Konas loves this news! I think it is ok too!

From what I can hear literally they are already breaking ground!

This is terrible! Traffic on Dresden has already become awful. This is not what we need! They sure as heck didn't as the residents that live walking distance from there.

Bad idea!!!! Brookhaven will become another Lindbergh!!!!

I supported the Hines apts coming in. The project sketches looked nice, and I understood why more retail was not needed when Village Place spots were still empty.

That said, 2 new sets of apartments is too much without retail to break it up. Plus, Alta's buildings look cheap and dreary.

Not Happy! I did not buy in Brookhaven to be surrounded by apartments! This brings down the value of the neighborhood and the traffic is only going to get worse!

Does this mean that we will finally get rid of the Greedy Developer's Suck house?

City of Brookhaven would have control over local Zoning !! Remember ??

NO MORE APARTMENTS! Dresden will not be able to handle the traffic. It is already dismal and will another 300-500 people on the road daily we will never get anywhere!!

Another apartment complex? Oh wow! I agree, too many apartments on Dresden - not good!

I agree - there are enough apartments around here already with Post Brookhaven (over 800 units), Post Glen (another 200+), all the apartments at Town Brookhaven and then the under construction Hines property. Plus all the townhome communities that probably have some rentals in them.
Traffic on Dresden is bad, but it's not horrible - yet. It could be fixed by getting Kaleidoscope's valets off the corner, and increasing visibility coming out of Haven/Valenza. I have seen a lot of near misses right there. Also when will the county or whoever replace the pedestrian crossing signs that were actually IN the crosswalk. Many people fly down Dresden doing 40+ and would never dream of stopping for a pedestrian - not sure if that is ignorance, stupidity or arrogance?

This is another reason to vote YES for our new city, so that We who live here ,would have contol, not someone that only shows up around election time.

Martha I couldn't agree with you more. I was nearly rear-ended at the redlight in front of Savy because this lady in a gray Corolla was flying and didn't see me. She went up on the curb and nearly missed the pole in front of the fitness center.

That dumb a$$ radar thing that they put on the corner to tell people how fast they are going in the Church parking lot a few weeks ago was well played...meaning that they put it on a curb first of all. Everyone knows that there is a curve and a dip there so we all hit the brakes. Secondly it was traffic going down Dresden towards Clairmont, not up towards Peachtree where they FLY!! Third of all it was only there about a week or so. Aside from nearly getting creamed by the crazy lady in the Corolla I have had a few near misses trying to turn into out of my street, Camille. Why didn't they put the radar thing there??

I also agree about the valet parking situation that Kaleidoscope has caused. It's a hot mess and looks awful. Unfortunately there isn't ample parking. Back when they built that 2 level parking deck behind those buildings they wanted to make it taller but residents (i.e. my neighbor) protested against it. So, way to go neightbor!! Instead of those cars nicely tucked away in a parking deck, we have them scattered all over the neighborhood. Sometimes the overflow comes down my street. Awesome! Thanks whomever makes these kluster-f*ck decisions ;-)

Here's the problem as I see it: builders are going to build what will sell. Right now, the market for single family homes is depressed but the market or apartments is huge. We happen to live in a hot, up-and-coming part of town so we will naturally attract the interest of real estate developers who right now, only want to build apartments. We are suffering the consequences of our own success to some degree.

I live off Dresden and don't relish the additional traffic but I'm a bit more sanguine about this. I think the additional residents are great for the businesses here, which we all love and want to support.

What I'd like to see is smart development and I think the Better Brookhaven folks are doing a GREAT job at keeping us informed and forcing developers to comply with the LCI. I'm eager to hear their thoughts on this development.

"Respectfully, sanguine describe the frog in the pan of water . . ." I see absolutely nothing respectful about comparing me to a frog. Wholly unnecessary and rude. I said that I was eager to get the Better Brookhaven folks' read on this as I think they have done a great job of protecting and informing the community. They fought - successfully - the Walgreen's variances and others that didn't comply with the LCI.

Also, this frog is the one who single-handedly approached, bugged, and continues to bug the county for pedestrian crossing signals on Dresden and as of last week, was told they have been approved.

It is hard to write complex thoughts, online and in real-time without running the risk of being misunderstood. I compared the word 'sanguine' to the poor amphibian, and in no way meant to be rude. Quite the opposite, you are involved with making things better, so thank you. I hope I have clarified my analogy.

As good as an LCI plan may be, we ought to be able to agree LCI studies and area plans are not as stringent or granular as local building codes. Only zoning can offer residents choices on what types of development they wish to see, and that is my overarching point - Local choices.

Who opposes incorporation? Those that stand to lose the most.

Peace out.

Michelle, yes, Chris is an environmental engineer. Realistically, I don't see any government (city of Brookhaven or DeKalb county) that would turn valuable commercial real estate into a park. . . For better or worse, Dresden is valuable. The traffic is scary, as you've noted. Crossing that street to go to dinner is always nerve-wracking with our little boy.

I think a better bet is to do what we can to improve the parks we have. Ashford, Brookhaven and Briarwood parks all have potential, plus we have some little green spaces like Clack's Corner, that are nice. Don't you also have a little space on Camille? One of my neighbors suggested we ask the developers for more spots like that.
We hate to see trees get cut down but we try to balance growth with green. One thing Chris and I have discussed is talking with the builders to see if they can add some environmentally friendly touches in their building design. As we learned building our own home, it doesn't cost much more to build energy efficient structures.
Personally, I'd like to see Brookhaven become a model for that type of building. We have a LEEDS certified spa (Natural Body). My home and at least three others I know of have geothermal HVAC systems and many more are Earth craft certified (or built to those standards). We have brilliant architects in the neighborhood who work on sustainable design.

Oh, and for your sweet dog, I have seen a lot of doggies running free at Brookhaven Park. Is that an option for you? Also, I will check the Facebook page for the Briarwood park renovation plans and see if they plan a dog park there. I was guilty of focusing my attention on the playground renderings only!

One last comment and then I am going to shut up (I promise!). My husband and I were initially opposed to the Hines development until Chris went and listened to the developer's presentation, asked his questions, and felt satisfied that on balance, this was going to be ok. Perhaps wouldn't have been our first choice for development there but there just aren't a lot of options. Retail is not fully leased, so they aren't going to build us more shops or restaurants. Single family houses probably weren't cost effective as I suspect that land was too expensive. That doesn't leave much.

Sherean, my dog (Miniature Pincher) is the devil. She can't be let off of a leash so that's why we don't go to the Brookhaven dog park. Unfortunately what's done is done. They are going to build those apartments no matter what we say. So you are right, we should focus our attention on improving what we have. How do we do that though? I want speed bumps on my street. People are starting to fly on it too!

There is a process to get your speed control tables. You must go door to door and collect petition signatures from owners (not renters) of the effected area in favor of the tables. It is something like 60 % must be in favor. When you get the signatures, then the County will do a traffic study to determine if there is enough usage of the road as well as excessive speed. If that porves to be the case, It goes up in front of the Commissioners at one of their meetings for a routine vote of approval from them, After all that you get your speed control tables and an additional $25.00 per year on your (and everyone's in the effected area) tax bill for installation and maintenance every year for as long as they remain installed. Good Luck !!

Check back often on the https://www.facebook.com/BriarwoodParkRevitalizationProject face book page. A group of neighbors from all around the communities surrounding the Park have formed a Friends of Briarwood Park group in conjunction with Park Pride. (Jeff Rader turned over our revitalization efforts to Park Pride. The County has a contract with them it seems). There will be a survey launched at some time in the near future for interested people to post their wishes for the Park. Keep them realistic though obviously we are not going to get a golf course for example and I am sure things will be accomplished only in baby steps.

I admit I have only skimmed the comments here but I have to say another appartment building is NOT what we want here. Town homes yes to put over 450 appartments on two blocks of Dresden Drive is not smart planning for anyone who wants to live and enjoy the area. Sure they say that everyone will take Marta, how funny is that - Marta goes No Where that I want / need to go, so effectively we are introducing an additional approx 750 cars to a two block area that is overly congested now. We are cutting down trees that help to clean the air and keep the summers livable to repalce with concrete and car exhaust. My main disagreement is with how dense the numbers are. Is it not more desireable to build something half the size, keeping trees and less cars - and don't give me that it is not financially a possiblity... it just won't make some developer (that will be gone when the rest of us are trying to sell our homes at a loss) more money.