Category Archives: Alpharetta

Alpharetta City Council Meeting October 28,2013

Aside

Monday night the mayor and council will be touring the City Hall site to view the current progress and will hold a special workshop to discuss some architectural details before our regularly scheduled meeting. If you have any comments or questions please let me know.

City of Alpharetta

Special Called Council Workshop for October 28, 2013

City Center Construction Office

50 South Main Street

Alpharetta, GA 30009

6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

NOTE: While this is not an official meeting of the Alpharetta City Council,

all Council Members have been invited to attend.  This notice is provided

due to the possibility for a quorum of members being in attendance.

  1. Observations From Construction Site Tour
  2. Discussion Of Architectural Elements

A. Brick and Mortar

B. Council Chambers

  1. Adjournment

City of Alpharetta

Public Hearing and Council Meeting for October 28, 2013

City Hall Council Chambers

7:30 PM

  1. I.              CALL TO ORDER
  2. II.            ROLL CALL
  3. III.           PLEDGE TO THE FLAG
  4. IV.          CONSENT AGENDA
    1. A.    Meeting Minutes
      1. Special Called Meeting of 10/16/2013
    2. B.    Alcoholic Beverage License Applications
      1. PH-13-AB-25                 P.J.’s Food, Inc.

d/b/a Mama’s Kitchen

5950 North Point Parkway, Suite 100

Consumption on Premises

Beer and Wine – No Sunday Sales

  1. PH-13-AB-26                 Haiku in Alpharetta, Inc.

d/b/a Haiku Sushi and Steakhouse

5966 North Point Parkway

Consumption on Premises

Liquor, Beer and Wine – Sunday Sales

  1. V.            WORKSHOP
    1. A.    City Center Update
  2. VI.          PUBLIC HEARING
    1. A.    Community Development
      1. MP-13-05 / V-13-14: Parkway 400

Consideration of a request to amend the Parkway 400 Masterplan in order to increase Pod C density to 630,000 square feet of office space (currently permitted 265,737 square feet) with structured parking and one 10,000 square foot restaurant. Applicant also requests to add additional uses to the Master Plan. A variance to the required buffer adjacent to residential property is requested as well as a parking variance. The property includes 17.95 acres and is located at the south end of Amberpark Drive, and legally described as being located in Land Lot 804 1st District, 2nd  Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

  1. Z-13-10 / CLUP-13-10: Wills Road at Rucker Road

Consideration of a request to rezone approximately 8.65 acres from R-15 to R-8D (for-sale detached) in order to develop 28 single family homes.  A request to change the Comprehensive Land Use Plan from “Low Density Residential” to “Medium Density Residential” was also requested.  The property is located at the southwest corner of Wills Road and Rucker Road and legally described as being located in Land Lots 599, 646 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

  1. PH-13-15: City of Alpharetta Capital Improvement Element

Consideration of adopting the Capital Improvement Element update.

  1. VII.         BUSINESS MEETING
    1. A.    Public Safety
      1. Consideration of Intergovernmental Agreement with Fulton County: Use of Emergency Radio System
  2. VIII.        REPORTS
  3. IX.          ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE SESSION

 

City of Alpharetta

Executive Session Agenda for October 28, 2013

City Hall Council Chambers

Immediately Following Council Meeting

  1. I.              REAL ESTATE
  2. II.            PENDING LITIGATION
  3. III.           ADJOURNMENT

Alpharetta City Council Agenda September 23, 2013

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I apologize if this doesn’t view well. I know there is a great deal of interest in Monday night’s council agenda so I am trying to publish this post from my IPhone. If there are any changes necessary I will make them here as quickly as possible.

Alpharetta City Council Meeting
September 23, 2013 7:30 PM
Location: Alpharetta City Hall – Council Chambers

I. CALL TO ORDER

II. ROLL CALL

III. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG

IV. WORKSHOP
A. City Center Update – Bob Regus and Mike Hall
V. PUBLIC HEARING
A. Community Development – Richard McLeod & Kathi Cook
1. V-13-13 Jeff Aughey/Parkerwood Way
Consideration of a variance to the rear setback line for an outdoor fireplace and other structures. The property is located at 100 Parkerwood Way and legally described as being located in Land Lot 272, 1st District, 1st Section, Fulton County, Georgia.
2. MP-13-03/CU-13-08 North Point Commons Bowling Alley
Consideration of a request to amend the North Point Commons master plan in order to permit a bowling alley as a permitted use. The property is located on the south side of North Point Parkway between Haynes Bridge and Georgia Lane and legally described as being located in Land Lots 755, 796, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.
3. PH-13-10 Islamic Center of North Fulton
Consideration of a request to amend previous conditions of zoning in order to permit the construction of a 7,900 square foot community hall and mosque. The property is located on the south side of Rucker Road and legally described as being located in Land Lot 1275, 2nd District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.
4. PH-13-09 Unified Development Code
Consideration of amendments to the Unified Development Code in order to amend addressing and bond requirements.
VI. BUSINESS MEETING
A. Grants Administration – Amanda Day
1. Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Letter of Interest (Tabled 9-16-13)
B. Economic Development – Peter Tokar
1. Opportunity Zone Contract – Joe Young
VII. PUBLIC COMMENTS

VIII. REPORTS

IX. ADJOURNMENT

Alpharetta City Council Agenda September 16, 2013

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City Council did not meet this week but the agenda for next week has been published and it is posted below for your review. I have not had an opportunity to read all the supporting materials yet but if you have questions please let me know in the comment section and I will do my best to get you an answer.

Two items that stand out as being particularly important for the future of Alpharetta are the presentation by MARTA during the workshop and the discussion of private development opportunities within the City Center project. I hope you can join us for those discussions.

Update 9/16/2013 9:30 a.m. Please note that the agenda for tonight’s meeting was updated late Friday to include an additional New Business item. Unforeseen changes to the LOST agreement require Alpharetta City Council to revisit changes to the original agreement previously approved. The change was publicly announced Friday but I am just now getting it updated here.

City of Alpharetta

Council Meeting for September 16, 2013

City Hall Council Chambers

7:30 PM

  1. I.              CALL TO ORDER
  2. II.            ROLL CALL
  3. III.           PLEDGE TO THE FLAG
  4. IV.           PROCLAMATION
    1.     Constitution Week
  5. V.            CONSENT AGENDA
    1.     Public Hearing and Council Meeting Minutes
      1. Meeting of 08/26/2013
      2. Meeting of 09/03/2013
    2.     Monthly Financial Management Report
      1. Month Ending 08/31/2013
  6. VI.           WORKSHOP
    1.     City Center Update
    2.     MARTA Briefing on Connect 400 Transit Initiative
  7. VII.         NEW BUSINESS
    1.     Administration
      1. Resolution: Local Option Sales Tax Distribution
    2.     Grants Administration
      1. Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Letter of Interest
    3.     Community Development
      1. Discussion of RFQ: City Center Private Development Opportunity
    4.     Public Safety
      1. Public Safety Ammunition Purchase
      2. Crime-Free Multi-Family Housing Initiative
    5.     Recreation and Parks
      1. Purchase of Two (2) Pickup Trucks for Recreation and Parks
      2. Purchase of Various Pieces of Equipment for Parks
    6.     Information Technology
      1. CISCO SmartNet Data Equipment Maintenance 2014
      2. CISCO SmartNet Voice Equipment Maintenance 2014
  8. VIII.        PUBLIC COMMENTS
  9. IX.           REPORTS
  10. X.            ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION

City of Alpharetta

Executive Session Agenda for September 16, 2013

City Hall Council Chambers

Immediately Following Council Meeting

  1. I.              PERSONNEL
  2. II.            REAL ESTATE
  3. III.           ADJOURNMENT

MARTA recommends 4 heavy rail stations in Alpharetta

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A few weeks ago I saw a post on Twitter from a local news reporter who wrote that MARTA was planning to recommend four heavy rail stations in Alpharetta. That was the first I had heard of such a plan so I immediately contacted Mayor Belle Isle and the rest of Alpharetta’s City Council to see if any of them were aware of the recommendation. Not a single one of us had even heard of MARTA’s intentions much less been consulted on the matter.

So on August 12, 2013 I attended a meeting of MARTA’s Planning and External Relations Committee in Atlanta. At that meeting MARTA’s staff did indeed recommend extending a heavy rail line more than 11 miles along GA 400 through Sandy Springs, Roswell and Alpharetta. This plan called for putting four train stations in Alpharetta including one each at Mansell Road, Northpoint Mall, Old Milton Parkway and one on Windward Parkway which would serve as the end of line regional station.

This is not the first time a MARTA train station has been proposed for Alpharetta nor will it be the last. Traffic is consistently the number one complaint of Alpharetta residents and since we all pay a 1% sales tax to support MARTA it would be nice if we could find some way to get a better return on that money. So I welcome an open and honest discussion of how MARTA can better serve Alpharetta.

Unfortunately MARTA’s Connect 400 initiative has been woefully inadequate in seeking input from actual residents of Alpharetta. The recommendation was based solely on 30 interviews with unidentified “stakeholders” and an online survey consisting of 136 responses to an email that went out to unidentified business interests, local officials and interest groups last December.

Clearly MARTA’s staff made no effort to include Alpharetta’s mayor or city council and in fact I have yet to determine if even one Alpharetta resident was sampled in the research. And as you might expect from such a small, statistically insignificant sample the recommendation is the least practical and most unlikely to be implemented even under the best of circumstances. In an effort to raise awareness of this process I am submitting for your review the presentation which was given at  MARTA’s August 12th meeting. Please click this link to review the full 12 page Powerpoint presentation: GA 400 Briefing Presentation

Transportation is a crucial issue for us all and this process could affect the future of Alpharetta forever so I ask you to please take a moment to review the information and let me know your thoughts on this matter. MARTA is also planning to host an informational meeting about this recommendation on September 26th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Alpharetta City Hall. It is imperative that the people most affected by this process speak up before a final determination is made. Please make the time to join us at that meeting.

Alpharetta City Council Agenda September 3, 2013

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It’s been so long since I last posted here that I’ve almost forgotten how. Making time to blog has been difficult given all the other demands on my time but we live in interesting times and I miss being able to discuss issues in this format.

So each week as I am notified of our City Council meeting agendas I’ll post them here for your review. You are welcome to ask questions and leave comments. I will do my best to respond. As time allows I will try to post other articles and items of interest as well. Hopefully this will make it easier for people who care about Alpharetta to stay informed and speak up.

I encourage the open and frank exchange of ideas here but also caution readers that I will keep commenters on a short leash of civility and the leash is especially short for those who choose not to comment under their own names.

Please note that because of the Labor Day holiday next week’s city council meeting will be held on Tuesday night.

Update: 8/31/2013 @ 7:50 a.m. For administrative reasons there has been a change to the Tuesday night meeting agenda. The executive session will now be held at 7:00 p.m. prior to the regularly scheduled city council meeting.

 

CITY OF ALPHARETTA

Council Meeting for September 03, 2013
City Hall Council Chambers
7:30 PM

I. CALL TO ORDER
II. ROLL CALL
III. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG
IV. PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS
A. Retirement of Fire Prevention Officer Charles Sims
B. Art Presentation to Council from campers at Camp Happy Hearts
C. National Payroll Week
V. CITY CENTER PROJECT
A. Workshop: City Center Update
B. City Center Master Plan Revision: Library Front Entry Parking
VI. NEW BUSINESS
A. Grants Administration
1. Wal-Mart Foundation
2. The NRA Foundation General Grant
B. Public Safety
1. Purchase of Public Safety Vehicles: Bid #14-005
C. Engineering/Public Works
1. Marietta Street Sidewalk Improvements: Bid #14-003
D. Administration
1. An Ordinance to Amend Certain Guidelines for Door to Door Solicitation
(First Reading)
2. An Ordinance of the Mayor and Council of the City of Alpharetta, Georgia to Amend Chapter 2, Article II of the Code of the City of Alpharetta, Georgia Regarding the Municipal Court (First Reading)
VII. PUBLIC COMMENTS
VIII. REPORTS

City of Alpharetta

Executive Session Agenda for September 03, 2013

City Hall Council Chambers

7:00 PM

  1. I.              PERSONNEL
  2. II.            REAL ESTATE
  3. III.           PENDING LITIGATION
  4. IV.          ADJOURNMENT

Alpharetta hires a new Economic Development Coordinator

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Hiring a person capable of leading our city’s economic development effort was a key goal for Alpharetta’s new Mayor and City Council this year. So I am proud to announce that Alpharetta has now hired a talented young man to direct that crucial effort to retain and recruit businesses in the city of Alpharetta.

Today’s press release:

Alpharetta Hires Economic Development Director

Following a year-long search the City of Alpharetta has selected the person who will lead its efforts to attract and grow business and private investment.  Peter Tokar will begin his new duties as Alpharetta’s Director of Economic Development on June 4.

In making the announcement during Monday night’s City Council meeting, Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle expressed enthusiasm.  “This is an exciting time for Alpharetta as we launch initiative like our Technology Advisory Commission, rebrand ourselves as The Technology City of the South, and begin to implement the recommendations in our new economic development plan. Mr. Tokar is bringing new ideas to the table and the experience to help us achieve our goals in an aggressive timetable.”

Tokar will be coming to Alpharetta from South Florida where he led similar efforts for the City of Davie, building that community’s economic development program from scratch.  Over a three-year period, Tokar completely restructured the program; rebranding the community, creating new business recruitment strategies, and developing the town’s first structured incentive program to spur job creation.  Tokar also dedicated considerable effort to working with existing businesses in Davie to ensure that the environment encouraged their growth and success.

Prior to his time in Davie, Tokar ran economic development programs for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward Alliance, the City of Miramar, Florida, and the Miramar – Pembroke Pines Chamber of Commerce.  Tokar also has private sector experience in sales and public relations.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications and Advertising from Liberty University and a Masters of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University.

These are exciting times for Alpharetta and the hiring of Mr. Tokar is just the latest step in positioning our community as the greatest place to live, shop and do business in the state of Georgia. Welcome to Alpharetta Mr. Tokar!

Alpharetta’s 2013 Budget

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This week the City of Alpharetta unveiled the proposed $78 million budget for 2013. Monday night will be our first public discussion of next year’s budget so if you are curious about what will be discussed you can find it on the city’s website here: http://bit.ly/JIZBuC

I will be glad to hear any feedback you have to share about the budget and will do my best to answer any questions you may have but please understand that at this point I am only a few days into the process of reviewing the 428 page document.

The Avalon project in Alpharetta moves forward

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Below is a statement released yesterday by the City of Alpharetta. It is a call for public input on the zoning application submitted for a new development to replace the rotting parking garage currently sitting at the doorstep of our city on Old Milton Parkway.

I encourage all of you to participate in this process. It will have an enormous impact on our community, our quality of life and our property values for years to come.

We Want To Hear From You

North American Properties, the new owner of the 80-acre site at the northwest corner of GA-400 and Old Milton Parkway that was formerly known as Prospect Park, has submitted to the City ofAlpharetta their proposed plan for developing the site. As envisioned by the owner, the project, now named “Avalon”, would be a development consisting of retail, office, hotel, and residential uses with additional outparcels set aside for future sale or development.

While the formal public hearings for the Avalon Proposal are tentatively scheduled to begin on March 1st when the proposal is presented to the Planning Commission, the City ofAlpharetta is seeking early feedback on the owner’s plans.

Please take a few moments to visit our Open City Hall online discussion about the new Avalon Proposal.  There you can view the proposed site plan for Avalon and the table comparing the uses proposed by North American Properties to those that were approved for the formerProspectPark.  Then, let us know your initial impressions, thoughts, concerns or suggestions. Your comments may be helpful to North American Properties as its plans are further refined and may also assist the Planning Commission and the City Council as they consider the proposal.

Also, please consider sharing this opportunity with your friends and neighbors.  We want to hear from all interested citizens.

Thank you for your participation.

James T. Drinkard
Assistant City Administrator, City of Alpharetta

1/14/2012 – The week in review

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My first full week on Alpharetta City Council has been a busy one.

It began on a very sad note as Alpharetta Police Officer Reece Bonilla was laid to rest on Monday. I never had the opportunity to meet Officer Bonilla but by all accounts he was a fine young man and my prayers and thoughts go out to his family. There has been a tremendous outpouring of love and support from Officer Bonilla’s fellow officers in the Alpharetta Public Safety Department and I hope that his family takes some comfort in knowing how much we appreciate his service to this community.

Monday Night’s City Council meeting brought accolades from the city’s financial auditors and served as an excellent reminder of the terrific job Director Tom Harris has done running Alpharetta’s Finance Department. Alpharetta continues to thrive in a challenging environment due in large part to Director Harris’ leadership and the hard work of his staff. Thanks for a job well done guys.

The city also awarded new landscape maintenance contracts for our parks and recreation facilities as well as the medians and right of ways along our roads. Alpharetta is special and I think everyone on council realizes that we can do a better job of highlighting our beauty by paying more attention to some of the details that may have been overlooked in the past. With the new contracts I believe we are moving in the right direction while continuing to act in a fiscally responsible way.

Council also voted to make changes to Alpharetta’s Tree Ordinance on Monday. The tree ordinance sets forth the conditions and procedures which allow property owners to cut down and alter trees on private property.

Alpharetta’s wooded areas and large specimen trees help give our city a beautiful setting and overall we have done a good job of protecting that environment. But at times the tree ordinance also failed to provide reasonable protection for innocent homeowners who wanted to make reasonable changes to their property.

The complexities of the changes we made prevent me from going into too much detail at this time but suffice it to say that after a thorough review of all the changes I believe our code now does a better job of protecting our residents from overly burdensome regulations while still protecting the trees that help make Alpharetta beautiful. I commend Councilman Mike Kennedy, Engineering / Public Works Director Pete Sewczwicz and City Attorney Sam Thomas for their work on this issue.

In addition to the council meeting I also spent alot of time this week getting to know the employees and volunteers that make Alpharetta’s Recreation and Parks Department a world class operation. I am honored that Mayor Belle Isle nominated me to serve as our council’s liaison to Parks And Rec and it has been great to meet some of the people that make my son’s baseball and daughter’s softball programs possible. I will let you know more about these great public servants and what they do for our community in the near future.

Thanks again for this opportunity to serve our community and please take the time to stay engaged in the issues that affect us all.

Thank you, Alpharetta

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In case you haven’t heard, I won Tuesday’s Alpharetta City Council election by a huge margin.

We could never have won this election without the tremendous effort of dedicated volunteers and the encouragement we received from many of you. I will never lose sight of that fact as I serve you over the next four years and I will be eternally grateful for this opportunity.

And now that the challenge of a political campaign is over it is time to focus our efforts on the challenges ahead. Voters approved the new City Center project so the next four years should be exciting as we implement a plan to completely revitalize our downtown community. I will also work hard to improve Alpharetta’s traffic situation while keeping our taxes low and working to restrain high density development that will negatively impact our schools and quality of life.

There is a lot to be done and it won’t be easy. But neither was winning an election against an entrenched incumbent who enjoyed the support of the political establishment. With your help we achieved that victory Tuesday so there is no reason to think we can’t meet the new challenges ahead.

I know that as an elected representative of over 50,000 people there is no way to satisfy every person every time but I give you my word that I will always do these three things:

1)     I will always listen to your concerns.

2)     I will always keep an open mind.

3)     I will always be honest with you regarding my positions.

Regardless of the issue in question you deserve those three things from your elected representatives and you have my word that you will get them from me.

And I hope that all of you will feel comfortable calling me or emailing if you have any questions or concerns over the next four years. My cell phone number is 404 271-2716 and my personal email address is jimgilvin@bellsouth.net . Please accept this note as an open invitation to reach out to me whenever you wish.

Thank you again for this opportunity to serve you on city council. I am truly humbled by this honor and will serve you to the very best of my ability.

Sincerely,

Jim Gilvin