OCT. 27 - NOV. 9, 2017
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is how do we replace buildings and keep the people? It’s an extremely difficult scenario.” At that Sept. 14 panel discussion, Ernst stepped forward to voice the difficult decisions and choices he, as a city elected official, has to make. “I’ve lost 457 apartment units in the last three-and-a-half years,” he said. “The complexes ... they’re going for $125,000 a door. In the last three years ... Park Towne North [apartments], which probably had the lowest rent, has gone from $600 a month to $1,000 a month.” The promise of a new Cross Keys High School in Brookhaven may spur even more gentrification, he said. The current Cross Keys High, which is vastly overcrowded and suffers from many maintenance issues, is set to become a middle school. A new high school is needed, but it will attract outsiders, he noted. No final site for the new high school has been officially decided. “Do I support that or rail against that?” he said. “Do I [choose] to keep kids in horrendous conditions or advocate for money being spent for them?” The city last year formed an Affordable Housing Task Force to try to deal with, in part, the gentrification of Buford Highway as apartment complexes are torn down to make way for luxury townhomes. “I very strongly believe in the preservation ... of the city’s assets of Buford Highway and would not want its cultural diversity destroyed – that was one of the major issues on my mind when I proposed the Task Force,” said City Councilmember Linley Jones. In July, the Task Force made its recommendations. To date, the city has made some small changes, including: translating zoning signs posted near Hispanic communities into Spanish; forwarding zoning information to Hispanic activists and organizations; holding meetings with city Community Development management, apartment tenants and community leaders to address specific concerns to apartments and zoning; and officially being named a “Welcoming City” to let people know the city is accepting of immigrants. A lot of the recommendations of the Affordable Housing Task Force are part of, or depend on, the rewriting of the zoning ordinance, said city spokesperson Burke Brennan. “That process is underway and recommendations are being researched and incorporated as appropriate per council direction,” he said. “Similarly, the Zoning Rewrite and the Overlay District rewrite are both still underway and provide opportunities for integration of Affordable Housing recommendations.” Jones declined to comment on the Amazon bid, as did Councilmember Joe Gebbia. Jones did note the city has also partnered with a group of Georgia Tech graduate students currently working to come up with ways to ensure Buford Highway’s diversity survives. The creator of the Atlanta BeltLine, Ryan Gravel, also is teaching a studio class on Buford Highway at Georgia Tech in collaboration with We Love BuHi and its founder Marian Liou. The Georgia Tech students hosted their BK
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www.ReporterNewspapers.net first public meeting last month to garner input. Dale Boone, who is challenging Gebbia for the District 4 seat that includes Buford Highway, said in an interview his suggestions includes changing the name of Buford Highway in Brookhaven, perhaps to Brookhaven Boulevard. That way developers won’t be afraid of the “stigma” of Buford Highway, he said. At the Sept. 14 panel discussion, Ernst was asked about the city changing Buford Highway’s name. He said that was not something he supported. The idea was part of a 2014 city-commissioned study of Buford Highway, but has not gained much public traction among council members. Ernst did say a request by Pulte Homes to build a road through Briarwood Park to avoid a Buford Highway address for a proposed new neighborhood where the Terraces at Brookhaven and Northeast Plaza Apartments are currently located was rejected outright by the city. “We denied it,” he said. Ernst said developers approach him “all the time” about wanting to build on Buford Highway. He said “massive turnover and ownership” of the apartment complexes along Buford Highway mean that at some point owners are going to make a decision based solely on money and profit. “I don’t know the answer,” he said. “No matter what decision I make, there will be change. Some will be positive, some will be negative.”
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