Dunwoody Homeowners Association Transition 2010

Dunwoody, homeowners association debate board involvement Nov. 11, 2010 | Filed in: Local News April Hunt The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A routine discussion about appointments to city boards brought some tension this week to Dunwoody when the question was raised whether Dunwoody Homeowners Association members should be permitted to serve.

At issue was the appearance of a possible conflict of interest should DHA members negotiate privately with developers, only to later vote on those projects as planning or zoning board members.

“Everyone on these boards does a great job; it's not illegal,” Councilman Robert Wittenstein said during a work session Monday night. “But I just wonder when boards that review the same things as the DHA, if there ought to be some separation.”

No city or state ethics rules restrict association leaders from serving, and Wittenstein had no intent to change that. However, his question highlights a matter unique to Georgia’s newest city.

The 2,000-member association acted as the de facto local government for more than three decades before Dunwoody became a city in 2008. Developers routinely presented their plans to the DHA to gauge community opposition and garner support, and it remains an ongoing process.

The group’s strict rules helped shape the community in ways that are visible: limits on the number of apartment complexes, most in the Perimeter area, and keeping the leafy feel to neighborhoods by resisting commercial strips.

Even where the association has failed – its 1980 class-action lawsuit didn't stop the widening of Ashford-Dunwoody and Mount Vernon roads -- the group's power lies in uniting homeowners across the entire community.

“More people show up to the DHA meetings than ever show up to a board of zoning appeals or planning commission meeting,” said Bob Lundsten, a resident active in the group and with various DeKalb County boards. “It’s shortsighted to exclude that.” Lundsten waited through Monday’s nearly four-hour meeting to call Wittenstein’s question “dead wrong” for both city and association purposes.

Other city officials, including past leaders and current DHA members, didn’t have to wait to be heard. 

Councilman Doug Thompson jumped in and argued that any city leader has the legal right to serve on any private board. Thompson, an attorney and accountant, spent time on the association’s board before taking office in July. “They can get different things accomplished,” Thompson said. “I do not want to stifle that group.”

DHA President Bill Grossman echoed that sentiment later this week. The group represented just 6 percent of DeKalb when it was trying to sway the county on issues, he said.

Now that the association’s role is the same as the city’s, it encourages members to get involved on various boards so they know what’s going on, Grossman said. About a half dozen association members serve on various boards, including Grossman, who sits on the city’s planning commission. “It’s inappropriate for me to take a position until it comes to the commission,” Grossman said of any project that might appear before the association. He said a bigger issue was trying to get more people involved, either with the association or city.

The city council came to the same conclusion. By consensus, members agreed it would not appoint anyone to more than one board. They hope that will lead to more residents becoming active on their pet projects, whether on a zoning board or parks committee. That, too, could eventually dilute the number of association members on city boards, said Mayor Ken Wright. He should know. He resigned as DHA president when he ran for office two years ago. “At the end of the day, we all want more people to be aware of the issues and get involved," Wright said.

Source: AJC, 2010.