Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission will meet on Monday, Aug. 15, for two work sessions beginning at 5:15 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. The meetings will be held in person at Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, as well as Zoom.

The first work session will be at 5:15 p.m. and will focus on the Decatur bicentennial celebration. The second work session begins at 6 p.m. and the commissioners will discuss the clean energy plan.

To access the meeting, follow these instructions:

To view the agenda, click here.

This meeting will be held in-person. Members of the public wishing to participate during either the “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.

2. Register in advance at https://zoom.us/j/94621826947. 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 a[email protected] by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 15th.

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

During the regular meeting, the city commission will consider the planning commission’s recommendation to approve a conditional use permit for multifamily dwelling use in an I-Institutional zoning district at Legacy Park for the South Housing Village.

The property is located at 700-722 S. Columbia Drive in Decatur. The project, now known as The Village at Legacy, will be 132 units of affordable housing. The site will feature a mix of apartments, stacked flats and duplexes at the corner of South Columbia Drive and Katie Kerr Drive. The site of the development is about six acres.

The Decatur Housing Authority is the developer of the project.

“The City of Decatur understands that the Village at Legacy is a two-phase development project to be completed by the Housing Authority of the City of Decatur, GA (DHA), and its nonprofit development entity, Preserving Affordable Housing, Inc., (PAHI),” Planning and Economic Development Director Angela Threadgill wrote in a memo to the planning commission. “Phase I will consist of the demolition of 10 vacant housing units and the construction of 66 new affordable housing family units on the site, and Phase II will consist of the construction of 66 new family units bringing the total to 132 units.”

The first phase will have a range of one, two and three-bedroom units among a mix of housing types, including apartments and duplexes, Threadgill wrote.

After the city bought the former United Methodist Children’s Home — later renamed Legacy Park — the Decatur Legacy Park Master Plan was adopted by the city commission in December 2018. The final plan includes a housing addendum that provides detail about the housing goals identified during the planning process. One of the adopted housing concepts is the South Housing Village that envisions a community of affordable duplexes, walk-up flats and multiplexes, City Manager Andrea Arnold wrote in a previous memo.

The Legacy Park Master Plan proposes two separate affordable housing villages on the property — the South Housing Village and the North Housing Village. The housing addendum specifies the location and types of housing that will be allowed in each village.

Additionally, during the meeting the city commission will consider awarding a contract to T&J Industries for $54,830 for repair and pavement restoration of five failing sections of streets throughout the city. The board will also consider establishing the project budget at $66,000.

“These areas are near 617 West Howard Avenue, 517 Ponce de Leon Place, Sycamore Place adjacent to 511 Sycamore Street, 135 Clarion Avenue, and the intersection of East Ponce de Leon Avenue and North Candler Street,” Senior Engineer Cara Scharer wrote in a memo. “The work includes traffic control, saw cutting the street section to be repaired, furnishing and installing the backfill material and restoring the asphalt pavement.”

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