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Synagogue arranges Sunday vaccine appointments By JEFFREY ALBERTSON newsroom@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — A local synagogue is taking on a new initiative to increase the number of vaccinated people by offering a Sunday shot schedule as an alternative to work-day appointments. Hosting a vaccine site is the latest Temple Emanu-El effort to assist communities affected by the pandemic. The open space in the Brill Family social hall, used as a polling site during elections, has sat
empty for some time while services remain online or in small group gatherings. The underutilized space sparked an idea filled with the Jewish tradition of pikuach nefesh, that nothing is more sacred than saving a human life. That idea originated with Temple Emanu-El President and former Dunwoody City Council Member Robert Wittenstein, who contacted the Georgia Department of Public Health, the Fulton County Department of Health and state legislators about opening a vaccination site.
getting the vaccine.” April 20 was training day as the first rounds of shots were administered to congregants and volunteers trained in preparation for the formal opening. Spanish language assistance will be available. Written material will be available in several other languages. The vaccination site offers the Moderna shot, which requires two doses spaced 28 days apart.
See SYNAGOGUE, Page 20
Dunwoody City Council defers decision to trim minimum acreage in developments
Plant sale returns after pandemic delay By JEFFREY ALBERTSON newsroom@appenmedia.com DUNWOODY, Ga. — The Dunwoody Community Garden and Orchard at Brook Run held its annual Spring Plant Sale from April 30 to May 2 at the Brook Run Park greenhouses. DCGO’s harvest yields about 3,000 pounds of leafy green vegetables a year to Malachi’s Storehouse at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Dunwoody. This event and the University of Georgia Extension Master Gardener Talks were cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Master gardeners were on-site for this year, though, imparting advice and assisting customers with purchases. The sale featured heirloom tomatoes, organic vegetables, herbs, houseplants, shrubs, and shade enhancing plants. A gardening book and tool sale were added
Wittenstein almost abandoned his idea until he met congregant Leslie Miller, who works for Worldwide Pandemic Solution. The healthcare firm was seeking new opportunities to help fight the virus that has claimed the lives of more than 17,000 Georgians. “We are trying to make Temple Emanu-El a site where people in the community can be welcomed regardless of what their circumstances are,” Wittenstein said. “We have created an environment where there are really no barriers to
By CATHY COBBS newsroom@appenmediagroup.com
JEFFREY ALBERTSON/CRIER
Shoppers browse the herb section at the Dunwoody Community Garden and Orchard’s annual plant sale. this year. More information about the DCGO and upcoming events can be found at the website, dcgo.org. The next master gardener talk will be held May 8 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. discussing the best strategy to fertilize and water food crops, fruit trees and garden perennials.
DUNWOODY, Ga. –– The Dunwoody City Council deferred a proposal that would reduce the minimum land area required for a planned development from 5 acres to 1 acre. At its April 26 meeting, the council considered several modifications to the original plan suggested by the Dunwoody Planning Commission that would raise the minimum area for a planned development to 1.5 acres. In addition, the council discussed several modifications that included adapting standards already established in the city’s comprehensive plan. The council concluded that more study would be needed before the measure could be
considered. “We need to better understand the process,” Mayor Lynn Deutsch said in calling for the deferral, which passed unanimously. A memo from Dunwoody Planning and Zoning Manager Paul Leonhardt outlined the specifics of the request, saying that the change “addresses a shortcoming of the Dunwoody Zoning Ordinance.” Under the current ordinance, when a developer asks for a rezoning, the city provides a variety of conditions –– one of which typically requires following an approved site plan, the memo said. “However, due to the length and specificity of the zoning ordinance, most current development
See COUNCIL, Page 20