Focus on Downtown Development

From the latest issue of the Decatur Focus newsletter.

March 2010
Decatur Business Activity Shows Signs of ‘Spring’

New business openings downtown and better holiday sales reported by retailers suggest the local economy may be poised for an upturn.

Retail and Restaurant Update
In recent weeks some Decatur residents have expressed concern over business closings – particularly in the downtown area. As we explained in the January/February Focus, we all hate to see a business close but Decatur is not alone in feeling the effects of the economic downturn. Relatively speaking our vacancy rates are better than the metropolitan Atlanta average of 10.7 percent. The good news is that retail and restaurant interest in Decatur remains high. Downtown Decatur retailers reported that 2009 ended better than 2008 and most saw an uptick in sales during the holiday season.

The new gallery Wild Oats and Billy Goats is scheduled to open this month in the By Hand South space. This new folk art gallery is owned by two local residents and will be a great addition downtown. The Farm Burger moving into the Voila space has a focus on organic food and is a great fit for Decatur. If you haven’t visited Mac Magee’s, the new Irish pub on the square, March is the perfect month to give them a try. A new film production company called Pogo Pictures is opening in the space above Parker’s on Ponce.

All of these businesses fit into our recruitment strategy: retailers who specialize in locally produced, one-of-a-kind and environmentally sustainable products; restaurants that are chef driven, environmentally conscious and have a commitment to locally grown food products; and commercial tenants who are involved in creative business ventures. Each new business opening moves us closer to our goal.

So, it isn’t all doom and gloom – just requires us to be a bit more creative in our recruitment efforts. Decatur of all places has a unique ability to survive and thrive even in the worst of times. So please do our existing retail and restaurant businesses a favor – continue to support them and spread the word throughout metro Atlanta that Decatur is alive and well and still has a large number of wonderful, locally owned retail and restaurant businesses.

In the meantime, the City of Decatur will continue to support existing retail and restaurant businesses through our economic development efforts. We print the popular Shopping, Dining and Services Guide twice each year and include every retail, restaurant and service business in the city at no charge. The directory includes a map of the city’s commercial districts and our calendar of events. We distribute the directory through local businesses and the Holiday Inn but also place it in welcome centers around the state and at key metropolitan Atlanta tourism locations.

We host quarterly meetings with our retail and restaurant businesses to talk about issues specific to them. Last month we presented a program on shoplifting and our next program will provide tips on creating attractive window displays. We also work with them to determine the best advertising sites for their customer base and help underwrite the cost of these ads to make them more affordable to our local businesses.

The Decatur Beer Festival Committee contributes to our advertising fund each year as a way of supporting local business. The wayfinding sign system installed throughout our city helps direct visitors to our local businesses. The many festivals, concerts and special events held downtown are another way to market our commercial districts. These are just some of the ways we work to support our existing businesses. We work to attract potential customers to Decatur, but it is up to businesses to get them in the front doors – and get them to return.

Strategic Plan Update
In 2000, the City of Decatur adopted a Strategic Plan that included a vision for the decade and outlined the important steps needed to achieve the vision. It was a successful effort that allowed us to accomplish more than 85 percent of the goals and projects we identified. Now it’s time to create a new 10-year vision and strategic plan and we need your help. Information is available in this newsletter about how you can sign up to participate.

We are asking for a small investment of your time to help us create a community vision for our future. We will kick off this visioning process on April 15 at the Holiday Inn Conference Center and we want as many of you as possible to joins us. We also need volunteers to serve as facilitators for the small group sessions we are planning between April and June. If you are an experienced facilitator or are interested in being trained as a facilitator, please volunteer.

October 2009
Share the Road

Decatur is hard at work implementing a “complete street” concept to assure that our transportation network keeps all users in mind – including pedestrians of all ages and abilities, bicyclists, automobiles and public transit vehicles. Information about the complete street concept, the city’s community transportation plan and specific improvement projects planned for construction can be found at www.decaturga.com.
As we work to improve sidewalks, install bicycle lanes, upgrade signals, install pedestrian crossings and invest in infrastructure improvements outlined in the plan, let’s keep in mind that everyone using the transportation system must obey the rules to create a truly safe “complete street” network in our community.
There are basic traffic laws that we should all know but often it’s more about common sense and following the Golden Rule. We are working on a simple reminder card for all of our various transportation users and will launch an education program later this year. Here are a few simple reminders:

1. Automobile drivers must stop for pedestrians in cross walks and remain stopped until the pedestrian has reached the other side.

2. Pedestrians crossing at signalized intersections must obey the traffic signal. They may not walk on a green left turn arrow. The left turn arrow is important for clearing the intersection of automobiles and allowing the intersection to work efficiently. Wait until the light turns green and/or the “walk” signal is illuminated.

3. Cars turning right on a green traffic signal must yield to pedestrians crossing on a green light. Before turning right on a green light, always look first for pedestrians getting ready to step off the curb to cross.

4. Cyclists must obey the rules of the road, including stopping at all four-way stops and obeying all traffic signals – and please use your hand signals when turning.

5. Cyclists overtaking another cyclist or a pedestrian should call out “passing on right” or “passing on left” to alert the person ahead that they are passing.

6. Cyclists younger than 13 are allowed to ride on sidewalks but should always yield to pedestrians. The same goes for skateboarders. It is unsafe to weave through pedestrians – particularly older residents – and remember to alert pedestrians up ahead that you are approaching.

We are working with DeKalb County to upgrade both traffic and pedestrian crossing signals throughout the city. We continue to install sidewalks and mid-block crossings and are working with DOT to expand school zone designations on major roadways. In the meantime let’s all work on following the rules and treating others with respect.

Valet Parking on the Square
Don’t forget to try out the valet parking service offered downtown on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights on N. McDonough behind the bandstand. The service is $3 so it’s an inexpensive option for parking around the square. We have plenty of parking opportunities for those who know where to find it. For information on downtown parking decks and parking deck rates, visit the city’s website.

Creative Community
Thanks to all who submitted your six-word descriptions of Decatur. We have some very talented folks out there. Thanks to the Decatur Metro Blog for participating too. Together we generated more than 150 six-word entries. We’re sharing a few here and will continue to post a few each month. We’ll also post all the entries on the city’s website soon. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Just like home without the relatives
• Decatur. Where your neighbors are your friends
• Inside the Perimeter. Outside the box.
• Decatur. Trendy brews, comfortable shoes, Subarus
• Decatur. There’s a festival for that.
• Take a stroll. Feed your soul.
• Easy to love. Hard to leave.
• Expected a lot but got more.

More next month . . .

September 2009
Shop Locally. It Counts!

First, we want to say a heartfelt goodbye and thank you to Brenda Leder and By Hand South. The Decatur business community is very much like a family and our business owners are friends as well as colleagues. Brenda certainly has earned her retirement after more than 20 years in retail and we wish her all the best as she begins a new chapter in her life. However, we will miss her support and her beautiful store. If anyone is interested in continuing the By Hand South legacy, Brenda would be happy to consider the possibility.

I know most Decaturites don’t need much encouragement to shop locally because they understand the value of supporting the local community. And most would agree that our local shops and restaurants make Decatur a great place to work and live. There’s little doubt that local businesses improve the quality of a community, but it’s hard to quantify that value. That being said, we discovered an organization that creatively sums up the quantitative value of shopping locally. It’s called the 3/50 Project. What does it stand for? Pick 3. Spend $50. Save your local economy.
In other words, pick three local businesses that you want to support and spend a total of $50 at those businesses each month. If half the employed population in the nation spent $50 every month in locally owned businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays local.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t shop at national chains. Instead, the 3/50 Project encourages consumers to spend $50 of their budget each month at three locally owned shops or restaurants. So next time you need a last minute birthday card or gift, stop by one of Decatur’s gift shops or boutiques or think of buying a gift card to a local restaurant.

To learn more about the 3/50 Project visit www.the350project.net.

July/August 2009
DeVry Campus Annexation Hearings Scheduled

Last year, DeVry University moved its main DeKalb campus into downtown Decatur. The old campus at 246 Arcadia Ave. (off DeKalb Industrial Way) was based on a 1980s model that no longer fit DeVry’s education strategy. The university now operates a number of small campuses throughout the metropolitan Atlanta area and much of the course-work is offered online.

As part of the move to downtown Decatur, the university put the old DeKalb campus on the market. The 21-acre site borders the city of Decatur along Winn Way on the east, and because of its size and proximity, there has been a high level of interest in annexing the parcel into the city limits. This would allow Decatur to have control over development issues.

DeVry considered the option of remaining in unincorporated DeKalb or requesting that the property be annexed into the city of Decatur. After months of research and discussion, the university determined that the property would be more attractive to potential buyers if it was part of Decatur and began pursuing annexation in June 2009. The proposed application only includes the DeVry property and an out-parcel owned by a telecommunications firm.
Currently there is no buyer for the property and no development proposed for the site. However, annexing the property into Decatur would allow the city to have control over any future development and benefit from tax revenue generated by the property.

Even if the property were to sell by the end of this year and development proposals began to move forward next year − an unlikely timeline given the current economy − it would be a minimum of two years before any new developments came on line. In the meantime, both the City of Decatur and City Schools of Decatur would benefit from the property tax currently assessed on this property. The value of this tax revenue would increase dramatically as the property is developed in the future.

Mixed Use Zoning
The proposed annexation is a three-step process that involves determining how the property would be zoned if it were brought into Decatur as well as whether the property should be annexed into the city. The property is currently zoned for industrial use by DeKalb County but DeVry has requested that it be rezoned using Decatur’s newly adopted Mixed Use zoning category.

Mixed Use zoning requires adoption of a regulating master site plan, which outlines the maximum development that could be allowed and incorporates standards that future developments on the site must follow. These standards cover building height, density, street types, streetscape improvements and greenspace requirements.
Future development would not necessarily have to build to the maximum allowable building height or construct the maximum number of units but absolutely could not exceed the approved limits. The site plan offers protection to neighborhoods by identifying and clarifying the maximum impact and provides flexibility for the developer to build what will be supported by the market.
Mixed Use zoning supports the development of residential, retail and commercial uses and strongly encourages the creation of pedestrian-friendly districts. Future developments on this property could include a mixture of retail and restaurant businesses to serve residential developments on the site as well as adjacent neighborhoods within walking distance of the property.

Annexation Hearings
The following hearings were held at Decatur City Hall to consider this annexation and rezoning:

July 6. The City Commission considered the annexation request package addressing whether the paperwork was in order and determining that the request should move forward for formal consideration.

July 14. The Decatur Planning Commission met to consider the appropriate zoning category and land use classification for the DeVry property, provided the annexation request was approved by the City Commission.

The hearing scheduled for Aug. 3, 7:30 p.m., is also open to the public. The City Commission will consider two questions, in this order: “If annexed, what is the appropriate zoning category and land use classification for the DeVry property?” and “Should this property be annexed?”
There will be a public comment session and the public is also welcome to submit comments via email or letter to the Decatur City Commission.

June 2009
New Transportation Options Arrive Downtown

Bicycle Taxi Service
New Decatur resident Mike Gerke has introduced a Pedicab service to the city. This bicycle taxi offers a great way to move around the downtown area in an environmentally friendly way. Mike and his crew hope to offer free shuttle service during special events with the help of sponsorships.
The cost for regular shuttle service will begin at $5 depending on the distance to be traveled. The Pedicab service is also available for private rentals for wedding parties, class reunions and similar events. Historic tours around the city are available for $10 per person.
Mike had a similar business in his native Green Bay, Wisconsin, and admits that the hills in Decatur can be daunting but he looks forward to meeting Decatur residents and providing this new service in the community.
So the next time you are visiting the shops and restaurants and find yourself at one end of Ponce de Leon loaded with shopping bags, here is a new option to travel back to the square. Or, if you are downtown and want to travel over to the Oakhurst business district, give the Pedicab service a try.

Valet Parking Now Available
Eagle Parking has introduced a valet parking service in downtown Decatur. The service is available Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at the top of N. McDonough adjacent to the Community Bandstand. The cost for valet parking is $3. The N. McDonough area provides the best place for the pick-up and drop-off service because there is less congestion than on E. Court Square and Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Eagle Parking plans to offer a validation option to local restaurants and retailers but the $3 cost is a bargain rate for the convenience of valet parking.
We expect this service to be a popular addition for visitors who are not familiar with all the parking options in the city, and at $3 it is actually a cheaper option than parking in many of the decks.

May 2009
Straight Answers about Development

In recent months, we have been asked several recurring questions related to development in downtown Decatur. 
The following information allows us to share the answers 
to these common questions.

Q: Isn’t all of this development in downtown Decatur causing Decatur’s population to grow too fast?
A: Not at all and here’s why. Decatur’s population in the 1960 census was 22,000 people. By 1990, the city’s population had dropped to 17,000. Some of the decrease was a result of population shifts to the suburbs in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the reduction in family size and the increase in the number of single occupant households also had a major impact.
The 2000 census put Decatur’s population at 18,200 or about where it was in 1980. If you add up the number of units in the Town Square Condominiums, the Renaissance, the 335 Condominium, the Artisan and the Clairemont and throw in the Ice House Loft Apartments, you get a total of 645 units added since the 2000 census. Even if each of these units had two residents, and they don’t, these developments contributed fewer than 1,300 new residents in the city of Decatur.
Since demographic trends continue to show households getting smaller and the number of single-occupant households increasing, particularly in downtown condominium developments, the impact of downtown dwellings on population growth is minimal.

Q: Hasn’t all of the recent development in downtown Decatur created more storm water run-off downstream?
A: These new developments and their storm water detention systems actually reduce the rate of run-off from the downtown district and reduce the impact on downstream systems, particularly during heavy rains. Here are the reasons:
All of the downtown development projects were constructed on existing asphalt parking lots. Those existing parking lots generated a large volume of storm water run-off. Because of Decatur’s storm water detention requirements, all new developments are required to construct underground water detention systems to collect and store storm water and slowly release it into the storm water system. Developers do not get credit for the fact that the site was already covered in asphalt. Instead, they are required to treat the property as if it had been undeveloped and retained much larger levels of rainwater run-off. Filter systems remove trash and contaminants like oil from the detained storm water before it is released slowly into the storm water system.

Q: But haven’t the designated flood plain areas in the city expanded in recent years?
A: Yes. However, this change is a result of improved survey methods, computer modeling and GIS mapping capabilities that can more accurately identify flood plain areas.

Q: Hasn’t all of this downtown development generated more traffic into the city?
A: Actually, traffic counts along major corridors into the city have decreased over the past decade. This reduction is primarily a result of a change in the office environment here. Decatur was once home to eight major banks at a time when everyone had to actually go to a bank to transact business. Teller lines were packed and mini-traffic jams occurred around banks on pay day. Now, many people do their banking online and direct deposit is standard for payroll transactions. The number of banks has decreased to six.
DeKalb County moved several large traffic generating centers like the automobile tag and title office and the tax office out of downtown Decatur earlier in this decade, which also removed high volumes of automobile traffic from the downtown district. Downtown residential developments generate fewer car trips and have increased the number of people walking instead of driving in downtown.

Q: Aren’t all of these multi-family developments generating a lot of children that will over-burden the school system?
A: Of the more than 600 new units built in downtown, fewer than six house children. More than 60 percent of the residents in these units are empty nesters and the remaining 40 percent are primarily young professionals. Households with school-aged children are generally drawn to single family housing and Decatur hasn’t added a significant number of single family units since the development of the Sycamore Ridge subdivision in the early 1990s.
In 1970, national figures showed that 44 percent of all households had children and only 17 percent of them were single-person households. In 2006, roughly 35 percent of American households had children while 26 percent were single-person households. In Decatur, only 25 percent of our households have school-aged children. Baby Boomers will continue to drive the housing market for the foreseeable future and they are opting for smaller housing units in an urban setting. We believe this will continue to support the condominium market, which provides significant tax revenue for school operations without adding to the student population.

April 2009
Do Your Part to Support Decatur’s Local Economy

The National Main Street Center reports that traditional town centers are weathering the current economic downturn better than suburban strip shopping centers and shopping malls. However, they also report that locally owned businesses do better in communities that have made a commitment to a “shop local” effort.

Many of our retailers and restaurant owners have reported that Decatur residents made a point of shopping local during the recent holiday season and continue to let them know that they are spending their money in Decatur. Your commitment to our local business owners is appreciated and is helping them hang on through this difficult time.

We will be focusing our efforts and our marketing and advertising budget on business retention in the coming year. We are working with our local business owners to document current rental rates and contact landlords to negotiate rent concessions to help our local business owners survive. You can help by spending your money locally and by spreading the word throughout the metro area about our great collection of retail businesses and restaurants.

The National Main Street Center reports that residents support almost 10 times more retail space than a downtown employee or visitor. Our new downtown residents have certainly added a critical customer base for our retail and restaurant businesses but all of our residents are important to their survival. Now that the weather is getting nicer, take the time to get out and walk and visit with our local businesses.

Share Your Stories
Great stories abound about great “Decatur” moments and about examples of the types of behaviors, thoughts and people who make our community the unique place that we love to call home. There’s a wonderful list on Facebook called “You Might Be From Decatur If” that continues to grow as Decatur residents and former residents young and old add their memories about quirky behaviors, funny habits and experiences with friends.

News of our great little city has traveled around the country and even around the world and many of you have reported meeting folks on your travels who had heard about Decatur, Georgia. We would love to start collecting these stories and invite you to share yours with us. If you have a great Decatur story, send an email to Lyn Menne.