see the commercial designation extend the entire length of North Road.
Joe Bell, a resident of North Road, is spearheading the drive. The petition has about 60 signatures on it, he said. He estimates there are about 120 homes along the road.
The meeting Monday night was an open house for the City of Snellville’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan, which includes guides for future land use. North Road issues dominated the comments from the standing room only crowd of about 150.
The tentative comprehensive plan unveiled on Monday currently calls for preserving the neighborhood quality along North Road, but adding traffic improvements, sidewalks and other changes. The exception is at the south end of the road, where the land can be used for office development.
Homeowners said they hope the petition will sway the council to change its land-use plan.
One thing is clear: North Road has become a priority issue for Snellville.
What do you think? What should happen when a neighborhood doesn’t want to be a neighborhood any more. What should be done for areas catching commercial runoff? What should happen to North Road?
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