Guest Editorial by Louis Sheppard, PH.D.

This guest editorial by Windemere Drive resident Louis Sheppard is comprised of remarks he presented at the MLPA Zoning Committee meeting last Tuesday night.

"The current Opus plan, for redevelopment of Rock Springs Plaza, is unacceptable because of the travesty it perpetrates upon the adjacent forested plot: It stipulates knocking down the stands of trees and the construction of a five level building for parking. Rezoning from single family residential (R-4) to multiple family residential (MRC-2) has to be stopped. The forested acreage serves as a buffer between the commercial site and the homes of the neighbors facing onto Windemere Drive.

In 2006, rezoning application Case # Z-06-32 sought to invade N Rock Springs, with the intrusion of a transition zone behind our home at 1858 Windemere Drive NE. City Council and its Zoning Committee, the ZRB and the NPU-F voted against the attempt unanimously, thereby upholding tradition and past precedents which apply here.
All of us have everything to lose and nothing to gain by permitting Opus to, “trade trees for density.” The undeveloped acreage and the commercial rezoning are not reciprocal, in actual fact. Opus does not have any trees to trade. We must not donate the trees to them for trading back to us.

I respectfully propose that the Zoning committee reject the rezoning request by denying the designation MRC-2, multi-family residential.

On the second matter, we must present an immutable position in relation to the commercial site, wherein they are won over to make new concessions to achieve an economic level of density without: Greater traffic overloads, More than two stories above ground level, Drainage runoff problems, and Failure to comply with the riparian buffer zones.

Only by this means are we able to insure that the barely marginal safety of Windemere Drive will not be worsened by becoming an even more heavily traveled raceway for autos and bicycles.

And, we must prevent our land from being relegated to the status of a transition zone between commercial and residential; nothing more than a buffer for the edge of Morningside nearest Piedmont.

To that end I respectfully urge the Zoning Committee to defer any hearings and decisions until we have persuaded Opus to devise a redevelopment plan that is much less hostile to Windemere Drive of the Morningside neighborhood.

CONCLUSION

Before any applications are considered for a vote, crucial questions need to be addressed with respect to the current plan for redevelopment.

The number of levels and the density will be devastating to the tranquility and beauty of our Morningside community and exacerbate an already intolerably unsafe traffic load, affecting the entire length of Windemere and Wildwood.

Riparian buffer zone matters and drainage of runoff have far-reaching consequences on neighbors residing below the rear of Rock Springs Plaza and on us alongside the drainage channel. Even now our yard is being washed away so severely that barriers of stone-filled wire mesh are necessitated to stem the erosion. The City of Atlanta, Department of Watershed Management shuns responsibility on private property.

The request for rezoning of the forested acreage is a “straw-man.” We must avoid being outmaneuvered by the developers who hope to bargain away something they do not have. Pretending the two matters are connected would enable the trading of trees for additional levels for parking and apartments.

Windemere Drive is in immediate danger of being transformed from a protected street into a transition zone; thereby rendering that part of the street unsuitable for living all the way to the drainage waterway.

Respectfully, I advocate: Immediate rejection of the rezoning request from single family (R-4) to multi-family residential (MRC-2) on the forested acreage and Deferral of all other hearings until the commercial redevelopment plan has been altered to reflect reasonable consideration of the neighbors who are most impinged upon.

By this means we shall be afforded the time essential to the efforts on our part to assist Opus and its architects. We can help them bring forward a plan for redevelopment that: Preserves the integrity of Windemere Drive and Enables Opus to enjoy a lucrative venture in a cordial environment."

Louis Sheppard, Ph.D., D.I.C., FIEEE, FAIMBE, FBMES, FACMI
Registered Professional Engineer
Windemere Drive Resident