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MAY 2019 • VOL. 10 — NO. 5
MAY 2019
Dunwoody Reporter COMMUNITY
Who’s running for mayor? So far, just one P12
Sandy Sprin gs
Section Two
Perimeter B
►Perimeter
Business: PCIDs turns 20 ►Q+A with local couple behind Atlanta’s big anime convention
Flying into spring
nd-mortar reta il still BY JOHN RUC
works
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johnruch@re porternewsp apers.net
After 20 years of a popu increasingly jammed highw lation boom, scraper-sprouti ays and skyit may soun ng mega-developm ents, d quaint that about Perim people worr eter Mall traffi ied 1999. c way back in But the Perim eter Comm provement unity ImDistricts, the self-t of business property owne axing groups out of those rs that form concerns, are ed sons the local among the reawhy the traffi boom has happened and c to Perimeter isn’t even worse. If you Center today go get there via , you may well one of the PCIDs push big projects ed – like the the Hammond ramps on Drive Ga. woody Road 400 or the Ashford-Du ndiverging change at diamond interI-285 – and you’l touches they’ re responsibl l see smaller scaping and e for, like landrush-hour traffic cops. “They had one, cleaning a reputation for, num ber things up, provi those cosm ding some etic of used to,” said amenities we’ve all becom Ann Hanlon, e the CIDs form who watched as a longt resident and ime Dunw oody now serves as their execu director. “At the tive lutionary, that time, that was pretty revoa private group to pay for those was willing amenities.” Back in 1999, the three cities day cover that toPerim en, Dunwoody eter Center – Broo khavnot yet exist. and Sandy Springs – did As the PCID its next 20 s looks ahea years d to sion on trans , it has refocused its misportation, leaving previ proposals such ous ies. Transporta as park-building to the cittion these erything from days mean s evtrail networks helping to build mult iuse toll lanes and to shaping the futur e of transit on Ga. That’s in addit 400 and I-285. ion to some PCIDs curre of the basic s the ntly like sidewalks provides or coordinate and crosswalk s, shuttles, traffi s, commuter c rimeter Conn signal timing and the Peects comm vice. uter advic e serAn increasing part of Perim ly residential secto r is eter Cente r’s future, with
CONTINUED Ce ON PAGE 34 Congratu lebrate Memorial Da lations to Let us fee all the 20 y and We Deliver! d your fam 19 gradua ily & frie nds wh tes! Sand y Springs/Buc
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business leaders April 25. Adding to the symbolism, the event – hosted by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce and the policy and lobby group the Council for Quality Growth – was not only held in Dunwoody, but in very same Crowne Plaza Ravinia hotel ballroom where the city’s own annual “state
Dunwoody’s old Austin Elementary School, which was expected to close once a new, 900-seat version debuts next year, may remain open temporarily as DeKalb Schools searches for ways to alleviate overcrowding. Doing so would mean extending a lease agreement between the city and the school district, but officials are being tight-lipped about their discussions. The city currently owns the old school at 5345 Roberts Drive, originally built in 1975, as part of a 2016 land swap deal with DeKalb Schools. The agreement included the city trading the former Dunwoody Senior Baseball fields for the school property and DeKalb Schools paying the city $3.6 million. DeKalb Schools is building the new school on Roberts Drive on the site of the former baseball fields and adjacent to the Dunwoody Nature Center, less than a halfmile from the current AES. The city has not finalized what it wants to do with the old school property once it is vacated, but talks have generally focused on creating a park space. The new Austin Elementary School is being built using 2011 special local option sales tax funding. As part of the 2016 agreement, the city agreed to lease the old school to DeKalb
See DEKALB on page 10
See OLD on page 22
Take steps to protect urban wildlife P18
PHIL MOSIER
Layla Smith, left, and Corrine Ovellette, eighth-graders at Peachtree Charter Middle School, ride the swings during the 20th edition of the Lemonade Days festival, which ran April 24-28 at Brook Run Park. The festival this year raised money for the Dunwoody Preservation Trust and the Donaldson-Bannister Farm.
DeKalb CEO touts Dunwoody unity in ‘State of County’ address
BY JOHN RUCH
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TWO
Old Austin Elementary School may remain open to relieve overcrowding
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NATURE AND THEATER MER AT DUNWOO GE DY’S PLAY-READ ING SERIES PAGE 26
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Spr ing 20 19
Main photo , the SPECIA at Ashford-Dudiverging diamond interchang L nwoody Road e looked short ly after open and I-285 as it ing in 2012. Inset, the Ham mond Drive FILE Ga. 400 short interc ly after it open hange with ed in 2011.
Tilly Mill sidewalks spark right-of-way dispute
Mother’s Words of Wisdom
usiness
The PCID of shapings marks 20 years Perimeter C enter
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LOCAL COU PLE BRINGS ANI ME, GAMING EVE NT TO ATLANTA
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DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond touted unity as the force behind local resurgence, and cited his “odd couple” partnership with Dunwoody Mayor Denis Shortal as key bridge-building, in a special “State of the County” address to
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