Decatur, GA — The City Commission at a Sept. 28 special called meeting approved rezoning the historic UMC chapel to allow for the conversion of the stone chapel into a meeting and event space.

The building formerly housed Decatur First Kindergarten and Preschool.

WT 318 Sycamore, LLC, a partnership organized by Decatur attorneys Kyle Williams and Eric Teusink, is under contract to purchase the properties from the church.

The approved ordinances changed the land use designation from RL – Low Density Residential to C – Commercial/High Density Residential, rezoned the building from R-60 – Single Family Residential to C-2 – General Commercial, and included a special exception from the Downtown Decatur Special Pedestrian Area related to the location of surface parking, with conditions that the parking will be clearly designated for the historic chapel.

In the requests and petitions section of the meeting, Lynn Gathercole with Legacy Park Voice again brought up the housing addendum to the Legacy Park master plan. City Manager Andrea Arnold noted that the written response from Legacy Park Voice to a Decaturish editorial was requested to be included in the public record by resident Sonali Saindane.

In the closing of the meeting, Arnold recognized Decatur Active Living employee Sara Holmes for receiving the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association’s Mike Daniels Award for Excellence in Programming. A Decatur resident, Lee Goldsmith, was recognized by GRPA as Volunteer of the Year.

The City of Decatur has been awarded the Certificate for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The award recognizes transparency and full disclosure in financial reporting and is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting.

Mayor Garrett highlighted a recent new mural honoring John Lewis on Grove Street in Decatur, and also encouraged Decatur residents to respond to the 2020 census, as the deadline has been extended but is still approaching.

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