Bill Grossman, President, welcomed all Board Members and visitors.
Board Members in attendance were: Larry Adams, Stephen Barton, Kent Brooks, Robin Burch, Greg Crnkovich, Barbara Dodds, Tom Dwyer, Bob Fiscella, Bill Grossman, Susan Harper, Stacy Harris, Renate Herod, Gerri Penn, Bill Robinson, Al Tiede, Joe Tuttle, Howard Wescott, and Jean Williams.
Announcements – Candidates for the November 30th runoff were given an opportunity to speak briefly. Michael Rothenberg is in a runoff for DeKalb County Superior Court. Nancy Jester and Jim Redovian are in a runoff for the District 1 School Board position.
Approval of Minutes – The minutes for the October 3, 2010 Regular Board Meeting were approved unanimously.
Zoning and Related issues
- Georgetown Kroger – Coro Realty’s Paul Ludwig VP of Development for Coro spoke first. He said the team for the Kroger renovation is John Lundeen and Paul Ludwig of Coro and Kim Traylor and Arahn Hawkins of Kroger. The improvements will be made in the next 2 years. Arahn said the store opened in 1973 and showed us a rendition of the Parkaire renovation of which the Georgetown Kroger will have the look and feel. Kroger Corporate Office approved this renovation. Kim said they will be expanding into the Tuesday Morning space and will be increasing the space from 49,000 sq. ft. to 69,000 sq. ft. They will be relocating some interior cases, expanding to the left 100’ and the loading in the back, with a brand new pharmacy expanding perishable areas. When you walk in the store, you will see color and freshness. There will be LED lighting in the cases. There will be skylights. They are adding a 2nd floor for offices with an elevator. They are not sure if they will keep the store open during the renovation. They are bidding both ways so they don’t know how long it will take to complete yet. Adding additional space could make it easier to keep open. John said they are staining the brick to make it darker. Delivery patterns should not change. They are hoping to double their sales. Paul said the center is about 10.6 acres and they are using about 140,000 sq. ft. of it. He said the Kroger is currently under parked and is less than what is required by code of 5.5 spaces per 1,000 sq. ft. and they currently have less 4 per thousand and will be asking for 3.42 spaces per thousand. Besides downsizing the parking they will be reorienting the parking from 75 degrees to 90 degrees. They will be adding some green space tree islands, enhancing the streetscape along Chamblee Dunwoody Rd. with brick, concrete, and planting areas. They are asking the city to allow them to take down some existing trees which will allow them to put in more appropriate trees and bushes. They are going to try and match the Kroger façade for their towers through the center. They are addressing some of the sidewalks that are problematic. They are considering a pedestrian crossway but there are space limitations. They are putting up a new monument sign at the entrance and they are checking out the new sign ordinance for their signage. Tenant signage will remain the same for existing businesses. Susan Harper asked if they are planning to do anything with the 285 ground sign. John Lundeen said that it is a challenge since the current height is 60’ and the new ordinance allows for 12’. They are adding a turn lane on Chamblee Dunwoody. They are also going to ask GA DOT if they can remove the fence that runs along their 285 border and they will be putting landscaping along there. They will need 9 different variances that will be heard at the January ZBA meeting. Variances will requests will include the open space, landscaping issues, and parking.
- Chik Fil A - The Chik Fil A representatives were Gerta Thomason, with CFA Development, Ralph Davia with Greyden Engineering, and Marianne McCabe with CFA Real Estate. Gerta said the CFA heard numerous comments about needing a new store in Dunwoody. They have been looking into this for the past 10 years. The owner of the shopping center offered them the opportunity to locate their store there. About 10%-15% of the patrons at the Sandy Springs store would go to the new Dunwoody store. This store would have 104 interior seats and 40-50 exterior seats. There would be an interior children’s playground and they would have landscaping. They would double stack cars for ordering with a single window pick up. They will have 22-25 cars that will stack. CFA was voted the fastest drive thru from order to pick up of 1 minute. It will be an all brick building and the dumpster won’t be visible. Their deliveries will be in non peak hours. Signage will conform to the codes. The tenants of the center hope that CFA will bring in customers. They need a lease agreement that will allow for cross parking. They need another 30-35 spaces. Greg is concerned about traffic during the peak hours and does think that is conducive to that intersection. Fran asked what the number trips per day for the drive thru are. They will have to get back to us with that information. They did say that 50% per cent of their business is drive thru. They were asked if they were aware of the fact that this is zoned NS, Neighborhood Shopping, and they said they were not aware of that initially. This would require a rezoning to C1. They were asked if CFA has any non drive thru restaurants. They said they have only a few and this location would not be considered for a non drive thru restaurant. Bob Lundsten does not support this because this does not comply with our newly adopted Comprehensive Land Use Plan. He also pointed out that C1 zoning could allow for a car lot there.
Community Affairs
- Candidate Forum Oct. 26th review – Bill G. said it started and ended on time and went smoothly. He thanked Judge C. J. Becker.
- LUD – Renate said it will be held on Nov. 21 at 4:30 p.m. with the parade starting at the DHA office and moving onto the Dunwoody Village Parkway to the Farmhouse. They will have the PCMS band and a fire truck. Santa will be on the front porch of the farmhouse. They will have cookie decorating and balloon sculpture. The police will be collecting toys. They will also have caroling and will give out souvenir booklets with the lyrics of the carols. The tree lighting will be at 6 p.m. and then people can go to the Nature Center for cocoa.
- Chamber’s Dunwoody Music Festival review – Bill Grant said it went great and they had 10,000 people in attendance over the weekend. They decided to continue it annually. It will be two days and they will move it 3 weeks earlier. They may have less musical groups. They broke even and did make donations to PCMS and DHS music programs. They will also have to address the holes in the fence at Brook Run as some people got to the festival through those holes without paying.
- Code Enforcement Update – Gerri reported that Code Enforcement did a sweep of the Camden Apartments on Peachford Dr. and found that it was very well maintained. They met with management from the Two Blocks complex to review their progress from the previous sweep. They thanked CE for the sweep which found an exterior pipe that was not connected to the sprinkler. One apartment recently had a grease fire and the sprinkler system went off because of the CE inspection.
Messages from the President
Membership mailing – Bill G. reported that the mailings went out to the 30360 and 30338 zip codes. We will know in January how well we are doing. Our annual meeting is January 9, 2011 at 2 p.m. at Dunwoody United Methodist Church.
Board Only discussion
- Bill Robinson explained how the officers rotate on the Executive Board and announced the nominees for the two open positions. They are Larry Adams and Greg Crnkovich. The Board voted to accept the nominees with a unanimous vote.
- Joyce thought the new city logo and brand are awful. Bill G. said that DHA was not associated with the choice of the brand and logo. Robin said that the City mailing was in our envelope and they used the new logo/brand. Bill said he prefers that we not get involved in this battle.
- Bill G. felt there is no need to vote on Kroger or Chil Fil A yet. Stacy brought up the fact that the Dark Sky Ordinance has been passed and that Kroger needs to comply.
The meeting was adjourned