In 2005, when Sandy Springs became a city, Mayor Eva Galambos and Councilman Tibby DeJulio sold us on cityhood for several reasons: Fulton County was neglecting us and forcing unfair zoning decisions upon us. Our quality of life was being squandered.
So we formed our own city, elected representatives and went about making years of needed improvements. The city has been recognized for it.
Eight years later, you can often tell where Sandy Springs city limits are due to the pavement alone. But our zoning decisions are looking more and more like Fulton County’s. Businesses often trump tax-paying residents. Increasing tax revenues trumps protecting our quality of life.
It’s too bad we can’t see the future to foresee consequences of actions taken today. Our elected representatives often wear blinders. Dangerous precedents are set based only on the present situation, not how they will impact our future. At nearly every zoning hearing, I hear attorneys cite previous decisions that created precedents they believe now condone their requests.
The Gateway proposal would replace 436 apartments with 630, plus add seven buildings of commercial space. This density is way over our Comprehensive Land Use Plan and required review by the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, or GRTA.
GRTA ruled our current infrastructure can’t handle this density, so it conditioned its approval on several things, including relocating the intersection of Windsor Parkway and Roswell Road north of its current location. And since JLB Partners/Core Properties, the Gateway developer, does not have enough required parking for its commercial space, it is asking for a parking variance.
The development will benefit the city because it:
* Replaces aging apartments with upscale ones.
* Likely reduces crime in the area.
* Reduces the number of students attending High Point schools.
* Adds restaurants and shopping in walking distance of residences.
All of these benefit Sandy Springs residents, unless you live in an apartment slated for demolition.
The development’s unintended consequences are that it:
* Adds 8,554 weekday trips and 10,374 Saturday trips to our overloaded stretch of Roswell Road, mainly due to the commercial space.
* Sets dangerous precedents on building height, density and parking.
* Necessitates a multi-million-dollar relocation of Windsor Parkway at Roswell Road. This takes land from residents and severely impacts several existing businesses, and cannot possibly allow an additional 8,000 to 10,000 cars without a reduction in our traffic flow.
JLB has made several compromises with its residential neighbors. We heartily thank them. But the “unintended consequences” of allowing precedents on building height, density and inadequate parking will haunt us for years to come. This development is welcome — but at a lowered density that will not create gridlock, overflow parking onto residential streets, and ruin the quality of life we all moved here for.
Jane Kelley is president of the Windsor Park Community Association. This article, reprinted with her permission, first appeared in Sandy Springs Patch.
