Decatur - Avondale MARTA Station Study
Livable Centers
Initiative
Final Report
December 2002
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Final Report
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Table of Contents
Executive
Summary
Introduction
Study Area
Characteristics
Public
Involvement and Issue Identification
Recommendations
Appendix
Decatur City Commission
Bill Floyd, Mayor
Jim Baskett,
Mayor Pro Tem
Fred Boykin, Commissioner
Kecia Cunningham,
Commissioner
Mary Alice Kemp, Commissioner
Peggy Merriss, City
Manager
Hugh Saxon, Assistant City Manager
Lyn Menne, Community &
Economic Development
Rob LeBeau, Atlanta Regional Commission
JJG Project Team
Gary Cornell, Client Manager
Ellen Keys, Project Manager
Brandi
Alvarez
Aaron Fortner
Jeanne Hill
Heidi Chapman
Jonathan
Lewis
Jeff Smith
Brad Jones
Chip Cannon
Geoff Boyd
Tim
Mills
Jordan Jones &
Goulding
Patty Formosa, Gibbs Planning Board
Livable Centers Program Goals
The Decatur Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) is an exciting plan that builds upon the success of the City's ongoing revitalization efforts. In February 2002, the Atlanta Regional Commission awarded a LCI grant to the City of Decatur (City) to produce a comprehensive master plan that would assist the community in reaching its goals while maintaining its leadership and small town character. The City hired Jordan, Jones & Goulding (JJG), in partner with Gibbs Planning Group, to assist with the development of the plan. The goals of the Decatur LCI are:
To conduct a transportation enhancement study to create a circulation system that encourages pedestrians, bicyclists, and alternative modes of transportation
The Avondale MARTA station is at the heart of this study area. The City used this chance to further define the quality and character of its community while creating a new neighborhood centered around the MARTA station.
Public Involvement
The Decatur LCI public involvement
effort was geared towards providing opportunities for citizen input while
generating dialogue, enthusiasm, and excitement for the future of the
community. The strategy for public involvement in Decatur was rooted in the
belief that, in order to empower citizens, specific and relevant information
must be provided to them. This facilitated the creation of meaningful input;
because citizens gained a thorough understanding of the issues, options and,
consequently, the difficult choices facing them. By communicating their
concerns and desires to the project team, citizens helped educate JJG staff on
issues connected to the study.
Public involvement in the Decatur LCI included a kickoff meeting, three roundtable meetings, a design workshop and an open house. A supportive public awareness campaign was launched including posters, postcards and information web site. One of the driving elements of the public involvement process was the creation of a new identity for the study area. Throughout the process, participants were asked to vote on their favorite neighborhood name. The new community of Columbia Park was officially created as a result of the voting. The 5-day design workshop held in August 2002, was the cornerstone of the public involvement effort. The workshop employed a "hands-on" approach that resulted in key elements of the plan. The key elements are the Columbia Park master plan, the MARTA plaza plan, the transportation improvement plan and a green space plan. Workshop participants were charged with aiding in the implementation of the plan by becoming "plan champions." Public meetings were well attended and provided a wealth of information to the study team.
Transportation Improvements
A critical element of the
LCI program is the implementation of projects that promote the livability of a
community. Using a consensus approach, the community compiled a list of
transportation projects that they believe will help their City achieve this
goal. College Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through the area. As such, it
is to receive an emphasized streetscape treatment on the southside, with wide
sidewalks and a street furniture zone with street trees to serve as a buffer
between the large volumes and high speed of the traffic. The second most vital
street to the area will be the new Main Street that is created through the
existing MARTA surface parking lot. This street will be a neighborhood
commercial street with on-street parking, wide sidewalks, street trees and
active commercial uses located adjacent to the sidewalks. The purpose of this
street is to serve as the primary retail draw to the area; and, as such, it
will be the vibrant heart of the village center. Lastly, the new neighborhood
streets must incorporate significant traffic calming elements including narrow
travel lanes, street trees, sidewalks, cross walks and bulb-outs to ensure
that traffic moves efficiently, yet slowly, through the Columbia Park
neigh-borhood. All of these transportation improvements together form the
framework to ensure that all future development is neighborhood-oriented and
accessible.
Next Steps
The newly
formed Columbia Park community takes implementing the plan as seriously as
composing the plan itself. These newly empowered citizens understand that
their competitiveness as a new urban center depends on the capacity of the
community to implement the plan. The Columbia Park community is committed to
assisting its local officials in establishing priorities, forming
partnerships, building consensus, securing funding and continually evaluating
the plan.
Study Scope
The City of Decatur undertook this Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) Study to build on previous successes in revitalizing the Decatur MARTA Station and an old commercial core. In many respects, this study represents the culmination of over 20 years of community effort. In comparison, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) LCI program is relatively new, but its goals and purpose, as explained below, complement the existing goals of the community.
The purpose of this study is to provide an action plan for redeveloping the Avondale MARTA Station. The boundaries of the study area are illustrated in Figure 1-1, and the next chapter of this report provides a summary analysis of the area. This analysis looks at the area's land use characteristics, demographics, transportation infrastructure, and urban design elements. Following the analysis of existing conditions, this report provides a description of the public involvement process that was undertaken as part of this planning effort. The report outlines the real and perceived issues identified by the community, and it describes the products of a 1 1/2 day design workshop that was the key process in determining the overall vision for the community. Finally, the report provides detailed recommendations as to how to make this community vision a reality. These recommendations include:
The last section of this report includes a description of how the plan addresses the LCI goals.
 | |
Overview of the Livable Center Initiative
The ARC Board adopted policies in the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) proposal in May 1999, to provide funding for investment studies and transportation projects located in activity and town centers in the region. This program of studies and projects has become known as the Livable Centers Initiative. The focus of the program is to encourage increased residential development, mixed uses and connectivity in activity and town centers. The study also defines detailed plans that support the adopted policy of the Regional Development Plan (RDP) to encourage activity and town center development.
Livable Centers Initiative Program
The ARC Board approved an allocation of $5 million over 5
years to fund the LCI program. The program funds studies that are awarded on a
competitive basis to local governments and nonprofit sponsors, such as
Transportation Management Associations (TMAs), for producing plans to define
future center development strategies and supporting public and private
investments. The Decatur LCI Study was awarded to the City as part of the
third round or third year of the 5-year program. The ARC Board also approved
an allocation of $350 million for priority funding of projects resulting from
Livable Centers Initiative studies. The funds are awarded based on separate
evaluation criteria and processes established by the ARC. Local implementation
of LCI study recommendations, including innovative land use strategies, will
be a primary factor in determining investment awards.
Livable Centers Program Goals
The LCI program provides a source
of funds for planning studies of activity and town centers in the Atlanta
region. The program is intended to provide an implementation tool for policies
of the RDP. In support of the RDP policies, the goals of the LCI program are
listed below:
An evaluation of how this study addresses these goals can be found in the "Recommendations" section of this report.
Best Land Use Management Practices
The following practices or policies
outlined in ARC's Regional Development Plan are intended to be a guide for
future regional growth through land use decision processes as they relate to
transportation, environmental and other public investment decisions in a
manner that shapes growth appropriately and protects existing stable areas of
the region.
While these policies were formulated to address regional impacts, they are excellent guiding principles and are applicable to the study area. Because Decatur has several redevelopment parcels available near the Avondale MARTA Station, these policies are particularly well suited to aid in managing growth in the coming years.
Study Methodology
To meet these LCI goals and to develop a plan that utilizes the Best Management practices, the project was divided into three primary tasks. Figure 1-2 shows the project schedule. Those three tasks included:
The planning process placed a strong emphasis on public participation. Community involvement was a key element of each of the tasks listed above. Six public meetings were held throughout the formulation of the Master Plan including:
The "Public Involvement and Issue Identification" chapter of this report describes this effort in greater detail.
Figure 1-2
| Phase | May | June | July | August | September | October | November |
| Public Outreach | Kickoff Meeting | ||||||
| Data Gathering | Roundtable Meeting | Roundtable Meeting | |||||
| Community Design & Analysis | Design Charrette | Roundtable Meeting | |||||
| Development of Recommendations | Open House |
Note: Steering Committee Meetings will take place on a monthly basis throughout the project schedule. The Stakeholder Interviews will take place during the Data Gathering Phase.
Background
"The government and the market are not enough to make a civilization…There must also be a…space in which bonds of community can flourish." -- Senator Bill Bradley
The United States is the first nation to grow at amazingly low densities across the American landscape. For the latter half of the previous century, most Americans have lived, worked and shopped in separate areas; and we have entered a new century with nearly all of our population living on the landscape we call suburbia. One of the reasons Americans chose to spread out goes back to our pioneer beginnings when everyone's dream was a house surrounded by wide open spaces. The advent of the automobile kept us extremely mobile and allowed us to live a considerable distance from where we worked. No longer did business and industry need to locate near the railroad station. The car has become a significant part of our collective culture and individual identity. The joy of driving, however, is not what it used to be; and our inclination to spread out and to rely on the car for our mobility has left us with a number of unintended consequences.
Not only
did the car allow us to work in one part of the region and live in another, it
also spurred the notion of separating uses -- that is separating residential
properties from retail and retail from industrial and so on. Over the past 20
years, however, these places we have created have lost their appealing glow
and in many ways have become their own worst enemy. Today, as the hard
infrastructure itself is deteriorating, the traffic congestion, the
inefficiency, and the visual blight of these places are leading to a loss of a
competitive edge. However, these decaying places are perfect candidates for
redevelopment. We generally think of redevelopment as an activity that occurs
in an old historic downtown. But suburban greyfield redevelopment provides a
number of opportunities for the communities in which they are located. While
these declining developments may, at first blush, appear to be eyesores, they
represent a unique opportunity for communities wishing to protect existing
greenspace and to reuse existing infrastructure. The challenge lies in
transforming outdated infrastructure to meet today's needs.
People are drawn to places that make them feel good and reflect their own personal value system. That is why a "man's home is his castle." People arrange the interior and exterior of their homes so that they feel good, so that they feel safe, and so that their homes reflect something about them as individuals.
There is
also another important factor in drawing people to a particular place and that
is other people. Human beings are exceptionally social creatures who strive to
connect with one another. Unfortunately, many of our outdated shopping centers
miss the mark on both fronts. They have been designed primarily for the
convenience of the automobile, hence they are not conducive to pedestrians, at
least on the exterior. They are devoid of any character or sense of community.
And, as they reach their period of decline, they attract fewer and fewer
people.
To breathe economic life back into shopping corridors or dying industrial areas, communities across the country are examining ways to turn these areas into true destinations, places that encourage walking, that make transportation difficulties less onerous, places that foster a more enjoyable and convenient experience. To do that, they are looking back in history at a time when cities and towns took great pride and care of their public spaces…courthouse squares, plazas, and the town green. They are taking these simple elements and creating a town center, often out of the massive surface parking lots. They are putting the needs of people before cars by ensuring that the street and sidewalk network provide a pleasant pedestrian environment where people can actually cross the street on foot to visit another retail establishment. They are combining retail with residential uses, offices, and entertainment to create a true place, a "here here" that is no longer an anonymous strip shopping center or industrial park. And they are doing this with remarkable success. They are finding that by creating unique character and sense of place they are able to reap the benefits of greater visitation, higher rents, larger retail sales, and stronger real estate transactions.
Much of the LCI area is, in fact, lightindustrial in character. Industrial properties line the streets of the LCI area, and many of these properties are becoming increasingly underutilized. In addition, there are a growing number of industrial properties being purchased as real estate investments to turn these properties into mixed-use, commercial and/or residential developments.
The
industrial and institutional development within the LCI area has served the
adjacent communities for years. When most of the industrial uses were built,
they provided needed light industrial opportunities to Decatur. However, time,
growth, changes in tastes, buying habits, and decay have decreased some of the
area's usefulness. The area cannot continue to be the same type of industrial
area that it once was. For the Decatur LCI area to continue to be viable and
sustainable into the future, a new archetype must be employed. It needs to
evolve and redevelop into a human scale, pedestrian-friendly destination -- a
place with a character all its own; a different kind of place than it was
before, into the kind of place that the people of the community will want to
spend their time.
The improvements that must be made within the area have to be undertaken simultaneously on multiple fronts -- economic, design, community involvement, and transportation. Primarily, the corridor must be a place people want to be. People want to be in places that are attractive, active, safe, and most importantly, that have some economic purpose to exist. Creating a place that fulfills an economic purpose is what defines any place as a destination unto itself. The Decatur LCI area needs to be transformed into a true destination in order to successfully redevelop.
Transportation, economics and urban design are all critical components of the redevelopment of any area. A trend is beginning in city redevelopment that is transforming declining shopping center districts into viable town centers and declining industrial areas into vibrant "live/work" districts. Much of the infrastructure is already in place, and these sites are usually good fits based on transportation/transit accessibility, location advantages for housing, and enough space to create a truly functioning activity center.
The JJG team feels that the communities that proactively adopt a new way of thinking about how to redevelop these areas will be the frontrunners over the next decade of communities that are economically successful and are known as special and inviting destinations around the country.
Transportation
The transportation network serving the study area is relatively adequate in terms of serving the quantitative travel demand in the area. The area includes rail and bus transit, sidewalks, and roadway capacity -- a relatively strong mix of transportation choices. The roadway network experiences some congestion during peak times; however, the peak periods are relatively short and infrequent. Bus and rail service accommodate accessibility to a large geographic area. Sidewalks are provided along most primary thoroughfares. There are no major problem areas related to traffic flow in the area.
The network can, however, stand to be improved greatly. Sidewalks are incomplete and uninviting, roadways do not provide connectivity through the study area, and traffic flow can be improved. The transportation-related recommendations of this study have the main purpose of supporting the study's recommendations as they relate to land -- use and development at and around the MARTA Station.
Avondale MARTA Station
The focal point of the study area
is the MARTA rail station. The station platform can be accessed from the north
and south side of the track -- E. College Ave. on the south and Ponce de Leon
Ave. and Sycamore St. on the north. The station is somewhat disconnected and
seemingly uninviting to the adjacent neighborhood. Connectivity to the station
entrances is hindered by the proliferation of fences and other obstacles that
force pedestrians to travel circuitous routes to and from the station.
Parking at Station
The MARTA station is served by two
parking lots with a total capacity of 1,098 spaces. One lot is located on the
south side of the station and one on the north side (outside study area). The
north lot is consistently filled to capacity while the south lot is usually
only filled at half of its capacity -- usually around 52%. Access to the south
lot is provided via driveways onto E. College Ave. and Sams St.
| 18-July Thursday | 24-July Wednesday | 30-July Tuesday | Spaces Available | % Full | |
| DFCS | 184 | 177 | 149 | 356 | 52% |
| MARTA (north) | 232 | 237 | 231 | 237 | 98% |
| MARTA (south) | 261 | 240 | 245 | 505 | 52% |
Bus
Service
The MARTA station is served by nine bus routes; 2 - Ponce De Leon, 8 -
North Druid Hills, 36 - North Decatur, 75 -- Tucker, 96 - Snapfinger/ Wesley
Chapel, 120 - Stone Mountain, 121 - Mountain Industrial District, 122 - DeKalb
College, and 125 -- Chamblee. Of the nine, three access the south side of the
station and therefore are within the study area; 96, 122, and 125.
E. College Avenue
The corridor serves as the northern
boundary of the study area and is approximately 0.5 miles in length. E.
College Ave. is an urban minor arterial and serves as U.S. Route 278 and State
Route 10. The corridor consists of two westbound lanes and two eastbound lanes
between S. Columbia and Sams St.
The travel lane widths are typically 12 ft and the median/turn lane is 20 ft wide. The posted speed is 35 mph. Signals are located at the intersections of Sams Crossing/Katie Kerr, S. Columbia and Sams St. Based on Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) data, the 2000 Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) volume is 18,160. Parking is restricted the entire length of the corridor.
MARTA bus routes 122 and 123 serve the corridor.
The MARTA rail line, trees, utilities, steep slopes, and structures are all located very close to the roadway -- usually very close to the back of curb. Widening the roadway/moving curbs would be very problematic/expensive.
Curb cuts are somewhat numerous and problematic. There are very few curb cuts on the north side of the road. The few curb cuts access parcels on the northwest corner of Sams Crossing and E. College Ave. and do not generate a large volume of traffic.
Commerce Dr./S. Columbia Dr.
This corridor serves as the western
boundary of the study area. It extends from its intersection with E. College
Ave. on the north down to its intersection with Katie Kerr Dr. in the
southwest corner of the study area -- approximately 0.87 miles.
The short section of Commerce Dr. (approximately ¼ mile) in the study area consists of two northbound lanes and two southbound lanes. The length of the majority of the corridor has a consistent cross section that consists of one northbound lane and one southbound lane south of the Commerce Dr./S. Columbia Dr. intersection. Dedicated left turn lanes are provided at the signalized intersections.
The travel lanes are typically 12 ft wide. The posted speed throughout the corridor is 45 mph. Signals are located at the intersections with E. College Ave., Derrydown Way, and Katie Kerr Dr. Based on GDOT data, the 2000 AADT is 13,740. Commerce Dr./S. Columbia Dr. serves as a collector (Dekalb Transportation Plan) and is not a state route.
The corridor is served by MARTA bus route 96.
Trees, utilities, and structures are all located very close to the roadway -- usually very close to the back of curb. Widening the roadway and moving the curbs would be very problematic and expensive. Residential curb cuts are numerous, serving the single-family residential uses along the entire length.
Arcadia Ave./Katie Kerr Dr.
This corridor serves as the eastern
and southern boundary of the study area. It extends from the intersection with
E. College Ave. on the north down to where it ends at the intersection with S.
Columbia Dr. in the southwest corner of the study area -- approximately 1.06
miles. The corridor has a consistent cross section that consists of two
northbound lanes and two southbound lanes.
The travel lanes are typically 12 ft wide. The posted speed throughout the corridor is 35 mph. Based on GDOT data, the 2000 AADT is 6,261. Arcadia Ave./Katie Kerr Dr. serves as a collector and is not a state route.
Trees, utilities, and structures are all located very close to the roadway -- usually very close to the back of curb. Widening the roadway and moving the curbs would be very problematic and expensive.
Derrydown Way
Derrydown Way is a local
residential street traversing the study area, east to west, from S. Columbia
Dr. to E. College Ave., approximately 0.58 miles. The street is predominantly
lined with single-family residential. A small portion of the street has
townhome-type uses.
The roadway is typically 32 ft wide. The posted speed throughout the corridor is 25 mph, but excessive speeding is a problem. Signals are located at the intersection of S. Columbia Dr.
Trees, utilities, and structures are all located very close to the roadway -- usually very close to the back of curb. Widening the roadway and moving the curbs would be very problematic and expensive.
Other Internal Local Streets
This includes Tally St., Sams St.,
New St., Weeks St., and Freeman St. These streets are located within the light
industrial area immediately adjacent to the southwest of the MARTA station.
They generally all share the same characteristics: most do not have sidewalks,
have low traffic volumes and speeds, and are between 18 to 25 ft in width.
Pedestrian Transportation
The pedestrian environment
throughout the study area is inadequate and does not attract "choice users."
Sidewalks are absent throughout much of the district. Along the narrower, less-traveled, neighborhood streets this is not as much of a concern because pedestrians can share the roadways with other transportation modes. However, new developments must include sidewalks. This has been the method of development in downtown Decatur near the Square. The MARTA station property also has sidewalks, but these do not extend beyond the limits of the immediate development. As such, they do not facilitate pedestrian transportation to the rest of the district. The lack of sidewalks along major connecting streets (such as Derrydown and College Ave.) makes pedestrian travel to anywhere outside of one's immediate neighborhood difficult and dangerous.
Of the
sidewalks that do exist in the immediate vicinity of the Decatur LCI area,
these are generally in poor condition. Generally, there is no horizontal
separation between pedestrian traffic and automobile traffic. High automobile
speeds make walking along this corridor extremely uncomfortable. The lack of
street trees and ill-placed utilities in the sidewalk area contribute to a
hostile pedestrian environment.
Other deficits of the pedestrian environment are:
The following elements must be addressed to ensure pedestrian safety in the area:
Bicycle Transportation
Bicycle transportation is
unaccommodated throughout the district. There are no dedicated on-street or
off-road bicycle lanes, and roadway shoulders generally are too narrow to
support safe bicycle transportation. Bicycle parking facilities are absent,
and roadway traffic speeds make accessing the district by bicycle inhospitable
and unsafe.
Although the residential densities at this point may not warrant dedicated bicycle travel lanes, it is important to plan ahead for the growth that is planned for the area. As such, the following items must be addressed in planning for future bicycle travel.
Land Use
The Decatur LCI area contains little diversity in land uses with a
predomination of industrial and institutional uses characterizing the area.
The current land uses in the area are predominantly industrial, with some
retail fronting College Ave. and institutional uses along Sams St.
The two land uses that are generally under-represented in the district, however, are residential and open space. The latter is unusual, because the Methodist Children's Home is the largest single parcel in the district. However, it is mostly unaccessible to district residents. In addition, the creeks and naturally vegetated areas within the study area, which could serve as a major park and greenspace for the district, are essentially inaccessible due to intervening industrial uses.
Urban
Design
For any place to be successful and cohesive, it must have a strong
urban design fabric. The study area is severely lacking in strong urban design
characteristics. A healthy urban design environment is directly tied to the
overall success of the area including the environmental, economic,
transportation and social well-being of the area as a whole. Strong urban
design attracts users to the area, thereby improving the economic environment
of the businesses, shops and retailers in the area. Strong urban design brings
buildings close to the streets, and wide sidewalks cause passing vehicles to
slow speeds and drive cautiously. Quality urban design brings people out of
their homes and shops to interact with each other on the streets, sidewalks
and plazas of the area. Good urban design provides for an abundance of street
trees, parks and open spaces to keep the area clean and green. All of these
elements together make for a cohesive and sustainable place. Unfortunately,
within this corridor, there is a severe lack of quality urban design elements.
The following factors typify the area from an urban design perspective:
Demographics
The Decatur LCI Study Area lies on
the eastern edge of the City of Decatur, with the City of Avondale Estates
just to the east. Decatur's location within the metropolitan area and its
reputation as a close-in small town are the principal drivers behind most of
the demographic trends. In 2000, the City of Decatur had a population of
18,147, up 5% from its 1990 population. During the same period, DeKalb County
grew by 24%, and the Atlanta MSA grew by 42%; the difference being Decatur is
almost entirely built out. Despite this, the City accommodated over 800 new
residents and added nearly 800 new housing units during the 1990s, mostly
through medium density infill developments.
There is quite a disparity between the population of DeKalb County and the City of Decatur in terms of age. The greatest difference is with residents over 65, with 13% of Decatur in that group compared with DeKalb's 8%. The City also has a greater proportion of middle-aged residents (32% verses 30%) and a smaller proportion of residents 10 and under (11% compared to 14%). The high proportion of older residents results in a higher median age for the City of 36 years versus 33 for the County and 32 for the MSA.
The City of Decatur is composed of two-thirds whites and roughly one-third African Americans. All other races comprise just 2% of the population. DeKalb County, on the other hand, is 55% African American and 37% white, with other races making up roughly 8% of the population. The Hispanic population in both the Atlanta MSA and DeKalb County has grown substantially to 8% and 7% respectively. This trend is less evident in Decatur where the Hispanic population in 2000 was less than 2%.
Perhaps the most substantial difference between the MSA, the County and the City is in terms of household types. Forty-eight percent of Decatur households are family households compared with 63% for DeKalb and 69% for the MSA. There are substantially fewer married couples with children in the City (14%) when compared to the County and MSA (19%, 26%). There is a similar trend for households headed by a single mother with children (7% City, 10% County, 8% MSA). Where Decatur has fewer married couples with children and single moms, it makes up for in its abundance of single persons living alone: 39% in the City compared with 26% in the County and 23% for the MSA.
In addition to disparities in housing type are educational differences. Decatur is exceedingly well educated. Fifty-six percent of City residents have a bachelor's degree or higher compared with 36% for the County and 32% for the MSA.
The majority of City residents were employed in management/professional occupations (59%). The second most popular group was sales and office occupations with 22%. Decatur had a much higher concentration of these white-collar professionals than either the County or the MSA (82% City, 68% County, 67% MSA).
Despite the fact that City residents have more education and white-collar jobs, they are not receiving more income. Both the County and the MSA have a higher median income ($47,000 City, $49,000 County, $52,000 MSA) and more households earning over $50,000 (48.5% City, 49.2% County, 52.6% MSA). This appears to be driven by the high percentage of seniors living off retirement income.
The City of Decatur exhibits an interesting demographic mix characteristic of close-in suburbs with high percentages of singles and non-family households, well-educated, white-collar professionals and the typical Georgia small town with high populations of persons over 65. For more information on demographic trends, see the Market Analysis included within this report.
Public Involvement and Issue Identification
Public Involvement Process
Methodology
JJG designed a public participation
process for the Decatur LCI - Avondale MARTA Station grounded in the notion
that in order to empower citizens, we must provide specific, relevant facts
and information. This process provided an excellent opportunity to explore
attitudes and viewpoints in-depth and gain understanding about underlying
issues. It allowed community members and stakeholders an opportunity to freely
state their opinions about topics that were meaningful to them. JJG enabled
and prepared citizens to give significant input; because, over the course of
the public participation process, they had gained a thorough understanding of
the issues, options and difficult choices facing them and the study area. To
ensure a high degree of public involvement, various tools were used to
publicize the planning process. These included postcards, press releases, web
site links, and posters around the community.
Kickoff Meeting
55 in
attendance
The kickoff meeting was held on May
7, 2002, at the Department of Family and Children's Services on Sams St. The
purpose of the meeting was to present general information about the issues
facing the Atlanta region and the ARC's LCI application. Detailed information
about the Decatur LCI was also provided including a discussion on the public
involvement process. Following the introductions and background information, a
facilitated discussion elicited participant responses to the strengths,
weaknesses, and areas of concern in the study. This exercise was presented in
the form of how to create a neighborhood. The exercise kicked off by
presenting the question, "Won't you be my neighbor?" The participants were
asked to consider what would it be like to live in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
The following were some of their responses.
This discussion led into another exercise that asked the participants to examine their own neighborhood. This exercise produced the positive and negative elements of the place where they live. The last exercise of the night was a discussion about change; the faces of change exercise gave participants the chance to begin dialogue on things they wanted to see change in the study area.
Roundtable
#1
75 in attendance
The first roundtable was held on
June 4, 2002, at the Friends School on Sams St. Gibbs Planning Group gave a
detailed presentation addressing the initial market findings and how the
market analysis would play a key role when it came time to develop a master
plan. Following an outline of the current land uses and regulations in the
study area, the participants were asked to divide into groups to conduct a
hands-on visual preference survey. The groups were asked to look at six
categories -- residential, mixed use, open space, heavy commercial,
streetscape, and transit -- and then provide feedback on what elements they
liked and disliked about the examples provided. The photos illustrated
single-family and multi-family home styles, retail establishments, mixed-use
commercial industrial conversions, parks, sidewalks, train stations,
landscaping, open space and bus stops.
Some of the results of the Visual Preference Survey:
STREETSCAPES
TRANSIT
RESIDENTIAL
OPEN SPACE
MIXED USES/HEAVY COMMERCIAL
Participants were also asked to think of an identity for the area and create a neighborhood name. After participants submitted various names, the voting for the new neighborhood name took place during the next few months of the process. The new name was revealed at the Open House held October 29, 2002.
Roundtable #2
106 in
attendance
The second roundtable was held on
July 9, 2002, again at the Friends School. This meeting was centered on a
developers' roundtable. Several local developers representing topics such as
affordable housing, neighborhood commercial, and transit-oriented development
presented their thoughts and ideas on how to create a successful development
and blend it into the existing environment. Information stations were set up
around the room to give participants the opportunity to walk around and gather
educational material about the topics and ask questions of the developers.
Many of the questions posed concerned the success and implementation of affordable housing, ARC's role in implementation funding, the relationship of high-density housing and the school system and how local government can play a significant role in attracting high quality developments. The Appendix contains the biography of the developers who participated in this event.
Design Workshop Day One
August 16, 2002 - 26 in
attendance
The workshop began Friday morning
with a welcome from Bill Floyd, Mayor of the City of Decatur. After welcoming
remarks, Ellen Keys of JJG gave a presentation highlighting current issues in
the corridor. Ms. Keys also explained the purpose of the workshop and the
agenda for the next 2 days. During the presentation, Ms. Keys highlighted the
importance of community input and consensus to the success of any plan. After
the presentation, the participants separated into two groups to tackle the
first objective: Transportation. At each table, the participants were given
the following transportation tasks to solve in their community:
1. Create desire lines that identify where people want to go within the study area and outside the study area.
2. Identify the barriers that prevent these desired movements from happening.
3. Improve access to the MARTA station for pedestrians, cyclists, bus patrons and automobile commuters.
4. Provide for the safe facilitation of pedestrian and bicycle travel.
Some particular transportation concerns in both groups were connectivity, pedestrian access and safety and adding more greenspace. After a 1 1/2 hr long work session, both groups came back together for a "pin up." During this pin up, a member of each group explained the solutions that the group came up with and the reasoning that led to these solutions. The pin up gave each group an opportunity to see how others would tackle the same situation, get ideas to make their own plans better and find flaws with their plans. A summary of each plan follows:
Group 1
This group based its plan on the idea of connectivity. They wanted to focus on connectivity for all types of transporta-tion, not just the car. The result was to extend the existing grid pattern and create different levels of streets. To help create a pedestrian-friendly environment, their plan included street trees, elimination of existing curb cuts, central parking and a recreational network of parks connected by trails and bike paths.Group 2
This group based its plan on creating more greenspace and determining how to link these new greenspaces. The plan proposed a new street parallel to College Ave. with traffic-calming devices such as sidewalks, trees, lower speed limits, and no on-street parking. They also incorporated the lake on the Children's Home property into the greenspace plan by creating a loop trail that connects the lake to the proposed and existing parks.
The next work session began after lunch, and the participants went back to their respective tables to tackle the next set of issues: land use. During this work session, the participants were asked to address the following land use issues:
1. Select preferred uses for the area from those listed in the market analysis.
2. Identify where these uses should be located.
3. Determine the size and scale of all uses.
4. Create an open space system that connects all of the uses together.
Some of the issues that arose during the land use session were where to place the most intense land uses and how to incorporate parking into this new plan without compromising the pedestrians.
Following the land use session, each group participated in another pin up. At this time, it became obvious both groups were heading in the same direction. The participants felt that, at this point, it would be more beneficial to combine the groups and continue working as one group for the rest of the workshop. A summary of the individual plans follows:
Group 1
This group's plan proposed using traffic squares, similar to those found in Savannah, to calm traffic on the main road. They also proposed the highest density in the northern portion of the study area with a green gateway on the east/west entrance. They also proposed single-family townhomes on Derrydown Way to act as a buffer between the higher density retail area and the single-family homes in the southern portion of the corridor.Group 2
This group proposed a plaza area at the MARTA station and a greenbelt trail system including several pocket parks that surround the study area. They also proposed a large public parking deck just north of the MARTA station and more parking behind the stores in an alley. This plan called for the highest intensity of uses around the Plaza area.
After the land use pin up, the merged group began working on the final set of tasks: urban design. In this session, the participants were asked to build on the plan they developed in the previous two work sessions and finalize the details by completing the following tasks:
1. Configure the uses into a building layout that is pedestrian-oriented.
2. Design the building facades so that they are pedestrian-oriented.
3. Provide dimensions for all of the sidewalks.
4. Identify street, sidewalk and open space landscaping opportunities.Combined Group
The combined group recommended pedestrian-oriented building forms with buildings close to the streets that frame the sidewalks. Associated parking and automobile facilities would be located to the side or rear of buildings. All buildings should have pedestrian entrances located directly adjacent to the sidewalks along the streets.Residential buildings should have a landscaped buffer between the sidewalk and the building to provide a buffer between the public and private spaces. Non-residential uses located on the ground floor should have storefront treatment to encourage activity along the sidewalks and streets. In addition, all streets should have wide sidewalks, street trees and on-street parking to create a sense of place similar to a neighborhood or village environment.
The first day of the design workshop ended with a draft plan that built on the transportation, land use and urban design issues that the community addressed.
Plan Summary
At the end of the first day of the workshop, what resulted was a mixed-use neighborhood with its highest density at the Village Center core and densities that decrease when closer to the existing single-family neighborhoods. The new village is mixed use with ground floor non-residential uses permitted within buildings. All streets will have slow narrow travel lanes, street trees and sidewalks with street furniture like benches, waste receptacles and lights. The focal point of the plan is the new park/plaza and parking structure to be built on the existing MARTA surface parking lot.
Design Workshop Day Two
August 17, 2002 - 47
in attendance
On Saturday morning, Ellen Keys
of JJG began the day by reviewing the events of Friday and giving a brief
presentation on consensus building and what it means to build partnerships in
a successful development. The Appendix contains the list of partners that
participants believed to be important to the success of the study area. Here
are some of the highlights from the presentation.
Patty Formosa, Gibbs Planning Group, presented the final market analysis and revealed how much retail and residential the study area could successfully support at build out. She also emphasized that projects of this nature take time, sometimes as long as 20 years, and a community must have patience and perseverance to see it through. The results of the market study are discussed in the recommendations section and more thoroughly in a separate market analysis document. Following Ms. Formosa's presentation, Aaron Fortner of JJG revealed the conceptual master plan that was the result of all the hard work of the participants on Friday. The participants were pleased, overall, at the fruit of their efforts and suggested that we continue to work on it at the final roundtable.
Roundtable #3
65 in
attendance
The final
roundtable was held on September 10, 2002, at the Friends School. The purpose
of this roundtable shifted focus from the original agenda and became a
question and answer session at the request of the community. A presentation
was given that highlighted the draft master plan that had been revealed at the
workshop. After the presentation was completed, the audi-ence was divided into
three groups. At the tables, the participants had copies of the overall master
plan and the sections and were given time to examine them and ask questions or
give overall comments.
The feedback received from the evening was very positive, and it appeared the community was generally pleased with the concept. A few questions were generated, and the team took the thoughts and suggestions back with them. They were addressed in the final plan.
Open House
42 in
attendance
The Open House was held on October 29, 2002, at the Friends School. It
was hosted by the City of Decatur in order to present the Master Plan. These
plans were the fruition of 6 months of effort by the City, the consultant,
and, most importantly, the community. The following items were on display at
the open house:
Overall Master Plan Urban Design Guidelines 5-year phases of buildout for the next
25 years
The new neighborhood name was also revealed at the Open House: COLUMBIA PARK. The name was chosen by the community after several opportunities to vote. The neighborhood vote talley can be found in the appendix.
Economic Development Issues
The Decatur LCI is not yet a Livable Center by most measures. It does, however, have a wealth of potential. The site has a good existing mix of residential, retail and employment. It is well situated within the region, has the Avondale MARTA station at its edge and numerous residential neighborhoods around it. It also helps to be in Decatur, which has an excellent reputation as a great small town close to downtown Atlanta. The center has a wealth of community support, as evidenced by the outstanding turnout at the public involvement sessions. Throughout the visioning process, stakeholders handed down two resounding themes: they saw the study area as a potential center for new housing and as a future center for neighborhood services.
Presently, the study srea is bounded by single-family neighborhoods to the east, west and south. Within the study area, there is a mix of single-family houses, apartments and condominiums. Most of the existing residential, however, is not oriented towards the MARTA station or is relatively isolated from other activities within the area. Building connections within the area and designing new housing with a transit and neighborhood orientation is a priority. Stakeholder input called for a mix of housing types and styles to accommodate all ages and family stages, i.e. life-cycle housing.
In 2000, there were 8,051 housing units in Decatur with 42% of them rental. The County also has 42% rental, but the MSA has just 34%. The rental vacancy rate in Decatur is very low, just 3.5% compared to the County and MSA (4.7 and 6.1%). The owner-occupied housing rate is slightly higher than regional rates; still the demand for Decatur housing appears high, driving housing prices up 26% in the last 4 years.
The market analysis completed for this study supports this vision for new, mixed-type housing. The analysis found the current market could accommodate 100 to 200 units in a first phase. The housing should include a mixture of types and prices. A second phase of 250 units could follow. Among the housing types identified as fulfilling both market realities and stakeholder desires are row houses, town homes and three- to five-story apartment buildings. Some of the housing could be developed as live/ work units and some could be converted to senior housing in the future. Regardless of the mix of new units that is developed, they should enrich the street environment and contribute to a neighborhood atmosphere.
Stakeholders also would like to see the area add neighborhood services and retail. There is no desire to create another downtown Decatur; nor is there a desire to compete with downtown, which is retail-oriented towards the larger region and business services. The desire for the study area is for neighborhood services. Some of the specifically mentioned types included restaurants and bars, childcare, civic uses and personal care services such as dry cleaning and hair and nail salons. A new niche could also be created for galleries and craft stores.
The market analysis partially supports the community vision for new retail in the study area. The analysis found the study area can support up to 143,500 square ft (sq ft) of new retail. There appears to be a market for some neighborhood services including restaurants and bars, cleaners, a small grocery store, a small drug store, nail and hair salons and a video rental establishment. The market analysis did find, however, that some of the desired neighborhood services are already saturated and would be unlikely to succeed if developed within the study area. These included bookstores, specialty stores and women's apparel.
In addition to the neighborhood services, the market analysis did identify several retail opportunities that are more regional in nature. These are markets that appear untapped in and around Decatur and could succeed within the study area. The most significant is for electronics, home furnishings and office supply. The analysis found the study area could support 124,000 sq ft of this use. Other retail uses with a greater draw that could be supported on the site include a junior department store or general apparel store. The area could also support 19,500 sq ft of service retail such as a travel agency or insurance office and entertainment/ recreation space such as a gym or dance studio. For more information on economic development issues, see the Market Analysis included within this report.
A Neighborhood Center
The Avondale
MARTA station area is a perfect opportunity to create an active and thriving
neighborhood center. Within the LCI area, there exists a large number of
vacant buildings, industrial uses and vast parking lots. The area is
characterized by monolithic uses with no open space, virtually no sidewalk
environment and little or no greenspace elements offered anywhere within the
study area. A true neighborhood center should not be comprised of monotonous
buildings, connected by wide arterial streets with limited and segregated land
uses, as is currently the situation in the study area. Rather, a successful
neighborhood center is characterized by a variety of closely spaced land uses;
a variety of land uses including parks, shops and residents; human-scale
walkable blocks; interconnected walkable streets; and usable public spaces.
The neighborhood center should be a destination, a place where people can come
for a variety of different activities that are closely spaced within walking
distance of one another. The roads connecting these land uses should be
pedestrian friendly, and interconnected. A neighborhood center shouldn't close
when it gets dark; but rather, it should contain land uses that allow for a
constant presence of people, such as restaurants, grocery stores and
residences. The Decatur LCI site offers enough vacant parcels or underutilized
structures that the canvass can be wiped clean, and a new opportunity can be
established to create a working neighborhood center around the Avondale MARTA
station.
Land Use
The Decatur LCI proposed neighborhood center master plan is made up of
a mixture of commercial, residential, institutional and open space uses. New
cafes, boutiques, strollable avenues, bustling parks and plazas and
village-style building forms all work together to give the neighborhood center
an unmistakable identity as Decatur's thriving new neighborhood commercial
node.
Beginning with the College Ave. frontage, the new neighborhood village will front the street with its largest uses. Grocery stores, restaurants, office space and, eventually, upper floors of multi-family residential will front E. College Ave. The largest sized uses face this very busy street to take advantage of the large volumes of traffic moving throughout the corridor and by the site. This also has the advantage of keeping larger-sized uses out of the middle of the adjacent neighborhood.
South of College Ave., within the area currently characterized by industrial properties, lays the true heart of the proposed Neighborhood Center. Multi-level residential developments fill the site and orient themselves to the street infrastructure. The highest priced units front the open space trail system that makes an axis through the middle of the area and that rings around the northern and western edge of the site. Small neighborhood stores anchor intersection corners within the site, providing opportunities for small neighborhood cafes and shops, leaving the vast majority of the site to the new higher density residential development.
A healthy mix of uses is encouraged in all forms. It is this mixture that allows for a true neighborhood center that offers options to its inhabitants for living, working or shopping in a pedestrian environment. Non-residential uses must be mixed to include the larger uses for regional users along E. College Ave. in addition to the smaller sized neighborhood uses within the site to serve the adjacent and newly developed neighborhood inhabitants. Residential uses must be mixed to bring a healthy balance of owner- and renter-types of units. A large majority of these new units should be owner-types of units, in addition to a minimum of 20% of all units being affordable housing-types of units. In addition, the residential uses above the commercial uses along the new Main Street must be smaller with a higher, more urban density, leaving the heart of the site to larger units with more neighborhood characteristics. Redeveloping the MARTA parking lot into the new Main Street concept can only be achieved through the creation of a parking deck facility south of Main Street. The necessary MARTA parking spaces must be accommodated, and the parking facility achieves this objective.
Equally important to the vitality of a neighborhood center are the civic and open space uses. This plan envisions a significant path and greenspace network being created utilizing floodplain properties and existing environmental resources. The greenspace system connects the entire site in addition to providing access to adjacent sites like nearby neighborhoods and the Methodist Children's Home. A vital component of this plan is the movement of the Friends School from its current site to the site adjacent to the Methodist Children's Home. By making this move, the current Friends School site can be utilized to create a larger, more developable site. In addition, the new location of the Friends School in direct proximity to the Methodist Children's Home would allow for these new neighbors to begin to share similar facilities and to work together to create a successful educational and/or recreational campus for their respective students.
Transportation
The network of roads for the
neighborhood center is a multi-level concept, with each type of roadway
serving specific purposes. The network consists of three street types:
boulevard, esplanade and neighborhood. These streets carve the center into an
easily accessible pattern of blocks, sidewalks and streets that can easily
accommodate both vehicles and pedestrians. This infrastructure of lots, blocks
and streets also makes for an environment that can accommodate the many
different types of uses called for in the plan and in a way that is functional
and developable over time.
E. College Ave.
E. College Ave. serves as the main
thoroughfare through the area. This is the highest trafficked street; and, as
such, it responds in its form by having the largest intensity of lanes,
sidewalks and building types along it to reinforce its scale. The adjacent
sidewalks on the south side of the street are wider than any other sidewalks
in the area to allow pedestrian traffic to feel safe and buffered from the
traffic along the street. The sidewalks' excessive width also accommodates the
larger volumes of pedestrian traffic that will be associated with the larger
uses adjacent to the street such as a grocery store, restaurants and shops.
Main Street
The focal point of the entire
neighborhood center is to be the newly created Main St. that bisects the
current MARTA parking lot from west to east. Main St. is framed on both sides
by multi-floored, mixed-use buildings with ground floor shops and retail and
above-ground residences overlooking the street below. On-street parking on
both sides of the Main St. helps to slow down traffic and to provide
additional parking spaces for those who will want to drive and experience the
new district. The sidewalks along Main St. contain benches, street lights,
landscaping and additional street furniture such as water fountains and public
art making the space both functional and beautiful. Main St. contains the new
MARTA plaza space at the corner of Sams St. and E. College Ave. This new space
is the heart of the district and will serve as the place for people to meet,
recreate and simply enjoy being in this new neighborhood.
This space is paramount to the area's transformation. Main St. is the amenity that makes the transformation of the area feasible. By creating the Main St., potential developers can begin to market the site as a prime site for high-end retail and residential units. The street also provides the additional connectivity needed through the site that allows for the vehicular and pedestrian connections to be made between, within and without the new neighborhood.
Neighborhood Streets
The remaining streets within the
neighborhood center are neighborhood streets. These streets are slow moving
with narrow travel lanes, on-street parking, street trees and sidewalks to
serve as traffic calming mechanisms. These streets are already physically in
place but will need improvements to accommodate the new design features. Most
of these improvements will include the street trees and sidewalks along each
neighborhood street. The purpose of these streets is to keep traffic moving
slow and calm throughout the neighborhood and to discourage through traffic
from overwhelming the neighborhood.
Urban Design
The final pieces to creating the
new neighborhood center are the essential urban design elements. A "sense of
place" is what has long been missing from the current study area site, and
that is what is essential for making the new district a success. The district
must have distinguishing characteristics that define it. The previous site was
a non-distinguishable site that could be anywhere in Atlanta, or even in
America for that matter; there is no reason to believe that you are in a
special place when you are here. The challenge here is to create a unique,
pedestrian-friendly environment that will attract residents and shoppers to
this area by offering a variety of activities. This is also an opportunity to
make this area a place that stands out in the Atlanta landscape.
Place is
created and felt when people can experience a connection with other people;
when they feel that the built structures around are appropriately sized and
placed in relationship to what they as human beings can see and do around
them. Such places create a sense of belonging and simply by their design say
loudly, "this is a place that welcomes people."
The sense of place is very important to business districts because it attracts more shoppers, more businesses, more workers and more money. It raises property values; and, says the Urban Land Institute, it does away with the "throw-away suburb" syndrome.
The following set of guiding principles provided strong direction to the work that needed to be completed during the charrette:
Pleasant
Is this a pleasurable area? A place must be
enjoyable, memorable and desirable. There should never be a significant amount
of space within a place that is unpleasant to anybody, whether it be in an
automobile driving through, at the bus stop, on the sidewalk, walking into an
office building, eating lunch in the park or looking out an apartment window
to the street below. The entire experience of the place as a whole must be one
that is endearing.
Location
Is there a here here? All places have an
identity, a distinction, a story to tell, a picture to take. Wonderful places
are always describable, whether it be the architecture, the natural
environment or the uses in the area. The most descriptive images possible are
those that are positive. So to give this area a real identity, to make it a
real place, deliberate attention must be paid to the details such as street
trees, shop fronts, building articulation, park designs and other similar
urban design elements. Generally, people tolerate bad locations but embrace
great locations. By making a truly embraceable place, the entire community
benefits.
Accessible
Is it something that can be accessed? In
other words, is it connected? Whether coming from outside of the area or from
within the area, the entire place must be easy to use. It should flow from one
corner of the place to the other. Streets must serve as seams that bring the
entire place together and not gashes that cut insurmountable barriers through
the landscape. A walk or drive from one end to the other should be fluid and
smooth and unobstructed, making for a positive experience.
Cohesive
Does it all tie together? Each part of a place
must complement the other. A person must know without question when they are
in the place and when they are not. If they ever have any doubt, they will
turn back and not continue their progression through the place. Places act
like a single body. When one part of the place gets sick, the rest will soon
follow if it is not corrected. Similarly, when a place becomes healthy, the
remainder of the place follows suit. By creating a unifying image and
atmosphere, the entire area benefits and becomes more sustainable as a whole.
Engaging
Does it stimulate me? A place offers its users
stimulation. Through slow moving vehicular traffic, large amounts of
pedestrian sidewalk traffic, gently shifting street trees, constant
refractions of sunlight, outdoor vending, sidewalk cafes, park water
fountains, large storefront windows with merchandising inside, friends
chatting on a park bench or a car parallel parked on the street are all
elements of a place that, when experienced firsthand, are highly engaging.
This is an environment that draws people in. As engagement increases, so does
public usage; and as public usage increases, so does the success of the place.
Complementing the streetscapes of the new district are the pedestrian-oriented building forms. All buildings are oriented to the streets and sidewalks with parking and service facilities located to the side or rear of all of the buildings. Buildings are architecturally delineated at each floor to provide an attractive, aesthetic environment to the district with nice buildings and features. Commercial uses are at the street level and have clear and large shopping windows to attract pedestrians and promote walking. Street furniture on the sidewalks includes benches, trash receptacles, street trees, banners, sandwich boards and bicycle racks to enliven the sidewalks. Entrances to all buildings are adjacent to the sidewalks and streets and are easily accessible to all pedestrians. Commercial tenants show their signage in attractive building - mounted signs and canopies that contribute to the urban feeling of the new neighborhood center.
Detailed elements of the urban design plan include:
The urban design elements are the final pieces that, when added to the land use and transportation elements, make for a complete neighborhood center. The function and form of the district are all in agreement and, together, create a workable and sustainable neighborhood center for existing and future residents.
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Phasing Strategy
The following is a detailed phasing strategy for achieving final implementation of the overall Master Plan for the area:
Phase 1 takes place in the first 5 years between 2002 and 2007 and includes the existing MARTA property and the property at the southern end of Sams St. This involves implementing streetscaping along the entirety of Sams St.
Essential to Phase 1 are the construction of Main St. and a new parking facility. The parking deck will replace parking spaces displaced by the construction of Main St. and MARTA plaza space and to provide additional spaces to serve the adjacent mixed-use buildings.
Phase 2 is the adjacent expansion of Phase 1 eastward to the edge of the study area during the 2007 to 2012 time frame. This phase creates an addition to the parking facility on the site of the existing County surface parking lot.
Phase 3 occurs between 2012 and 2017 and is only possible if the Friends School relocates from its existing site to a new site adjacent to the Methodist Children's Home at the southeast corner of the study area. This move frees up the current Friends School site to allow a larger redevelopment site within the heart of the study area. The uses that front E. College Ave. will contain larger retail and commercial uses than the smaller commercial and predominantly residential uses that will locate in the center of the site.
Phase 4 is estimated for the years of 2017 to 2022 and involves the final development of the western frontage of E. College Ave. As with Phase 3, this phase allows for higher and more intense commercial uses fronting E. College Ave. and predominantly residential uses located in the center of the area.
The final phase of development is Phase 5 from years 2022 to 2027. It covers the southern portion of the site and completes the development of the new neighborhood center. This portion lies along the southern edge of the site and is adjacent to a single-family neighborhood . This phase includes a transitional height plane restriction to ensure that new development will not overshadow any single-family homes.
Zoning Strategy
The goals and vision of this plan must have subsequent zoning in place to ensure the goals are implemented. To maximize the residential and commercial infrastructure, improve the appearance of the streets within the district, and allow for a compatible mixture of land uses; changes to current zoning are required. These changes are necessary to increase the efficiency of travel patterns as well as create a pedestrian-oriented environment in a mixed-use environment.
It should also be noted that the new regulations reflect a new approach for guiding development. They incorporate responses to new market trends that favor more choices in a village environment and a broadly inclusive process to create and implement this emerging vision. By giving development flexibility to property owners in conjunction with design requirements to address building aesthetics and form, sidewalks, parks and open space, parking and other related urban design elements; the new regulations will provide the precise tool for positive and strategic growth within the neighborhood center area.
The following are suggested zoning guidelines for achieving the desired built environment for the study area:
Development Controls
Sidewalks
Supplemental Zones
Relationship of Building to Street
Curb Cuts and Parking Structures
Off-Street Parking Requirements
Economic Development Recommendations
Many times elected officials, planning staff and citizen groups think that, once the plan is completed, their work is done. However, only in a community that takes the implementation process as seriously as it did the development of the plan truly will be successful. Implementation should be seen as an integral part of the planning process, not as an optional afterthought.
An increasingly large part of economic development is dependant upon successful plan implementation. A community's competitiveness depends on the capacity of a community to adjust to continual change and the ability of local leaders to form partnerships.
Implementation normally has to be approached through incremental phasing, involving as many groups as possible to achieve elements of the plan. This effort can create some coordination headaches, but the community buy-in and consensus is worth the effort.
A working framework of implementation is established based on priorities, commitment, and availability of funds. Flexibility is important in implementation. Just as a company must be able to adapt to the changing global economy, a community must work to update and re-evaluate existing plans and strategies for their effectiveness. Accordingly, as new plans are adopted, a continuous evaluation process must be included.
Decatur is facing a situation many communities have faced before, and many more will in the future. Once the plan is done, the next step is figuring out how to make it happen. Our recommendations for capacity building and economic development include the following:
Partnerships
Funding
Implementation
Decatur is at a key point in this process -- it is time to begin to shift gears from planning for the future to figuring how the future plans are going to be implemented today.
How This Plan Addresses LCI Goals
Encourage a diversity
of medium- to high-density, mixed-income neighborhoods, employment, and
shopping and recreation choices at the activity and town center level.
This plan calls for higher density residential development at what is to
be the Village Center of the new neighborhood centered at the Avondale MARTA
station parking lot on the south side of College Ave. The centerpiece and
focal point of the Village Center is the public park/ gathering space at the
entrance to the MARTA bridge across E. College Ave. As the new neighborhood
moves away from the Village Center and closer to the existing single-family
neighborhoods, the residential forms become medium- to low-density in building
forms. All development is permitted to have non-residential uses at the ground
floor to encourage a mixed-use environment.
Provide access to a
range of travel modes including transit, roadways, walking and biking to
enable access to all uses within the study area.
As this neighborhood
develops, a combination of private and public investments will create a broad
network of sidewalks, bike lanes, slow moving neighborhood streets, cross
walks, paths and trails and better access to the Avondale MARTA station. Some
of these elements get done through private development with the guidance of
zoning regulations. The remaining infrastructure is implemented through the
City of Decatur public investment program targeted for this area.
Encourage integration
of uses with transportation investments to maximize the use of alternate
modes.
The key piece to integrating alternative modes of
transportation with strategic investments is the parking structure proposed to
be built off of a new Main St in the existing MARTA parking lot exists on the
south side of E. College Ave. By building this new parking deck, the existing
MARTA parking lot can be used for a mixed-use development that takes advantage
of close proximity to the MARTA station. The parking facility should offer
parking spaces to MARTA users in addition to the users of new developments in
the redevelopment area.
Through transportation
investments increase the desirability of redevelopment of land served by
existing infrastructure at activity and town centers.
In addition to
the redevelopment of existing surface parking lots into a new mixed-use
development and a parking structure, the focal point of the area will be the
newly created Village Center public space. The plaza/park space creates a new
entrance for the area, presence onto E. College Ave., and a new entrance to
the MARTA bridge across E. College Ave. to the MARTA station. This park will
serve as the amenity that spurs development of the area.
Preserve the historical
characteristics of activity and town centers and create a community
identity.
The City of Decatur has a strong community identity and
historic characteristics. The goal for this plan was to create a unique
identity for the project area that was separate from downtown Decatur. In the
beginning of the process, it was decided to ask participants to identify a
name for the area. The suggested name is Columbia Park. The master plan helps
mold a new community and development center around the Avondale MARTA station.
Develop a
community-based transportation investment program at the activity and town
center level that will identify capital projects, which can be funded in the
annual Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP).
The public involvement
process involved a diverse group of constituencies. All of them agreed on the
need for increased pedestrian and bicycle safety. The project list included in
this LCI Plan focuses on increasing pedestrian and bicycle priority in the
study area. The largest need for funding will be the new parking deck facility
built on the MARTA parking lots mentioned above. The remaining funding should
be pursued to implement the streetscaping and traffic calming mechanisms
called for in the plan.
Provide transportation
infrastructure incentives for jurisdictions to take local actions to implement
the resulting activity or town center study goals.
This plan
identifies transportation projects that, if funded through the LCI program,
will serve as incentives for future redevelopment.
Provide for the
implementation of the RDP policies, quality growth initiatives and Best
Development Practices in the study area, local governments and at the regional
level.
RDP policies and Best Development Practices were guiding
policies in formulating the LCI plan and are embraced by the City of Decatur
Economic and Community Development Department. Both RDP and Best Development
practices will be incorporated, where appropriate, into the comprehensive plan
and the zoning ordinance. The Urban Design Guidelines contained in this report
clearly reflect Best Development Practices.
Develop a local
planning outreach process that promotes the involvement of all stakeholders
particularly low income, minority and traditionally underserved populations.
The City of Decatur has long been known for its outstanding citizen
involvement. In this project, they have reached out beyond their normal
constituency to include the citizens of DeKalb County and Avondale Estates in
the process. They advertised in the paper with press releases and feature
articles, maintained a web page with updates to the LCI throughout the study
period and will continue to update it as development occurs. Before every
meeting, an extended effort was made to inform citizens by postcards, posters
and signs.
Provide planning funds
for development of activity and town centers that showcase the integration of
land use policy and regulation and transportation investments with urban
design tools.
The City of Decatur will create new Zoning, Land Use and
Transportation policies designed specifically to implement the recommendations
of this plan. All City departments that have the responsibility for creating
this new place will develop the appropriate guidelines to make the vision of
this plan become reality. This will primarily be accomplished through the
zoning legislation written and applied to the area that will require future
development to adhere to the criteria of the new plan.
Five Year Implementation Plan
Residential Initiatives
| Description/Action | Year | Responsible Party | Funding Source |
| Adopt density bonus provisions into the new zoning districts for projects that include affordable housing units | 2003 | City | City |
| Require all residential development to have pedestrian-oriented building forms and pedestrian infrastructure through sidewalks and streetscapes | 2003 | City | City |
| Adopt new zoning provisions that allow for up to 5 floors of residential development | 2003 | City | City |
| Promote a balanced mix of owner and renter occupied units within the district | 2003 | City | City |
General Initiatives | |||
| Description/Action | Year | Responsible Party | Funding Source |
| Implement parking standards that are flexible and that encourage shared parking or reduced parking | 2003 | City | City |
| Modify the City Land Use Plan to reflect the zoning changes | 2003 | City | City |
| Coordinate with DeKalb County to adopt the similar land use, zoning and architectural standards for the portion of the district within the County | 2003 | City | City |
| Work with the Methodist Childrens Home to locate YMCA athletic fields into their immediate plans | 2003 | City | City |
| Facilitate the relocation of existing industrial uses to other sites within the City or County | 2003 | City | City |
| Recruit local neighborhood-oriented commercial uses to locate within the new district | 2003 | City | City |
| Adopt a new zoning district for the study area | 2003 | City | City |
| Institute a City-based initiative to promote economic incentives for implementing the recommendations of this plan to the developmnet community | 2003 | City | City |
| Work with neighboring Agnes Scott and downtown Decatur to promote awareness and accessibility to the new district | 2003 | City | City |
| Conduct a gateway design competition to develop a gateway concept for the new district | 2003 | City | City |
| Prepare architectural/design guidelines for new developments in overlay district | 2003 | City | City |
Five-Year Plan For Transportation
Download 5 Year Plan
-Transportation table
(280k PDF File, Open with Acrobat
Reader)
Notes:
Costs do
not include Right of Way acquisition. Sidewalk construction typically requires
the installation of curb and gutter where none exists. Wider sidewalks would
require higher sidewalk costs only, c&g would stay the same. C&G costs
are for monolithic concrete, not granite, which would be more. Sidewalks,
streetscape, etc. on new or upgraded streets internal to study area should be
provided by developers. Therefore, those type projects are not listed here.
These type of requirements need to be included in the zoning ordinance and
development regulations.
TOTAL PROJECT COSTS: $10,164,467
New Office Space
Development
City of Decatur, Georgia
| Year |
Total Employed |
Number of New Employees |
Incremental
|
Incremental Additional Supportable Restaurant
Space** |
| 1990 |
8,837 |
|||
| 1991 |
8,674 |
-163
|
-32,600 |
-815 |
| 1992 |
8,636
|
-38
|
-7,600 |
-190 |
| 1993 |
8,980
|
344
|
68,800 |
1,720 |
| 1994 |
9,260
|
280
|
56,000 |
1,400 |
| 1995 |
9,289
|
29
|
5,800
|
145 |
| 1996 |
9,522
|
233
|
46,600 |
1,165 |
| 1997 |
9,759
|
237
|
47,400 |
1,185 |
| 1998 |
9,984
|
225
|
45,000 |
1,125 |
| 1999 |
10,197 |
213
|
42,600 |
1,065 |
| 2000 |
10,361 |
164
|
32,800 |
820 |
| 2001 |
10,331 |
-30
|
-6,000 |
-150 |
| October 2002 |
10,447 |
116
|
23,200 |
580 |
| 2005 |
11,239 |
792
|
158,308 |
3,958 |
| 2010 |
11,975 |
736
|
147,242 |
3,681 |
| 2015 |
12,701 |
726
|
145,171 |
3,629 |
| 2020 |
13,414 |
713
|
142,650 |
3,566 |
| 2025 |
14,112 |
698
|
139,679 |
3,492 |
*This is the estimated
level of new office development needed to support the projected level
employment increases.
** Estimates the additional square footage of restaurant space that will be supportable by the increase is office space alone. Does not include additional square footage for residential development or the synergy created by additional retail.
|
Population | |||||||||
| 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2002 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | 2025 | |
| Primary Trade Area | 36,871 | 37,971 | 39,081 | 39,368 | 39,569 | 39,944 | 40,319 | 40,695 | 41,074 |
| Secondary Trade Area | 93,877 | 95,130 | 96,843 | 96,905 | 97,749 | 99,149 | 100,549 | 101,948 | 103,344 |
| Total Trade Area | 130,748 | 133,101 | 135,924 | 136,273 | 137,318 | 139,093 | 140,868 | 142,643 | 144,418 |
| City of Decatur | 17,336 | 17,742 | 18,147 | 18,441 | 19,135 | 20,291 | 21,447 | 22,603 | 23,759 |
| DeKalb County | 545,837 | 605,851 | 665,865 | 682,994 | 708,688 | 751,511 | 794,334 | 837,157 | 879,980 |
|
Housing Units | |||||||||
| 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2002 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | 2025 | |
| Primary Trade Area | 16,462 | 17,316 | 18,170 | 18,437 | 18,939 | 19,441 | 19,943 | 20,445 | 20,947 |
| Secondary Trade Area | 38,962 | 40,425 | 41,887 | 42,435 | 42,990 | 44,248 | 45,506 | 46,764 | 48,022 |
| Total Trade Area | 55,424 | 57,741 | 60,057 | 60,872 | 61,929 | 63,689 | 65,449 | 67,209 | 68,969 |
| City of Decatur | 8,230 | 8,592 | 8,954 | 9,076 | 9,701 | 10,076 | 10,451 | 10,826 | 11,201 |
| DeKalb County | 231,520 | 262,598 | 293,675 | 304,798 | 319,520 | 344,021 | 368,522 | 393,023 | 417,524 |
Employment
Statistics and Projections
City of Decatur, Georgia
|
Year
|
Total Labor Force |
Total Employed |
Percent Unemployment |
|
1990
|
9,307 |
8,837
|
5.0% |
|
1991 |
9,099
|
8,674
|
4.7% |
|
1992
|
9,256
|
8,636 |
6.7% |
|
1993
|
9,530
|
8,980
|
5.8% |
|
1994
|
9,794
|
9,260
|
5.5% |
|
1995
|
9,770
|
9,289
|
4.9% |
|
1996
|
9,970 |
9,522
|
4.5% |
|
1997
|
10,223 |
9,759
|
4.5% |
|
1998
|
10,448 |
9,984
|
4.4% |
|
1999
|
10,661 |
10,197 |
4.4% |
|
2000
|
10,755 |
10,361 |
3.7% |
|
2001
|
10,791 |
10,331 |
4.3% |
|
October
2002 |
11,105 |
10,447 |
5.9% |
|
2005
|
11,855 |
11,239 |
5.2% |
|
2010
|
12,605 |
11,975 |
5.0% |
|
2015
|
13,355 |
12,701 |
4.9% |
|
2020
|
14,105 |
13,414 |
4.9% |
|
2025
|
14,855 |
14,112 |
5.0% |
Partners
Building Partners for a Better Community:
Neighborhood Name Vote
The winning name of the contest is:
Columbia Park
with 14 votes
2nd place is
awarded to East Decatur with 13 votes
3rd place was Arcadia Heights
with 11 votes
There were 8 write-ins and 3 of those received votes.
A Special Thanks
To
the dedicated citizens of Decatur for their participation
in the LCI
Plan:
| Tony Able Annie Archbold Tim Archer Joe Arrington Elle Baerman Steven Barton C. Bettis Chuck Bosserman Edward Bowen Fred Boykin Lee Beth Burge Robert Cain Bill Caskey Ross Cheairs Thurston Cook Bonnie Croft Ron Croft Kecia Cunnigham Madden Degarmo John Economy Libby Egnor Linda Ellis Annette Ford Lindsey Forsythe Richard Geiger Sarah Gentry Sarah Gents Amy Gibbons Scott Gibbons Phillip Gittman Heidi Glick Kate Grace Hugh Gregory Zenzi Griffin Emily Groh Sue Hendrix Matthew Hogben Bob Hogan Linda Hogan Jack Honderd Molly T. Hottel |
Paul Jennings Kristen Karably Mary Alice Kemp Ralph Kirkland Linda Kirkland Melissa Kosmin Cris Lake Leslie Lazarus Rob LeBeau Trisha Lee Gill Leggett Melanie Leggett Debbie Loomis Mike Maschmeyer Joan Mazzotini Marghe Means Lyn Menne Mark Moncrier Barbara Moore Lester Moore Fran Morrison Maria Mullins Pat Murphy RA Myers Ann Marie Nector Gardner Neely John Parker Scott Pendergrast Iyona Perez Mai Phung Paul A. Pierce David Popke Michele Ritan Hugh Saxon David L. Smith Frances Smith Bew Spencer Daniel Spieler Tom Stubbs Mary Swint |
Scott Tewell
|