IPNA August 2017 Agenda

1. Welcome & Introduction of Newcomers

2. Police Officers’ Report

Do you love Bass Field? Do you love Little Five Points? Plans are underway to redesign Findley Plaza in Little Five Points with Renew Atlanta funds. The Little Five Points Commercial Improvement District’s (L5PCID) Findley Plaza Redevelopment Committee will conduct two community input meetings on the following days, times, and location. Show up and voice your vision for Findley Plaza and Bass Fields. 

Saturday, August 12th from 10:00 am to noon in the Sevenanda Community Room (the downstairs of 467 Moreland Ave)

 Wednesday, August 16th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the Sevenanda Community Room (the downstairs of 467 Moreland Ave)

Neighbors came out to hear more about the Villa de Grip proposed plan and zoning change Thursday night at Regina Brewer's home. Brewer hosted an informal meeting with architect, Cooper Pierce, to give neighbors an opportunity to hear about the project before it goes to a vote at this month's IPNA meeting. Neighbors were vocal about the high volume of new traffic they say the development would create, along with increased danger to pedestrians trying to cross North Highland at Elizabeth. Neighbors also expressed concerns about people turning into the would-be parking garage from N. Highland, an entrance that would be roughly 35-feet from the stop sign at N. Highland and Elizabeth. Residents said that N. Highland is always backed up to Caramel St. at night and the new development would only further back up the already strained intersection. 

Pierce said the owners would be open to a traffic study but doubted a light would much of a difference as the traffic problems go deeper and fall under the city's purview. In response to the neighbors concerns over the massive scale of the development, Pierce opened the floor to suggesstions from residents on what would be acceptable. Pierce said is neighbors have ideas they could email him at [email protected] 

At the upcoming August IPNA meeting, neighbors are scheduled to vote on two seperate issues in regards to the Villa de Grip property. First will be  a vote on whether or not to combine the two lots purchased seperately into one. Second, will be to vote on whether or not to change the zoning of the building from RG-1 (multifamily residential) to C-1 (commercial). 

Regan Hammond gave updates on Renew Atlanta and the plans for 3 upcoming projects: Euclid and Edgewood, Krog St and Lake Ave and N. Highland from Alaska to Elizabeth St. Full plan details will be available at Inmanpark.org.

Little 5 Pts Halloween Parade Permit approved. parade will be on October 21, 2017. 

Anna Foote from the Atlanta Commercial Improvement District came to discuss Findley Plaza and Bass Fields. Residents strongly voiced their desire to maintain Bass Fields as green space where kids can play instead of developing the land into a parking deck or other structure. IPNA Pres Neil Kinkopf expressed the IPNA's desire to have a neighborhood rep become part of the the CID's process. 

Lifelong Inman Park Vote Upcoming

The neighborhood will be voting on the Lifelong Inman Park Plan at our upcoming meeting, Wednesday, July 19, 2017 at the Trolley Barn at 7:30pm. 

The Lifelong Inman Park Plan was developed to guide Inman Park’s transformation into a Lifelong Community by incorporating the needs of older residents into all aspects of community planning, development, and living. It was presented to neighbors at the June IPNA meeting. 

This plan reflects a national Lifelong Communities movement and addresses four Lifelong principles. These principles were identified through neighborhood surveys, a walking tour, and a workshop along with input from IPNA Board and neighbor meetings. The plan addresses housing, mobility/accessibility, services/information, and social engagement. For each principle, the plan describes existing conditions and identifies goals and policies that will guide the development of the Lifelong projects the neighborhood undertakes.

1. Welcome & Introduction of Newcomers

Please plan to Attend the Presentation of the Lifelong Inman Park Master Plan
June 21, IPNA Meeting

The Lifelong Inman Park Plan was developed to guide Inman Park’s transformation into a Lifelong Community by incorporating the needs of older residents into all aspects of community planning, development, and living.

This plan reflects a national Lifelong Communities movement and addresses four Lifelong principles. These principles were identified through neighborhood surveys, a walking tour, and a workshop along with input from IPNA Board and neighbor meetings. The plan addresses housing, mobility/accessibility, services/information, and social engagement. For each principle, the plan describes existing conditions and identifies goals and policies that will guide the development of the Lifelong projects the neighborhood undertakes.

Inman Park’s plan is posted on the IP website for neighbor’s to review and a formal presentation will occur at the June 21st IPNA meeting. First is Lifelong IP  Report , Lifelong Inman Park Appendix and Lifelong IP Inplementation.

ANNUAL IPNA FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION 

Join us to celebrate Independence Day at the Trolley Barn on Tuesday, July 4 from 4pm-6pm. Inman Park will provide the chicken and beverages and you bring a side to share. It's a great way to visit with your Inman Park neighbors or just show off your new Peachtree Road Race t-shirt! Hope to see you there! 

Event Coordinator: Carol Mitchell (404-659-2579)

Please join us for a volunteer event in Findley Plaza. We'll be beautifying the space and adding a unique art installation in anticipation of the Inman Park Festival. We need all the help we can get!

Please sign up using this link: 
http://www.signupgenius.com/…/20f0b4ea9a72ba3f58-l5pfindley/

Caterpillar Costume Ball

Hayrides! Hot dogs! Prizes! And COSTUMES... The Caterpillar Ball has it all! This Ball is for children of all ages with prizes, crafts, face painting and hayrides!

• Costumes are fun and highly encouraged but not required.
• Hayrides, generously provided by Bo Bradshaw, are from 5:30-6:30pm.
• Hot dogs come in both beef and veggie and are provided by Wrecking Bar Brewpub.

The 2017 Caterpillar Ball will be on Thursday, April 28, 5-7pm, at the Inman Park Cooperative Preschool Outdoor Classroom on the corner of Edgewood Avenue and Waddell Street.  $3 per person (adults and children alike!)

Say Goodbye to Suicide Lane on Dekalb Avenue

Dekalb avenue is getting an overhaul, thanks to the Renew Atlanta bond referendum voters approved two years ago. The city held a second public meeting about the roadway on March 30th to present ideas designers came up with after getting input from residents.

The result was a list of options for the road and its intersections ranging from roundabouts and advanced traffic signaling to just two lanes with buffers, bike lanes and turn lanes. Those at the meeting were presented with the various designs and asked to vote on their favorite in a non-binding online poll.

None of the options included the so called “suicide lane”, the reversible lane that switches direction with rush hour traffic.

Inman Park Festival
April 29-30 

There will be lots to do: Juried arts show | Crafts show | Three stages of Live music |Quality Eats | Craft beer, Wine, Mixed drinks | Tour of homes | Dance festival | Kid-zone and last but not least…The PARADE on Saturday at 2PM.

Festival hours are Sat 12PM-7PM, and Sun 12PM-6PM.  You can read more about Festival at www.inmanparkfestival.org

IPNA SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENT PLAN – A WALKABLE INMAN PARK INITIATIVE

IPNA is stepping up so that you can step out with confidence. You probably have noticed the new sidewalks improving streetscapes throughout Inman Park due to the dedication of our Sidewalk Committee. Thanks to increased IPNA budget allocations and Festival Beer tips, approximately 60K will be spent replace crumbling neighborhood sidewalks during 2017.

The Inman Park Sidewalk Committee was formed in late 2001 to salvage our deteriorating sidewalks by offering subsidies to Inman Park neighbors since the City of Atlanta requires homeowners to maintain their own sidewalks. To date, this committee has managed replacement of over 150 individual sidewalks and five community sidewalks throughout the neighborhood. This year the Sidewalk committee, with support from the Lifelong Inman Park committee, has carefully crafted a three-year implementation plan that addresses:

1. Need indicated by sidewalk surveys conducted during 2013 and 2016
2. Development of subsidy program participation criteria 
3. Preservation of trees based upon Tree Watch and arborist report obtained early 2017
4. Maximization of available funding from IPNA budget and Festival Beer tips
5. Collaboration with city officials to maintain park area sidewalks and improve the sidewalk permitting processes
6. Expansion of subsidy to include not only individual homeowners but also target streets posing greatest risk
7. Development of subsidy program participation criteria

The first year of the plan (2017) subsidizes two groups of homeowners:
A).   Individual homeowner applicants to the IPNA Subsidy Program. The standard subsidy is 50%, but two (2) contiguous neighbors receive a 55% subsidy, and three (3) or more contiguous neighbors receive a 60% subsidy. The application process for the IPNA Subsidy Program is explained below. Eight (8) applicants are moving forward with replacement during 2017.

Little 5 Points Mini-Precinct

The Atlanta Police Mini-Precinct in Little 5 Points is now in it's 19th year, and continues to be a cornerstone in our community’s approach to reduce crime.

The Mini-Precinct Satellite Police Station project, is a public/private partnership between the City of Atlanta and community.

The officers, equipment, supplies, computers, electronic and video communication gear, etc., are funded by the Police Department. The community provided the funds to renovate the space and continues to pay for rent, repairs, utilities and other operating costs. That funding has come from L5P Business Association and its members; Neighborhood Organizations; and contributions from individual households in the area. Thus, this yearly appeal for individual donations.

Since it opened, the increased presence and visibility of Atlanta Police Officers that the Mini-Precinct brings to our community, has made a significant difference in the conduct of those hanging out in L5P and the surrounding community.

In Defense of Our Homeless Neighbors

As Inman Park resident, I want to welcome our homeless brothers and sisters, and stand in opposition to an article published in the Inman Park Advocator last month. The individuals referred to as “Urban Campers” in the article are our neighbors. They should be welcomed and treated with respect and dignity, rather than labeled with inaccurate, degrading stereotypes while calling for their forcible removal.1 Our neighborhood would not be the vibrant, progressive space that it is without all of our residents.

By definition, a homeless person “has no private property and therefore no choice but to perform tasks necessary to life [in a public space].” Encouraging the city council to revise the 1996 Urban Camping Ordinance to begin persecuting these behaviors encroaches on the humanity of an already vulnerable population. The ordinance, which made “the ‘improper use of public spaces,’ [illegal] including erecting tents or other temporary structures or objects providing shelter; sleeping in a single place for more than one hour at a time; cooking or preparing meals; or other similar activities,” was overturned as unconstitutional in 1997 in a class action lawsuit lead by the ACLU.

During its short span, Urban Camping Ordinance resulted in the arrest of a college student and an employed homeless person, among countless others, pushing them deeper into homelessness rather than out of it.3 In a recent survey, almost every homeless youth in Atlanta, when asked about their future, had goals, dreams, and in many cases, specific plans in place to achieve them.4 Let’s not revert back to damaging legislation that so deeply offends human dignity and pushes youth into harmful situations.

BUTTERFLY BALL TICKETS 2017
By Thea Quillian, Butterfly Ball Chair

On Friday, April 28th from 8:00 p.m. to midnight, Butterfly Ball will kick-off our 46th Festival, and all IPNA members (membership is free to all residents of Inman Park) are invited. The Ball is sponsored by the IPNA Festival Committee, and if you have signed up for membership via the website (www.inmanpark.org), you will receive an email invite with instructions about obtaining tickets.

Those registered IPNA members will receive an email invitation with instructions on when and how to purchase tickets in mid to late March. The tickets will go on sale in early April. You must be registered as a member to receive the email with the link to the tickets sales. Also, for couples, each member must register independently.

Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. You can purchase two (2) tickets per individual or a maximum four (4) per household. Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to boogie. Bogey and the Viceroy will be here to entertain us this year. We will have two bars (drink tokens can be purchased at check in) and wonderful food catered by Bold American Catering, desserts to follow by local Inman Park eateries. (Non-alcoholic drinks are complimentary as well.)

Last week approximately 250 people turned out for our monthly meeting. Most were there to consider the Special Use Permit application of the Druid Hills preschool, proposing to move into St. Joseph's Church at the corner of Seminole and Sinclair. The previous week, the immediate neighbors voted 44-7 to oppose the application. At the IPNA meeting, the Preschool presented its proposal to the full neighborhood and the immediate neighbors presented their concerns, which focused on traffic. After more than one hour of question-and-answer, discussion, and advocacy, the neighborhood voted, 110-82, to support the immediate neighbors and to oppose the preschool's application. The neighborhood's vote is not legally binding; it is a recommendation to the City.

The next step in the process is for the applicant to present its application to the Neighborhood Planning Unit. The NPU will consider the application at its next meeting. The meeting is open to the public and anyone interested in the issue should plan to attend, though you should also know that the discussion and opportunity for public input is much more limited than the opportunity afforded at our monthly meeting. As with the decision at the IPNA meeting, the decision of the NPU is a non-binding recommmendation to the City. Rick Bizot, our Inman Park Representative to the NPU, has prepared a description of the procedures that the NPU follows:

Druid Hills Preschool for a Special use Permit

As Board of the Inman Park Neighborhood Association, we are aware that the pending application of the Druid Hills Preschool for a Special use Permit has generated a great deal of interest. The neighborhood will be voting on the proposal at our next monthly meeting on Wednesday February 15 at 7:30 at the Trolley Barn. Below, we set forth the procedures and some other points for any resident who plans to attend to bear in mind.

DELIBERATION.
First, the applicant (Druid Hills Preschool) will have 10 minutes to present its proposal. At the conclusion of the applicant’s presentation, the chair will recognize an immediate neighbor for 5 minutes to present their objections. After these presentations, we will open the floor for 25 minutes for questions and discussion. After the period for questions and discussion, we will devote 20 minutes total to advocacy. Those wishing to speak will form two lines. One line will be for opponents of the application, the other for supporters of the application. We will alternate comments between the opponents and supporters. Each line, opponents and supporters, will be allotted a total of 10 minutes. No individual may speak for more than one minute. Because we have allotted 20 minutes for advocacy, the Board asks that participants refrain from engaging in advocacy during the period for questions and discussion.

We recognize that our procedure requires that all meeting participants act in good faith. The meeting chair may determine, in his sole discretion, that it is appropriate to reduce, extend, or otherwise revise time allotments. The Board understands that there is disagreement regarding the benefits and burdens of the application. We are committed to deliberating constructively on the substance of these points. We urge both supporters and opponents of the application to confer in advance to ensure, to the extent possible, that the individuals making comments do not make duplicative points.