The recent passage of Senate Bill 89 through the General Assembly all but annexes the 77-acre Legacy Park into Decatur along with 15 homes on Derrydown Way. What remains now is Governor Brian Kemp signing the bill, probably in the next few weeks. Though passed by the Senate in February, it didn’t clear the House until Friday morning four days before the final legislative session.
“The longer this went, the more you got the sense of danger of this being overlooked,” said City Manager Andrea Arnold. “I am very grateful for our representatives [Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, who introduced the bill and Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, chair of the DeKalb County House Delegation] seeing this through.”
With the former United Methodist Children’s Home property now within city limits, officials can begin creating a comprehensive development site plan, particularly regarding new housing on the property.
During last year’s master planning process many of the roughly 2500 community comments submitted expressed a need for “affordable” or “work force” housing. It remains to be seen how much control the city will have over potential affordable housing at Legacy. But during its March 18 meeting city commissioners approved a contract with consultants Cooper Carry to facilitate a planning process for potential affordable housing, including another round of community engagement.
The Legacy Park Master Plan, approved by commissioners last December, was intentionally vague on precise housing. Essentially a general guide for how to use the entire tract, the plan shows a north and south housing village, recommending that the north village get filled with single-family homes including cottage-type units, and the south with high-density structures like apartments and duplexes. All housing would be newly built.
About the Author
