Avondale Estates, GA — The Avondale Estates City Commission will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 p.m. for a regular meeting immediately followed by a work session. The City Commission meetings are held in person at City Hall, 21 N. Avondale Plaza, and will be available via Zoom.

To join the meeting via Zoom, click here. To join the meeting via phone, dial 301.715.8592 and use webinar ID: 838 7197 5072.

To view the meeting agendas, click here.

During the regular meeting, the City Commission will discuss the cost and financial options of building the pavilion of the town green project. The board will also consider options for location and types of power poles for the power lines from Georgia Power for the town green.

The original scope of work for the town green included a mixed-use condo-retail development, although it was deemed infeasible toward the beginning of the year. At the Sept. 22 meeting, Jerry Miller of Fabric Developers presented plans for a two-part commercial development. One area will be a multi-use pavilion and parking area. The other aspect will be a restaurant-oriented retail commercial development that will include extensive outdoor dining, sundry retail and office space.

The project includes the construction of four-acres of the land. About two acres will be a park and the other two acres will be an interim solution and potential commercial solution. The site is located along Highway 278/ North Avondale Road between Lake and Oak Streets.

The multi-use pavilion area would be used as a community facility for use as a home for the Avondale Farmers Market, food truck parking and gravel parking for events, according to the proposal.

“We also wanted to incorporate a purely public aspect to this,” Miller said at the Sept. 22 meeting. “We conceive of this as a sort of canopy farmers market that could be used for other public activities as well, and maybe some short-term parking that would apply both to the park and to the commercial development.”

Fabric Developers plan to fund the project through a public-private partnership. The total estimated cost of the commercial development is about $8.15 million.

“What we’re doing here is not something that a private developer would do on his own. It’s more expensive. There’s a good deal of public involvement in it. It’s a true public-private partnership,” Miller previously said. “So we have proposed a structure that provides for [Fabric’s] contribution of 20% of the capital in equity, raising another 40% in private debt, and then using DDA subordinated debt for about 40% of the project. So, that’s about $3.2 million, for a total cost of $8.154 [million].”

The board will continue conversations about the amended tree ordinance as well. Changes include specifying the desired canopy coverage of 50% and alterations to the tree list.

In a memo, Assistant City Manager Paul Hanebuth proposed language to multiple sections to state that the purpose of the ordinance is to “protect the City’s existing healthy tree canopy and amplify it whenever possible, so that coverage remains above 50% and increases over time…”

That language was also added to the ordinance that establishes the Tree Board and adds that “[t]o further this goal, such plan should provide for the planting of overstory (large) trees wherever and whenever practicable,” the memo states.

Additionally, the City Commission will discuss donating a portion of U.S. 278 right of way to the Georgia Department of Transportation for the U.S 278 road diet project.

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