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We are in District 2 of DeKalb County. Our representative to the DeKalb County Commission is Jeff Rader. His web site is located at www.commissionerrader.com, and his e-mail address is: jrader@co.dekalb.ga.us .

We are also represented by Kathie Gannon, Super District 6 Commissioner. Her web site is located at www.kathiegannon.com/, and her e-mail address is: kgannon@co.dekalb.ga.us.

For information contact Gene Schmidt, LaVista Park Civic Association Zoning Coordinator at 404.633.4818 or via e-mail at zoning(at)lavistapark.org . To send an e-mail, copy and paste the address into the Address line of a new e-mail. Replace the (at) with the @ symbol.

DeKalb County Public Library is about to break ground on a new, state-of-the-art, eco-friendly library building for the Toco Hill – Avis G. Williams Library. Construction on the new building is scheduled to begin after the branch closes on Saturday, January 12, 2008, with a projected completion date of December 2008. The new 18,000 square foot building, which will be constructed where the exiting building stands, will provide more computers, meeting rooms and community spaces.

The number of computers with Internet access and productivity software will increase from 15 to 42, including a 12 station computer training lab. As always, computer use and workshop offerings will be free to the public.  Besides providing a 100-seat meeting room, a twelve-seat conference room, and a six- seat study/tutor room, the new building will have a larger area dedicated to activities for children and, for the first time, an area for teens to study and learn together. Other new library features will include Wi-Fi access and self-checkout machines. While the library is closed for construction, nearby branches, including the Briarcliff Library and Decatur Library, will remain open for business. Additionally, the Library’s website offers patrons 24/7 access to the Catalog, research information, downloadable audiobooks, and information about library programs and events. To stay up-to-date on this library’s construction progress or to learn more about all the library system’s building projects, check the website: www.dekalblibrary.org  -- godekalb.com

Vote (And Maybe Prayer) On Tap For Druid Hills Tax Allocation District DeKalb County Commissioners may adopt a Tax Allocation District for the area around Druid Hills and Briarcliff Road by the end of the year. It would be the third TAD in unincorporated DeKalb County and one of only four county initiated TADs (the other is in Clayton County) in Georgia.

“According to state law, you have to set the base value on the land on Dec. 31,” said DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon who represents the area. “If we don’t pass it, we will lose a whole year of increment.” The way tax allocation districts work, property taxes derived from the base value continues to go to the county and school system throughout the TAD’s existence. As the property value in the TAD district increases, any increment tax dollars are dedicated to fund public projects within the TAD district. State law requires the county hold at least one public hearing no fewer than five days before a decision to create a TAD. That public hearing will occur at Kittredge Magnet School at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. The vote on the Druid Hills/Briarcliff Tax Allocation District is expected to be at the commission’s Dec. 18 meeting, the commission’s last scheduled voting meeting of the year. The proposed boundaries of the approximately 370 acre TAD district is roughly boarded by I-85 to the north, Knobb Hill Drive to the east, Willow Lake Drive to the South, and Chantilly Drive to the west. During a public presentation on Nov. 28, TAD expert Ken Bleakly said with the proposed redevelopment, the Druid Hills/Briarcliff Tad would generate about $7 million a year in tax increment. With that much increment anticipated, Bleakly said the county could float a $65 million bond, which would be paid back over 25-30 years with the incremental tax dollars. Often, Bleakly said, TADs are so successful, as in the case of Atlantic Station, Georgia’s first TAD, that the area generates more taxes than initially proposed. “Atlantic Station has already gone back and refinanced its bond to a much lower rate and will be able to retire the bonds in a shorter time period than initially proposed,” Blakely said. According to the draft Redevelopment Plan & DeKalb Tax Allocation executive summary, DeKalb County is proposing the redevelopment plan and TAD “to help sustain the developmental viability of an area currently characterized by obsolete structures.” Bleakly said the tax digest in the proposed TAD areas has increased less than 2.5 percent a year since 2002. “Druid Hills and Briarcliff does not represent slums and blight but there has been no redevelopment in the area,” he said. Two major projects are being proposed for the area, however. The Sembler development company is proposing to construct a major mixed-use development—3700 residential units and 1.5 million square feet of retail space—on 107 acres on the north side of the Briarcliff and Druid Hills Roads. The project would replace the Housing Authority’s Park at Briarcliff apartment complex, three DeKalb County schools and other commercial property in the area, all of which are currently in use and not owned by Sembler yet. Another proposed project is RMR company’s redevelopment of 70 acres of the existing Executive Park office park to a mixed sue development with 600,000 square feet of new office space, 700,000 square feet of retail space and 500 to 600 units of residential units. Commissioner Jeff Rader emphasized that the county commission will select the public projects that will be funded with the TAD, not the developers and that with or without redevelopment, something must be done to improve the traffic flow in the area. “These intersections are already overloaded,” Rader told residents at the Nov. 28 meeting. “The infrastructure is incomplete and there are not enough parks in the areas. The area is unsatisfactory as it is now. TAD allows us to concentrate money to solve problems. It would be great if we could fund the projects with money from the general budget but there is no evidence to suggest that would happen.” Several transportation projects have been recommended to improve traffic flow in the area, including adding a roundabout and tunnel under Briarcliff for regional traffic. Also among the proposals is adding more parks and greenspace like trees along major streets and patches of green in existing parking lots. The Livable Communities Coalition survey and analysis of TADS in Georgia, have dubbed TADs in Georgia a success so far. The report notes that since 1999 there have been nearly $445 million in bonds issued for TAD areas, with no loan defaults. The resulting increasing in property tax digest, once all the redevelopment plans are completed in Georgia’s existing TADS, is forecasted to be $6.1 billion. Despite success, Bleakly acknowledges that there are challenges with TAD implementation. “The biggest challenge is the TAD process is complicated,” he said. “It is not a simple thing to get it up and operational . . .You can’t do it fast, it is a year and half to two year process.” Another challenge, Bleakly said, is getting school system consent, a key component to raising enough dollars for projects since the school system receives the majority of property taxes. DeKalb County commissioners know the challenge of gaining school support for TADs very well. They have yet to win approval from the Board of Education on the Avondale and Kensington Tads. Support on the Board of Education for TADs has been mixed and the board has yet to take a formal position on joining in DeKalb’s two TADs and Avondale Estates’ TAD. The issue was the subject of a recent meeting between city mayors and officials and county commissioners on the Commission’s Economic Development Committee. Committee Chair Commissioner Larry Johnson half-jokingly suggested the commission pray (as the Gov. Sonny Perdue did recently for rain) the school board will vote to join the TAD effort. Commissioners Lee May and Kathie Gannon said they would join the prayer circle. “Getting the school system’s participation is the linchpin to making the TADS work here,” Johnson said. According to Economic Development Director Maria Mullins, there have been no redevelopment projects under the two county TADs. “The problem is if you start a project, you can’t later add revenue from the school taxes,” Mullins said. Bleakly said that redevelopment takes much longer without school system participation. Both city and county officials say they will collectively lobby the school board to support TADS, hoping encouragement from both side with sway the board. “I see TADS as an opportunity for partnerships with the school system,” said Stone Mountain Mayor Gary Peet, who said the city would like to see expansion of Stone Mountain High School as a project under a city initiated TAD.” Bleakly said school projects are valid projects that can be funded with TAD and school systems could also receive “payment in lieu of taxes” if a TAD district generates a surplus of tax revenue than initially anticipated. School Systems also don’t have to participate for the full 25 to 30 year duration of the TAD. Several residents who live near Briarcliff and Druid Hills, like Jim Smith who is spear heading Standup DeKalb, a group opposed to the Sembler project, worry that the proposed Sembler project is too big for the area and about its impact on the traffic in the area. They also worry that the creation of the TAD will simply serve Sembler’s objectives. ‘I believe that the Sembler project is too dense for this area,” said Rep. Mike Jacobs who represents the area. Commissioner Rader reminds residents that the commission still has to approve rezoning for the Sembler project to go forth and that the creation of the TAD doesn’t automatically mean Sembler’s project will be approved. “There will be very little development in the public’s interest if we don’t fix the problems that are here now,” he said. “But there can be development under existing zoning, like 5-story buildings, entertainment complexes and apartments at 50 units an acre.” Local resident Sharon Harris stood up during the Nov. 27 to meeting to proclaim she supported the redevelopment plan and Sembler’s project. “This neighborhood isn’t going to stay the same,” she said. “This is not some glorious, beautiful thing. We almost kill ourselves walking on the sidewalks.” --Aileen Harris, godekalb.com

Please look for more updates here soon.