The Greater Hidden Hills Community Development Corporation will hold its monthly board meeting at 10 a.m. July 26. Promptly at 11, we will hear an update from APD Solutions on its plans for Panola Slope, the townhome development on Covington Highway near Young Road. You are welcome to attend the meeting. It is at Mainstreet Community Center, 5001 Mainstreet Park Dr., Stone Mountain, GA 30088.

 

Updates on Community Development Effort

Liquor Store – Improvements have begun. The owner of PJs Package store is willing to make improvements to his property, and the shopping center owner has already begun to improve the entire lot. The sidewalk has been pressure washed and steps have been added to make it easier to cross from the upper parking deck to the lower level.

We went before the Board of Commissions July 22 for the Special Land Use Permit hearing on enlarging PJs. After giving the Board the improvement list that we agreed on, the Board deferred the vote for two weeks. The Planning Staff is making minor adjustments to the list and including it in the legal petition. The next (and probably last) meeting on this matter will be August 5.

 

There will be landscape improvements, additional security coverage, four garbage receptacles, and exterior painting.

 

 

Imagining Ways to Retrofit the Closed Golf Course

One of the concepts we have considered as a way to re-purpose the closed Hidden Hills golf course is to provide housing for seniors in the center of the property. The overlay zone allows that area to have higher density (something that would make it attractive to developers) IF the links are kept as greenspace, to be used for passive recreation.

 

We had the opportunity to visit a beautiful, four-story senior living community in northwest Atlanta last Saturday. Columbia Heritage is part of the West Highlands neighborhood that was built on the site of the dilapidated and depressing Perry Homes public housing project 10 years ago.

 

Talk about an amazing transformation! The seniors live in a clean, well-appointed building, with a theatre, fitness center, business center, library, craft room, and all-purpose room. They have two-bedroom apartments with nine-foot ceilings and many thoughtful architectural details. The center has been open for 10 years, and it has long waiting lists. The building is well maintained by staff and by residents.

 

The residents have varying income levels, but they all enjoy the same high quality standard of living. Says Columbia Residential, Inc., CEO Noel Khali, “We have mixed incomes, but we do not have mixed standards.”

We plan to visit other communities to see what might work well in our area.

 

(The following people attended the tour: Jan Costello, Frankie Bryson, Larry Coles, Phyllis Frierson, Calvin Sims, John Sims, Sally O’Harrow, and Charlene Taylor. We represented the GHHCDC, Hidden Hills, The Highlands, Scarbrough Square, Mainstreet, and Chapman’s Mill/Redan Park).

 

 

From: Jan Costello, President Greater Hidden Hills Community Development Association
July 25, 2014

To see the file with photos, click on this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-9TZ20drsg-LWVOREdfei1RTnc/edit?usp=sharing
Middle Photo by Columbia Residential, Inc.