Dunwoody:

Continued from Page 1 from residents and a lot of students that walk to [Chesnut Elementary School] and they're concerned about the safety of those students walking to school,” Lambert said. “So, having a more substantial sidewalk and other pedestrian improvements to make it safer, combined with the fact that it would serve two schools, both Chesnut Elementary School and Peachtree Middle School, as well as our flagship park.”

Assistant City Manager Jay Vinicki said that if the bond is approved by voters in November, it will raise most city homeowner’s tax bills by about $150 per year. Still, city officials say the bond is the best way for residents to reap the rewards of amenities their taxes have already gone toward.

Their only other option would be to save a portion of tax funding for 10 to 15 years and take on the projects once the funding is complete, Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch said.

“As we look towards the future, these kinds of questions about how to finance things are important questions and there's some value in taking it to the voters and letting the voters decide,” Deutsch said.

Councilmembers are set to vote on the proposed bond project list and ballot question at a meeting in April. If approved, a call for election will likely be issued in May, Vinicki said.

Senior care home denied

Also at the meeting councilmembers denied a special land use application that would have permitted the construction of a seven-residence, 6,800-square-foot personal care home on Mt. Vernon Road.

Proposed earlier this year as a way of possibly supporting the city’s senior population, the facility would have been built on the site of a 5,000-square-foot home near Dunwoody Village. The dwelling was demolished in 2022, Dunwoody Senior Planner Madalyn Smith said.

Since the last time the project was presented to council members in March, Smith said the applicants revised their proposal to make the project smaller and less obtrusive, due to community feedback.

“Recommendation does remain the same overall, we do as staff see that this proposal would be an integration of a residential care home for senior citizens into a residential area. And that would be a step towards achieving a community where aging in place is possible.”

But despite city staff’s approval of the project, the proposal received mostly negative feedback from city residents each time it was proposed.

Councilmembers unanimously denied the proposal after a brief discussion.