Dunwoody Parks II

Vote No on Bonds
The Tea Party wants the City of Dunwoody to live within its means. Assuming a minimum of $120 million in Bond debt isn’t living within its means. We believe the city should prioritize spending based on utilization (we all drive on the roads, but very few of us play baseball on the fields). Assuming we need more parks is crazy. We have acre lots, full of trees with our houses sitting in the middle. We play ball in our cul de sacs, close enough to be called in for supper. Our current parks are used very little.

Buying land for parks doesn’t qualify as an emergency or a priority. All the cities in the U.S. collect $1.5 trillion in taxes and have $1.5 trillion in bond debt. Dunwoody would have $20 million in taxes and a minimum of $120 million in bond debt for parks we really don’t need.

The City Council has adopted an arbitrary 10 acres of parks for every 1000 residents standard. This is not a law. It’s the brainchild of some liberal dreamer who peddles very expensive stuff for government to do.

Dunwoody Parks Battles
Homeowner riots occurred the minute they saw the Master Parks Plan. Homeowners next to the power lines stopped the City from building a park there. Brook Run residents showed up with pitchforks objecting to the city’s plan to cut down their trees to build 3 ballfields for the Senior Baseball League. Wyntercreek residents preferred keeping the ball parks next to them, because they are seldom used. The City Council heard that those who live close to these Parks didn’t want anything to change except to improve maintenance. So, the Council approved the Park Plan anyway. Just when you thought it was dead, the Council announced $66 million in Bond issues for parks. Bonds are not a good deal for tax payers; you pay double for what you get. What you get for this is fluff and $120 million in unnecessary debt. Spending $33 million to buy land for more parks and another $33 million to fix them isn’t a priority; it’s fluff. These are low use areas.

It’s clear the current City Council cheered on by the 501c3 Non-Profits and the Perimeter Community Improvement District (PCID) are keeping this beast alive. The Non-Profits want the city to build them new buildings and the PCID wants the city to build parks for them.

Other Tax Threats
We are facing the real possibility of an additional $11 million for the Dunwoody Transportation Plan expense, a 4.5 mil increase to bail out DeKalb County and a $126 billion Atlanta Regional Transportation Plan 2040 MARTA bail-out and expansion. MARTA wants more Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and will push passage of the Plan. They want Dunwoody to buy more park space, because they are planning more high density apartment buildings, so MARTA can increase its ridership. That leaves the DeKalb school district to scramble for PCID proximate classrooms and the City of Dunwoody to scramble to meet an arbitrary 10 acres of parks for every 1000 residents; that would be 400 acres they think we need based on 40,000 residents. We have 188 acres of city land used for parks and venues. In addition we have an equal number of acres that are subdivision or church owned properties.

Density
Dunwoody occupies a mere 13.2 square miles, compared to Sandy Springs with 37.7 square miles. We have 8000 homes and 4000 apartment units with 3000 more apartment or condo units planned at the High Street Project on Hammond Drive on MARTA owned land .

Park Land
We paid over $300,000 per acre for the PVC park to keep it from becoming another apartment complex. We didn’t really need it as a park and we don’t know what to do with it. Dunwoody was established long before we were incorporated as a city. Our residents have primarily been home owners in subdivisions with swim and tennis clubs. Local parks and ball fields are low use venues.

Apartment Zoned Land Owner Bail-outs
There may be other land owners who bought their Dunwoody properties and had DeKalb zone them for apartments and condos. They believe if they can unload their land to the naïve City Council, so they can get out before the next big asset value crash.

Apartment Market
Apartment vacancies should be rising as our 300,000 illegal aliens quietly leave the area. I think this exodus mitigates the threat of more apartment building in Dunwoody for a while.

Dunwoody Park Management
The majority of City Park properties are managed by 501c3 Non-Profit Corporations now operating on city land. The City provides the land, rent free. The Non-Profit budget pays for the management of the venue. These Non-Profit groups raise their own operating funds. It’s a good deal for both if nothing is needed and the city doesn’t need the land for parks. If the properties need expensive maintenance or improvements, the City makes the decisions. The current City Council is inclined to pay for maintenance and improvements or partners with the Non-Profit to share the costs. It’s not clean; it’s a slippery slope.

Non-Profits
We like having these non-profit organizations, but the cost for implementing $33 million in upgrades is too high for low use venues. That leaves them to raise their own funds and fix up these buildings, but these buildings are on City land. If the City wants to sell the land, it should be able to, but that leaves the non-profit evicted after they paid for City building upgrades. It’s messy. These non-profits do raise their own money and some have purchased their own land. All of these non-profits should raise enough money to buy their own land and buildings. We believe that the Non-Profits should pay their own way without tax subsidies or city property to occupy.

Dunwoody Parks Explained
Brook Run Park is a 102 acre park with a skate park, playground, walking and picnic areas. A private company operates the skate park. Perimeter Center Park is a 3 acre park on Perimeter Center East. There are 3 “neighborhood parks”, Windwood Hollow with 11 acres, Vernon Oaks with 5 acres and the new “PVC farm” on 16 acres. That’s 137 acres of parks.

Other neighborhood parks are owned by the subdivisions. Most of us belong to swim & tennis clubs. Many of these have a small park area with playground equipment. These clubs are operated and maintained by homeowners associations and paid for with member annual user fees. The land was usually donated by the developer as atonement for building crawl spaces, un-compacted driveways and basement water problems. Most apartment complexes have pools. All the churches have ball fields and playgrounds. All of these facilities are underutilized.

The rest of the city properties housing 501c3 entities are more like venues than parks, like the Arts and Nature Centers.

The 501c3 Non-Profit organizations now operating on 51 acres of City land include:

Dunwoody Nature Center 501c3 operates the Dunwoody Nature Center on 35 acres of city land and offers classes in nature, mostly plants and insects. Utilization is low.

Senior Baseball League 501c3 operates Dunwoody Park’s 2 baseball fields on 4 acres of city land. Utilization is very low, only when games or practices are scheduled.

Dunwoody Preservation Trust 501c3 owns and operates the “Farmhouse” at Chamblee Dunwoody and Mt Vernon: The Farmhouse It is not on city land, but it is Dunwoody’s trademark.

Dunwoody Preservation Trust 501c3 operates the following:
• Donaldson Banister House on 5 acres of city land at Chamblee Dunwoody Road and Vermack Road.
• Spruill Center for the Arts on 7 acres of city land, next to the Library on Chamblee Dunwoody Road offers art classes
• Spruill Art Gallery on Ashford Dunwoody Road displays art work.

The Stage Door Players, a private non-profit, operates the theater next to the Library on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. It is funded by sponsors, but the city owns the theater.

Agreements between these Non-Profits and DeKalb County were made and are being continued by the City of Dunwoody. These are not high use centers, but do have loyal volunteers offering programs.

The existing parks may need maintenance that may include planting grass, road and parking lot resurfacing and preparation for specific uses. That could come from general revenue.

Few citizens mentioned the fact that the only folks who might benefit from implementing the original Parks Plan are the 501c3 Non-Profit Corporations who saw a chance to upgrade their facilities with City funds.

Send me an email to join and read my blog at NTL Conservative Blog, the Dunwoody GA Tea Party blog. It was great to see you at the Dunwoody July 4th Parade. Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party, ntl@mindspring.com NTL Conservative Blog 770-394-1284