Fresh Loaf

Five hours of comments and more than 100 concerned residents were ample enough reason for the Decatur Zoning Board of Appeals to indefinitely table a parking variance early Tuesday morning for a large mixed-use development proposed in the city.

JLB Partners has envisioned one- and two-bedroom apartments at 315 W. Ponce de Leon Road with streetfront retail. The proposed 218-unit development would rise from a parking lot and wrap around an existing 11-story office building.

At first glance and on paper, the proposal appears to be your typical smart growth development — the sensible combination of retail, office and resident that’s made Decatur such a walkable, desirable place to live. Tonight’s parking variance was necessary because the developers requested less spaces than zoning codes require for a development of its size. JLB Partners are banking on a nationally proven smart-growth concept called “shared parking” to remedy the situation — as well as allow them to both max out the land and save money on building a parking deck.

But residents of nearby neighborhoods say the development is too big, and that for all its merits, shared parking may not work in this little corner of the walkable world. Bittersweet about the city’s live-work-play popularity, the residents say the inevitable overflow of parking will ultimately burden side streets. On a larger scale, they fear it’ll negatively impact property values.

But tonight’s discussion dealt solely with the parking variance, and residents had plenty to add to the conversation that grew heated at times, but was civil by and large.

Kristin Allin, the co-owner of popular restaurant Cakes and Ale, said she’s already concerned by the lack of parking and its impact on her own and other businesses. Gil Rogers and his wife reside across from the development. He said he’s not opposed to shared parking — as a staff attorney for a nonprofit environmental law firm, he added, he’s championed smart growth long before it became a buzz word. He just fears the project would force people to park along the neighboring streets and that on a large scale, the development would ultimately drive down property values. Add to those voices the residents who weren’t eager to live in the shadow of a 35-foot-tall parking deck just as many feet from their property line, and you’ve got a number of people who say their ideas still haven’t been heard.

A consultant hired by Livable Growth Decatur to analyze the proposal said “the parking demands of the project will substantially exceed the capacity proposed.” He said the development would require 636 parking spaces, nearly double what JLB Partners proposes.

Jeff Davis, a 27-year resident of the nearby Great Lakes neighborhood, got all barrister on the proceedings and took issue with the developer’s application. He said the city’s ordinance that pertains to shared parking as written does not allow for such a use. If it approved the variance, he said, the board would be overstepping its authority as a judicial body and acting as a legislative body. He recommended the board dismiss the variance until the city commission could address the ordinance.

Several residents of 335 W. Ponce de Leon Road, a mixed-use condo building that abuts the proposed development, said they were worried excess parking would fill up their spaces. DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon’s one of them. Speaking as a resident, she said there was not sufficient public engagement in the process and that the board was on the verge of ruling on an issue that wasn’t an ordinance, but a concept, and therefore premature.

Before the board voted to table the issue, member David Goldberg rattled off even more questions that had been raised in the night’s discussion. JLB Partners and the city’s development authority say the project would help fill a void of affordable housing in the downtown area, a claim that many residents and board members found hard to swallow because of the estimated $1,400 monthly rent of a unit. Goldberg said affordable housing needed to be a part of future discussions, and ideas such as density bonuses or other incentives for builders should be explored. He and several other board members said the city should revamp its parking availability statistics, as many of the data is several decades old. Lastly, Goldberg said the frequent refrain that the process did not include enough public engagement held merit.

“Smart growth will not work if it doesn’t proceed with citizens engaged,” he said.

The larger issue, in this humble reporter’s opinion: Metro Atlanta’s transportation options still — still — require most people to own a car. And while transit-oriented development is the smartest move the region can make, it needs to piggyback on transit options that are actually expanding. The Decatur Board of Zoning Appeals can’t do anything about that. But hopefully the region’s leaders will. (The Transit Planning Board’s Concept3 plan comes to mind.)

Many of the residents and members of the zoning board and project planning team at tonight’s meeting raised important topics and issues, but they’re really too many to list at the moment. If any of them are reading this, I hope they accept my sincere apologies — and I say that without snark or sarcasm. But I’m crosseyed and really need to go ahead and pass out now. Much more on this to come as it’s an interesting look at a smart city that’s being faced with some complex questions — such as, how does it gracefully grow compact and make efficient use of space, all the while still respecting the homes and surrounding neighborhoods.

UPDATE: Decaturite at DecaturMetro adds some good details about the evening, including some of the specific citizen concerns. He also notes the board urged the developer to add to the site — bike racks, car-sharing programs such as Zip Car, etc. That’s one thing that needed to be mentioned: The Board of Zoning Appeals was very engaged and suggested some really interesting ideas about the project.

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Tags: 315 W. Ponce, Decatur, Decatur Court, Development, Green Atlanta, Shared Parking, Smart-Growth.