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News
… Past News
… December 2004
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DHA's
President Report
By Ken Wright, President,
Dunwoody Homeowners
Association, Inc.
Dunwoody is a community
we all are proud of.
The DHA, along with
its thousands of members,
strongly believe it
is a community worth
fighting for.
Fantastic community
events like the Fourth
of July parade and
Light up Dunwoody
that the DHA sponsors
every year help build
the character and
feel of this wonderful
area we know as Dunwoody.
Unfortunately, it
is not all fun and
games. The DHA has
to deal head on with
serious issues Dunwoody
faces every year.
This past year the
DHA community volunteers
have dealt with a
host of difficult
issues (pun intended).
Development issues
often took center
stage. The DHA realizes
that developments
have a tremendous
impact on our community,
our schools, our quality
of life and our investments
as homeowners. Our
goal in dealing with
developments is to
craft ideas and negotiations
whose end result will
best meet the goal
of “best case”
community impact and
protection of our
community and homes.
On the residential
side the DHA has used
Fulton and DeKalb
County land use plans
to help in our fight
to keep high density
development away from
residential Dunwoody.
The DHA has been working
with Commissioners
in DeKalb County to
change current zoning
that allows five story
residential (read
apartments and/or
condominiums) in parcels
zoned O&I. This
law has the potential
to turn residential
Dunwoody upside down.
Under current law,
low profile office
buildings that adjoin
many neighborhoods
could be turned into
five story apartments,
overnight, with no
public input. In fact,
this amounts to a
zoning change without
requiring the developer
to defend it before
the public and through
proper channels for
rezoning requests.
The DHA is working
hard to change this
law.
Dunwoody’s
Perimeter Center area
is a different story.
Perimeter Center is
the largest business
district in Metro
Atlanta and one of
the largest in the
Southeast. It has
more office space
than downtown Atlanta,
Buckhead and Midtown
combined. While most
parcels in this area
already allow for
high density residential,
the DHA has worked
diligently to find
a better solution.
The DHA’s stance
regarding redevelopment
of the former BellSouth
buildings near Perimeter
Mall is a good example.
Instead of thousands
of apartments as some
government organizations
wanted to see, the
DHA worked with Sembler
Company to craft an
area that has sixteen
restaurants, some
condos and apartments,
large walkways, streetscapes,
and an anchor, Super
Target, which would
make this idea a reality.
The end result will
be an extremely nice
development that all
Dunwoody residents
can enjoy. Experts
call this "Live,
Work, Play" and
describe how it reduces
the impact on traffic;
practically, they
point to it as a smart,
well thought out,
groundbreaking mixed-use
model for other developments
in Atlanta.
Realism is an important
part of what the DHA
has to deal with day
in and day out. Reality
is that this land
could have been thousands
of apartments, thousands
of square feet of
additional commercial
real estate, or something
else. Instead, the
DHA saw something
else as the best fit
for all of Dunwoody.
The Perimeter Center
area will continue
to be redeveloped,
and the DHA plans
to have a strong voice
in how this happens.
We want to be involved
in crafting and molding
what will be built.
Therefore, the DHA
works very closely
with developers, governmental
bodies, elected officials,
and the Perimeter
Center Improvement
District (PCID) to
assure our voice is
heard.
In addition to these
two Perimeter Center
developments, the
DHA has been heavily
involved with countless
additional projects
and issues this past
year. Each in its
own way impacted the
citizens of Dunwoody.
Please come join us
for our annual meeting
to get a recap of
DHA’s accomplishments
in 2004 and predictions
for 2005, and learn
more about PCID, Brook
Run Park, City of
Sandy Springs, Fourth
of July parade and
Light up Dunwoody.
Dunwoody
Homeowners Association
Annual Meeting
Sunday January 23rd
2:00 PM
Dunwoody United Methodist
Church
Fellowship Hall
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