The Dunwoody Velodrome

If you spend time walkin' daVille, as some do, you probably noticed the survey crews marking some territory. 

Not Utilities

Hieroglyphs

All Marked Up

Tagged The Trees Too

TOD reached out to the city for comment but they were incommunicado, unlike the Shining PATH Foundation whose spokesperson, Seymore Siemenz, was quite the chatty Kathy. 

TOD: Hi Seymore, first thanks for speaking with us. Do you know what is going on in the Village...the Funwoody part?

Seymore: My pleasure. Yes, we're preparing, with enthusiastic support from the city, to install trails around Funwoody. If you've seen the wonderful trails recently completed at Perimeter Mall, then you know what we're bringing to the village. 

TOD: So, to be clear, this is adding, not taking away, so the current sidewalks will remain?

Seymore: Absolutely right! We're going to have an additional twelve foot trail alongside the existing sidewalks with a bit of grass setting them apart. You're going to love it. 

TOD: I can't tell you how wonderful I think this will be. So the trees...the ones that are tagged...are going?

Seymore: Well, the great thing about trees is that they are inherently a renewable resource, but yes, tree removal is an essential part of the installation. We're confident supporters will be quite pleased with the results. 

TOD: And these supporters, who are they?

Seymore: Some of the most ardent supporters are the bicycle crowd, you know, the Lance-a-lot wannabes, Now, they may not be the largest group, but they currently own the political megaphone down at city hall, so they have been key to the effort. You know, the smallest bird has the loudest chirp. And we're going to give them what they want. When we're done Funwoody is going to be the infield of a velodrome.

TOD: Does that mean "only left turns?"

Seymore: Not at all. We'll have a line down the middle for two-way traffic. In that regard we're politically neutral. 

TOD: Well, Seymore, you've been very helpful. Thanks for all you do.

Seymore: No worries. It's been a pleasure.

So there you have it. Bikewoody is coming to daVille.

Very Revealing

If the blue-bag-rag coverage of the retreat is accurate, and there is no reason to believe it isn't, much was revealed. When asked about impediments to their 10 year goals, someone, mayor, council, both, but someone, offered: "community resistance at the polls." Have we really come to this? Are we saddled with politicians who are openly opposed to the will of the electorate? Perhaps it is time for a recall. Perhaps we have the government we deserve.

There was one voice of reason: 

"everything boils down to quality of life for our existing residents. If we are looking to attract new businesses and people to the community, it's quality of life." 

Wow. Who knew that folks who were attracted to Dunwoody for a certain quality of life might want to maintain that quality of life, or through their own eyes see it improve. Unfortunately that view is not shared by Mother Earth Mayor and some on council. Nor by bureaucrats in the Shining PATH's rolodex. 

And that force is strong in city hall. Even though a referendum comment observed "I think they told us ... that they really just want parks," the notion of floating a parks-only bond in the fall was shot down. Why? Again, Mother Earth was having none of it, as this would be yet another impediment to a dream of paving paradise, while touting lack of community support for the projects. This directly contradicted the aforementioned "they really just want parks" conclusion. Mother Mayor prefers a cult-like religious movement: 

"... what we lack is a passionate group of citizens asking us for these improvements. We didn't have a base of support that could rile up their friends." 

Based on past performance one can only assume that "improvements" is Shining PATHs. Furthermore this turns a blind eye to the loud mouth PATH supporters on [anti]social media and a deaf ear to the reality that this tactic of using "passionate" advocates "to rile up their friends" back fired.

No New Toys...

...until you learn to take care of the ones you already have.

Put A Rock In It

This is how Dunwoody takes care of infrastructure. Now if you'd give them $60M they'd replace all this with an interstate lane as mandated by The Shining PATH. 

They really, REALLY, don't give a...

...[your favorite expletive here]. And just what is it they don't care about? That would be you. And your community. And how you want your community to look, now or in the future. And they don't care to take a few moments to ponder just what the recent referendum vote was a referendum on. To be fair, King John did raise the issue. Pb balloon.

When they got down to business it was the business of moving money around for their singular obsession: paving an interstate highway lane across folks' front yards. All done without the bother of a budget meeting. Debate, deliberation, open records and all that. Why bother? King John took issue with this as well.

All this reveals a couple of things. Their "plans" really aren't, what with "design change" and all that. Turns out one of their paving projects now goes right across a few yards which may be a surprise to the homeowners as no one bothered to inform them. Not even Mother Earth Mayor. Or maybe they kept her in the dark as much as they have mere homeowners. The other is that they are all about paving our paradise. You do have to wonder how many of these bureaucrats actually live in Dunwoody. And there can no longer be any doubt that almost none of that $60M would have been spent on parks. Well maybe paving parking lots over green space in parks, but almost all was pre-allocated to their pet project. 

Here's a thought. Do you think there is a licensed real estate appraiser who would say these concrete lanes in your front yard would increase your home value and specifically by how much? Or, is it more likely they'd say it causes a decrease in value? If so, since the city government is taking value without the owner's permission, shouldn't eminent domain apply?

Betrayal

Bureaucrats at city hall are still angry they didn't get the $60M slush fund which put their commitments to Shining PATH in jeopardy. But if they are anything they are clever and their disdain for Dunwoody residents knows no limit. They are going to get their damn "paths" no matter what it takes and frankly if it harms or angers the community they seem almost proud of that. So what they've now done is strong-armed a developer who wants to build three homes on Tilly Mill into planting a twelve foot wide section of concrete in front of these new homes, forcing the cost of this trail, to and from nowhere, on these homeowners, despite the objections of residents in the area who oppose useless concrete especially on the east side of Tilly Mill. For full disclosure, the MJCC doesn't want it on their side of the street if they even want it at all. 

This hodge-podge approach didn't work in daVille with sidewalk widening mandated with property renovation/development. That was until the townhome development came along and they folded like a cheap suit. Or did they? Was it quid pro quo? Seriously, if it is all about master plans and commitment why aren't there wide sidewalks in front of that development? After all there is built-in foot traffic. It is worth noting there seems to be no wide-sidewalk activity with the renovations at the corner of the Parkway and Mount Vernon. All this makes the Tilly Mill situation look like vindictive retribution. 

And what of our Mother Earth Mayor and her Council of Clowns? When it comes to rescuing inflatable yard art due to public outcry, there will be changes, indicating they can at least ask the bureaucrats even if they cannot demand. Despite public outcry against their Tilly Mill vandalism and the rebuke at the ballot box they seem content to sit there and wait for a city bureaucrat to call "switch." It is clear they are willing and capable of action, but they have not (and probably will not) take action in defense of real people with blood in their veins and more than air in their heads. They have made baffling choices as they refuse to include residents in their chosen constituency. 

Where does this originate? Is it that the kumbaya lobbying at GMA has infected Mother Earth Mayor with FOMO? Is it simply the condescending paternalism (and increasingly, maternalism) that runs rampant in the political class: you don't know what is good for you so we're going to do this anyway. Does Shining PATH have polaroids of folks doing something unseemly with a chicken? Is there quid pro quo? Will we ever know? This city is not known for transparency. 

And what is happening in the fifteenth anniversary year of the referendum's passage? Our Mother Earth Mayor and her Council of Clowns have taken turns stabbing "local control" in the back. And twisting the knife.

Guinea Pigs

In the lip flapping leading up to the Trail Bond vote King John observed that Shining PATH did not have experience in putting their pavement in areas like Dunwoody which requires locating it in folks front and back yards. It is almost as if Dunwoody was/is a "what if trial balloon." 

But why Dunwoody? Is it just because city hall hasn't seen a project they don't like whether we do or not?

And...why not somewhere else? How about Morningside? Maybe Ansley park? Don't they need sweat walking to their fave eateries? Or here's an even better idea: put their pavement in Buckhead it is sure to impact the crime situation. And think about it, wouldn't the governor love one of these in his front yard?

Cheerleaders Don't Win Games

Sometimes they don't even know what game is being played.

Since first meeting resistance to the Pave Paradise scheme of the [Shining] PATH Foundation, the mayor has been trying to get the cool kids, and only the cool kids, to show up for a pep rally. No Boo-Birds need attend. To the mayor's dismay, the Boo-Birds will not stay away. And it is as if the Shining PATH is feeding the seagulls at the beach with expected results. Not only have the Boo-Birds flocked to the events, and not only have they displayed their dismay, the breadth of their issues and the intensity with which they are presented is growing. Not what the mayor and the other elected cheerleaders had in mind. 

In addition to previous pushback around poor location and planning seemingly catering to non-residents more than anyone else there was significant pushback against destruction of quality of life. As it turns out there remain Dunwoody residents who purchased a home for peace and quiet, to live in privacy, perhaps even cloistered. And yes, that means these communities, often with HOAs are likely to have barriers in place including walls, fences and private ownership of neighborhood roads. The Shining PATH and their mayor (ostensibly our mayor) doesn't really give two shits about that. They intend to open up these neighborhoods, tear down the barriers and destroy the privacy these neighbors hold dear. 

The usual suspects have also shown up in support, notably the Bike Brigade. First they got their bike lanes whenever, wherever pavement was re-striped and now they are all in on the plan to add just under 4.4 Million square feet of impervious surface to "Tree City," some of which will likely intrude on stream buffers. But when you are monomaniacal like the Brigade and the mayor, well, nothing else really matters, does it? 

Makes you wonder what happened to the not-so-distant era of Going Green, since concrete is one of the most environmentally unfriendly synthetic materials in the world, whose manufacture alone is responsible for 5% of global CO2 emissions. This doesn't account for the trees and other vegetation destroyed for the installation of a series of interstate-highway-scale lanes. It will destroy not only trees in the way, but those beside with suffer and many die due to inevitable root damage. Apparently there is even less concern about runoff and the harm that will cause to the local ecology. 

And when did Shining PATH take ownership of Dunwoody? Really. Who died and made them Local Control? What little pushback there was came from King John and was dismissed by the Shining PATH Planning Priest as inappropriate and requiring too much specificity. Apparently in their view a "Master Plan" is little more that a commitment, a contract if you will, with little specificity beyond "costs will be exceeded." Yet there was enough specificity to tell some residents their privacy was about to be obliterated. Seems like someone was blowing smoke, perhaps in the wrong person's face. Exactly what is it that King John does for a living? Who does he work for? Is it possible he is a bit of a domain expert when it comes to paving our way out of paradise? Hmmmm...do you really think it is a good idea to mansplain to to him?

In reality this "path" thing is just a stepping stone to a greater destruction of Dunwoody, at least the Dunwoody that attracted most residents in the first place. The ultimate goal is to add as much ultra-high-density housing to Dunwoody as possible. High Street is just the beginning with plans already forming to bring Stick Frame Over Podium housing to the Village and any other cluster of shops developers set their sights on. After all, who wouldn't want to live five or six floors above E. 48th Street Market? You'd have great views of the golf course sunbathers around that backyard pool. These "paths" along with parks are a way of deflecting obvious negatives about this ultra-high-density. The developers' bureaucrats at city hall will point to these and suggest access to "paths" and parks makes up for living like a sardine. If they dare suggest this will add to the tax base you know it's too late to save the shoes as the Developers' Authority will keep these [re]developments off the tax rolls. And that Stick Frame? Well, that is planned obsolescence at its best. These will not outlast the tax handout before needing to be re-developed, with, wait for it, another tax handout. And they are hell-bent on doing this. After all, they had no problem whatsoever stealing property from a church.

A few folks, most probably more Dunwoody than you, remember going to GaTech football games in the early '80s. If so, you may remember the cheerleaders, who seemed too clueless to attend Tech, had this bizarre cheer that somehow involved bananas. They trotted this out for a couple of games in a row, much to the crowd's displeasure. Booing and razzing did not seem to get the point across so at the next home game students smuggled in bananas and when the cheer started those cheerleaders were pelted with enough fruit to feed a troop of chimpanzees for a month. And the student section was never subjected to that odious, totally forgettable cheer ever again. Maybe it is time, metaphorically speaking, for residents to  ask our elected officials "how much they like them bananas?"