Business Developments and Community Events

GHHCDC

The Greater Hidden Hills Overlay Zone will be expanded to include part of a parcel that’s up for rezoning.  The owners of 7 acres at the northeast corner of Redan have agreed to the request to put the entire parcel in the Greater Hidden Hills Overlay District. This property makes an “L” shape around the Citgo strip center; the portion on the east side of the strip center is already covered by the overlay, but the three residential properties along Panola are not.  The agreement means that the prohibited business list will apply to all of the property. In addition, the property will have to meet the Overlay Zone sign and design guidelines.  It’s really good news, and we have Commissioner Mereda Davis-Johnson to thank for making it happen.  The actual vote on the conditions will take place at the 9 a.m. Board of Commissioners meeting June 26.

At this time, the owners have only one proposed development for the site: a Waffle House.

And that brings us to the other Waffle House announced for our area: this one next to Los Arcos on Redan Road (just west of S. Hairston). We are told that construction will begin in early July. This is exciting news because Waffle House has agreed to make streetscape improvements to its section of Redan Road, including the bus stop.

Please make a note of these upcoming events and Join the fun!

June 16, 9 – 11 a.m.
Hairston Park Fitness Prep– Volunteers will put mulch in the 7 new fitness equipment beds. We would love your help! 

We purchased seven fitness stations with grants received from ParkPride and The UPS Foundation.   Three are shown here.

 

June 23, 10 a.m.
Greater Hidden Hills CDC meeting.  Top on the agenda: business development and Music on Main fundraiser.
Mainstreet Clubhouse: 5001 Mainstreet Park Drive, Stone Mountain

June 23, 11:30 a.m.
Friends of Hairston Park meeting.
Mainstreet Clubhouse: 5001 Mainstreet Park Drive, Stone Mountain

July 21, 10 – 11 a.m.
Celebrate Health & Fitness at Hairston Park – soft opening of the new playground and fitness equipment. Olympic athlete Sam Graddy is the featured speaker. We’ll have fitness experts on site to show how to use the pieces of equipment.

Aug. 18, 8 – 11 p.m.
Hightower-FullRes-Brick-reduced2nd annual Music on Main – This year, the fundraiser features an accomplished local artist: Theresa Hightower. She is an acclaimed jazz and blues vocalist, actor, and songwriter. During the event, we will auction assorted items including a Dinner for Two at CalaBar, ART Station Holiday tickets, and artwork. A full list will be provided later.

The event raises money for streetscape improvements. Please support the effort to attract higher quality businesses to the area.

Where:  Mainstreet Clubhouse, 5001 Mainstreet Park Drive, Stone Mountain

Tickets are $35 each or two for $60.  Tax-deductible! Purchase here:   Music on Main

 

 

 

Median Spruced Up!

GHHCDC

We’re upgrading the median at S. Hairston Road, just south of Redan. With the expert help of Kirk Hickson, a Redan High School graduate and owner of AKS Landscaping, we

Median-Kirk-Hickson
Kirk Hickson (above) and Jan Costello plant rosebushes and miscanthus on the median. 

planted Red Fountain Miscanthus and Cherokee rosebushes.

Keep DeKalb Beautiful dug the holes for us, and the department promises to put fresh mulch on the median.

If you need landscape help, Kirk welcomes your call: 678-702-1899.

Median-Jan

Joy and Accomplishment on Earth Day

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More than 90 people showed up for Earth Day at Hairston Park April 21.  We worked happily under brilliant blue skies.  Volunteers cleared a six-foot-wide path from the parking lot to the north edge of the park near Elam Road and back around to the playground.  Others aired out the shrubbery next to the sidewalk, volunteers picked up litter, and children painted cement barricades.

Thanks to John Ahern at Park Pride for guiding us through the project. Many staff and volunteers came from Park Pride, and we appreciate you all. Thanks to Gwendolyn Stegall and the Friends captains: Larry Cole, Jarvis Walker, Jonathan Stegall, and Keith Williams.  And thanks to Antioch AME Church, Wells Fargo, Home Depot, and Invesco for sending volunteers.

District 4 Commissioner Steve Bradshaw and District 7 Commissioner Gregory Adams opened the day’s event with gratitude and inspirational pep talks.

The community made a tremendous difference in Hairston Park. Look at the before and after pictures:

The hidden path before Earth Day
The path AFTER Earth Day!

Visit and see for yourself.  We’ll have other fun projects at the park, so please join us.  Write to FriendsofHairstonPark@gmail.com to be on the mailing list.

Must Reschedule our Median Day

GHHCDC

Apologies to all. We must reschedule our Max the Median morning set for Saturday. Several utility companies have not completed their inspections, so we cannot dig. We’ll send an update when we set a new date.

Please note two upcoming dates. The next Greater Hidden Hills CDC meeting is 10 a.m., April 14, at Mainstreet Community Center.

And, join the fun on Earth Day, April 21, 9 – 12.  We’re meeting at Hairston Park to clear trails, make a forested area next to the playground a safer place for kids to play, and pick up litter.

All the details are found at this link:

http://bit.ly/2COSRdo

This project is a joint effort of Friends of Hairston Park and ParkPride. Please sign in for the Earth Day event whether you can help for an hour or the morning. It will help the non-profit show community support, and that’s vital when it asks for grants.

Give 60 Minutes and Build Community Pride

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3-fp-Mulch-2-11_ (4)-c
Phyllis Frierson and volunteers enjoying the last spruce-up day.

Join the effort to make a positive difference in our community. Saturday, March 24, 9:45 a.m., we will brighten a key stretch of S. Hairston near Redan (across from Kroger). The median will get spruced up with a dozen new plants and fresh mulch.

You may park between Wendy’s and Doo’s Seafood or in the shopping center parking lots.

The work is fun and satisfying.  Keep DeKalb Beautiful staff will have the holes dug for the plants. We put them in the ground and spread the mulch. Bring your gloves, a shovel and a metal rake.

A dozen volunteers can knock this out in an hour. Please come! The result will please you every time you drive down S. Hairston. It will remind people that our community cares about its appearance.

If you have questions, write to GHHCDC@gmail.com

Volunteer Cleans Up Marta Stops

GHHCDC

Erica Weaver got tired of seeing trash around Marta stops on Redan Road and Panola. She contacted the right parties, and voila!  There are now trash cans at six Marta stops. One person can make a difference!

 

near Lowes, Panola
near Quik Trip, Panola

Join Erica and other great people at the next Greater Hidden Hills Community Development Corp. meeting:  March 17, 10 a.m., Mainstreet Community Center, 5001 Mainstreet Park, Stone Mountain.

Trees!

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We planted 26 trees as part of the ongoing streetscape improvement in Greater Hidden Hills! This tremendous effort is a joint project with Keep DeKalb Beautiful and the DeKalb County Tree Bank. The planting occurred Jan. 19 and 22, 2018.

The 14 Nellie Stevens Holly make a grand parade leading up to the entrance of Hairston Park. These trees will grow 15-20 feet high. What a statement they make as we invest county and grant money into the dramatic refresh of Hairston Park.

 

Planted trees on South Hairston leading to Hairston Park

In the roundabout in the park, we planted a Georgia Gem Green Ash, a beautiful shade tree that grows 50 feet tall. We planted another Georgia Gem in the public easement in front of Champions Christian Academy at 1131 S. Hairston (a block north of Redan).

Then, we planted 10 crepe myrtle in the public easement on Redan Road, to beautify the Hairston Square shopping center.  There will be more work in this area, focusing on the bus stop. Waffle House plans to help when it erects its new restaurant there.

The trees were donated by QuikTrip as part of its obligation to the DeKalb County Tree Bank. They were professionally planted by Landscape Design Company.

Stay tuned. More natural beauty to come! We’re planting PRIDE in our community.

See a short video at: https://vimeo.com/252247693

 

Planting Project; MARTA Survey; Hairston Park Update

GHHCDC
Planting Project Postponed:  The December 2 planting project has been postponed.  We’ll set a new date soon.
Survey on MARTA
MARTA is seeking our opinion about transit-oriented development along the I-20 East.  Can anyone say, “Give us rail!”  Please give YOUR opinion by going to this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/I-20EastTODCommunity
If you have a business in the I-20 corridor, use this link, please.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/I-20EastTODBusiness
For more information about the I-20 Corridor, visit:
https://www.itsmarta.com/i20-east-corridor-overview.aspx
Friends of Hairston Park
We’re meeting Dec. 9, 11:30 a.m. at Mainstreet Community Center, 5001 Mainstreet Park, Stone Mountain. Ayana Williams, ParkPride Director of Community Building, will be our special guest. We’ll then move to the park and erect a new sign that shows the improvements in the works.

park-sign.png

Denied! — BOC turns down another liquor store and gas station

GHHCDC

The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners unanimously supported us in our fight against more liquor stores and gas stations. On Nov. 14, the commissioners voted 7 to 0 to deny the request to put these businesses at 4736 Redan Road, just west of S. Hairston.
More than 639 people signed the petition and gave comments, and these were shared with the commissioners.   It made a difference! We thank these advocates for speaking up for better development in our community.

Set Dates for Advocacy and Beautification

GHHCDC

Update on Liquor Store/Gas Station Fight

The fight continues against more liquor stores and gas stations in the community.  The District 4 Community Council voted 13 – 0 to deny the request to sell liquor and gas at the old Tire Store, 4736 Redan Road. Now, we turn to the Planning Commission.

The meeting is Thursday, Nov. 2, 6:30 p.m. at Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur. The issue is last on the agenda, numbers 7 and 8.

After that, it goes to the Board of Commissioners: Tuesday, Nov. 14, 6:30 p.m.

If you can’t make the meeting, please sign the petition. We have 238 signatures so far.

https://goo.gl/MYGPhC

How many liquor stores and gas stations are enough?  This report, from Esri Business Analyst, shows the number.   The measurements are based on the center point: 4736 Redan Road, the proposed site of a gas station/alcohol outlet.

Business Type 1-mile radius 3-mile radius 5-mile radius
Liquor Stores 2* 14 28
Grocery stores, convenience stores, &drugstores that have alcohol sales 9 108 327
Gas stations (which also provide alcohol) 2** 41 100
TOTAL 13 186 479

*  There is a liquor store 1.5 miles away at Redan and S. Indian Creek, and a liquor store 1.8 miles away at Redan and Panola.

**The Kroger gas station is hidden under grocery stores. There are three gas stations within one block: a Chevron, BP, and Kroger.

 

The businesswoman interested in putting a liquor store near Publix at S. Hairston/Covington was not dissuaded by the 40 people who attended a meeting Oct. 16.  Look for the issue to be on the District 5 community Council agenda Dec. 11, 6:30 pm., Redan-Trotti Library.

 

Update on Phase Two of Streetscape Improvements

We have received a commitment of 27 trees from the DeKalb County Tree Bank. We’re working with a developer who is supposed to plant them.  We’ll keep you posted!

Dec. 2, 9 a.m. – Streetscape upgrade at Los Arcos.  Save the date for a fun morning of planting. Rain date is Dec. 9.