Decatur City Commission to consider approval of South Housing Village design
The city of Decatur had board's up at the South Housing Village open house on Feb. 28, 2022 showing the plan for the project. This board shows the area of trees that will be preserved. Photo by Zoe Seiler.
Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission will meet on Monday, April 18 at 6:30 p.m. for a work session and at 7:30 p.m. for a regular meeting. The meetings are held in person at Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, as well as Zoom.
During the regular meeting, the board will consider approval of the South Housing Village design and will appoint the city’s next police chief. The work session will be focused on an update on Trees Atlanta’s invasive plant removal project.
To access the meeting, follow these instructions:
To view the agenda, click here.
“Public Comment” or “Requests and Petitions” portions of the meeting may attend the meeting in one of two ways:
1. Attend in-person by coming to Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough St. A temperature check and wearing of a face covering are required for entry into the building.
2. Register in advance at https://zoom.us/j/93338271279. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. You may also participate by phone by calling (929) 205-6099 and entering the meeting ID (The 11-digit number shown in the Zoom registration link.)
NOTE – This meeting will utilize virtual meeting technology. We cannot guarantee it will operate as planned. If your participation must be a matter of public record, attend the meeting in person or email your comments to City Manager Andrea Arnold at [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 18th.
Members of the public may also view the live broadcast of the Decatur City Commission meeting at https://www.decaturga.com/citycommission/page/streaming-video
The South Housing Village at Legacy Park will feature 132 units made up of apartments, stacked flats and duplexes at the corner of South Columbia Drive and Katie Kerr Drive. The site of the development is about seven acres.
At the Nov. 15, 2021, city commission meeting, the board approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Decatur Housing Authority. The DHA will serve as the developer of the South Housing Village at Legacy Park.
DHA Executive Director Doug Faust and the development team presented the design to the city commission on Monday, April 4.
“We do look at this as a community,” Faust said at the April 4 city commission meeting. “This is not a project. This is not public housing. This is a community of families.”
There are currently four duplexes on the site, which will be replaced with the new housing.
The design includes four apartment buildings, each with a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Three of the buildings have 24 units and the fourth will have 30 units. The apartments will be three stories tall, although the master plan had called for the apartments to be four stories.
The plan calls for four stacked flats, each with six three-bedroom units, as well as three duplexes, each with two two-bedroom units. The stacked flats will also be three stories and the duplexes will be two stories.
Amenities will include a community center, a shared outdoor recreation space, community gardens, an entry plaza, a grilling pavilion and several covered pavilions.
In addition to the design, the resolution up for consideration also outlines that the city commission will commit about $3.7 million for non-utility infrastructure improvements, City Manager Andrea Arnold wrote in a memo.
“Through the attached resolution, it is recommended that the City commit State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) from the approximately $9.6 million that the City has been allotted through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA),” Arnold said.
The city will allocate $2.4 million for phase one and $1.3 million for phase two of the project, according to the resolution.
Additionally, during the regular meeting, the city commission will appoint the city’s next police chief. Decatur Police’s interim police chief, Scott Richards, has been named the sole finalist in the search to fill the position.
The city initiated an extensive national recruitment process after the retirement of former Police Chief Mike Booker, who served as chief for 15 years.
Richards began his career as a police officer with the city of Decatur in 1994 and has served in various capacities throughout his tenure. He has served as deputy police chief since 2016, before being appointed interim police chief in April 2021. Richards received a bachelor’s of science degree in criminal justice from Georgia State University and a master’s of public safety administration degree from Columbus State University, according to a previous press release.
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