Smart Growth in Cherokee County depends on You
Posted: Wednesday, November 29th, 2006, 8:44 pm EST
Category: Woodstock Real Estate
I have posted many times in the past on the values of "Smart Growth". If Cherokee County must grow, and projections have the county gaining 200,000 more people by 2030 (more than double the current population of 141,903), then we better start growing smart.
Well, here’s your chance to get involved in the Smart Growth movement and make a difference for Cherokee County and it’s future!
There is a great residential development being proposed in Cherokee County by Macauley, a development company that I know and trust. You may have heard about the proposed community, temporarily being called "A Village in the Forest.” This community will be a model of environmental sustainability, as well as a self-contained community that will improve the quality of life of its residents and neighbors. In addition to shopping and road improvements, Macauley’s plan for this special property will incorporate upgrades to some of the current facilities on Lake Allatoona and additional public amenities including parks, churches, dining, and entertainment venues. The community will also include new schools, police and fire services and other civic facilities. They are partnering with the County to provide water and sewer infrastructure so this land won’t be built out on septic tanks.
You can learn more about the community at the website www.wands.macauleycompanies.com. They are in the midst of the zoning approval process, and public support is crucial. There are several ways that you can make difference:
1) Attend the public meetings - Show your support simply by attending upcoming public meetings. Plan on arriving at least 30 minutes early as they expect standing room only.
· Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Dec. 5, 6:00pm, Justice Center, downtown Canton.
· Board of Commissioners meeting, Dec. 19, 6:00pm, Justice Center, downtown Canton.
2) Write letters to the editors of the local newspapers. Their respective email addresses are
Garry Yandel, editor@ledgernews.com
Barbara Jacoby, bjacoby@cherokeetribune.com
Bart Brannon, bart@cherokeegazette.com.
3) Send comments to public officials - Share your comments – even in the way of a quick email – with the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners and the Planning Commission. Their respective email addresses are
Mike Byrd, Chairman – jmbyrd@cherokeega.com
Harry Johnston – hjohnston@cherokeega.com
Derek Good – dvgood@cherokeega.com
Karen Mahurin – kmahurin@cherokeega.com
Jim Hubbard – jhubbard@cherokeega.com
For the Planning Commission, send emails to
Rob Cutting, Chair – recutting@hotmail.com
Scott Barnes – sherppascott@yahoo.com
Bob Whitaker – rmw51@alltel.net
Michael Oxley – arcoxley@aol.com
Charles Kirby – charleskirby00@aol.com
Betty Callahan (via Vicki Taylor) – vtaylor@cherokeega.com
Bill Jarrard – wjjarrard@yahoo.com
Richard Spinks – spinkssuz@aol.com
Luke Zakrzewski – lzak1@adelphia.net
If you believe in Smart Growth concepts and want to see Cherokee County move in this direction, instead of piece meal/hodge-podge zoning methods, then now is the time to make a difference.
Stadium District to help Atlanta Braves gain fans
Posted: Sunday, November 19th, 2006, 1:56 pm EST
Category: Real Estate News
As a life long Braves fan, I will always support my home team. However, the Braves don’t always get the fan support they deserve from the City of Atlanta.
The Braves won 14 straight division titles, a feat that will likely never be matched by any professional sport team…ever, and yet the national media mocks the Braves fan base. The Braves have fielded at least 5 future Hall of Famers over the last 15 years, and still the City of Atlanta gets criticized for not supporting the Braves. The Braves have had multiple MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, ERA Title, Saves Title, and Home Run Title award winners, and the stadium is still rarely packed full. Why doesn’t a city of 4 Million+ people better support a super-succesful team?
Chicago Cubs sell out every game and they can’t win anything. The Boston Red Sox are the hottest ticket in town and they had a 90+ year curse on their team. The Braves win and win with superstars, but the city rearely rallies around them.
The reason for is…because the stadium has always been located on an island. There is no vibrant district surrounding the stadium to enjoy before or after the game. Our public transportation (MARTA) does not even have trains that run to the stadium and parking is a nightmare. If there were shops, bars and things to do around the stadium, then going to the Braves game becomes and event, not an effort. (see Chicago and Boston for how to create a great stadium district)
All of the past problems could change with the announcement of a possible Stadium District by the City of Atlanta. The district would cover nearly 400 acres and is expected to be devleoped with projects worth more than $1 billion.
The AJC reports..
City envisions neighborhood to replace stadium parking The parking lots around Turner Field could be redeveloped into a destination themselves, a mix of retail, office and residential development, if Atlanta officials are successful in their plan to create a special district to lure investment. The proposal envisions nearly 400 acres around Turner Field being turned into a new town center, in part using the vast surface parking lots now used by Braves fans. Those 43 acres that now accommodate nearly 9,000 vehicles could be covered with residences, shops, office buildings and maybe a hotel. About 10,000 spaces would be provided in new parking decks.
“The strategy is to take the surface parking and concentrate those spaces in parking decks, and free up the rest of the land for quality development,” said Greg Giornelli, president of the Atlanta Development Authority, the city’s development arm.
To help develop the parking lots and other property around Turner Field, the city wants to create a tax allocation district similar to one that helped pay for Atlantic Station and one that is to help build the trails, transit and parks along the Beltline. The city would sell bonds to build the parking decks. The new open space is expected to attract developers whose projects would increase the amount of property taxes collected in the area. The additional taxes would pay off the bonds. City taxpayers are not on the hook to repay the bonds if development fails to generate enough taxes to cover the payments —- but the investors who bought the bonds would be out of luck. Giornelli said there were no specific plans for what would be built, and where, around Turner Field. The stadium redevelopment plan is part of Atlanta’s broader renewal program for more than 3,600 acres in blighted neighborhoods. Atlanta intends to create three special tax districts to restore portions of Metropolitan Parkway, Campbellton Road and a corridor flanked by Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The Atlanta City Council is expected to approve the four districts Monday.
The state limits local governments to putting no more than 10 percent of their tax digest into special tax districts. Atlanta is so close to that limit that 2006 may be the last year to create additional tax districts, according to the Atlanta Development Authority.
Will Canton’s new golf course bring commercial growth?
Posted: Sunday, November 19th, 2006, 1:26 pm EST
Category: Real Estate News
In an unusual private-public partnership, developers of the mixed-use community, Laurel Canyon, have donated an 18-hole, 7,000-yard golf course to the city of Canton.
The Fairways of Canton, being developed by Newnan-based Rocky Roquemore Golf Course Architects, is scheduled to open in 2007 as a city-owned public course.
"This is a first-class, luxury golf course the entire public will soon enjoy," said Marie Garrett, special adviser to Canton Mayor Cecil Pruett. "We made sure of that when discussions were first initiated two years ago. Courses of this style and nature are typically private."
Garrett said the developers have agreed to put up the entire $6 million expense to build the course, and over the next 10 years, Canton will reimburse $3 million through parks and recreation impact fees collected by the city.
The city hopes it will be a money-maker and help attract business and residents to Canton, one of the faster-growing cities in metro Atlanta. A top-notch golf course is one amenity that business owners and leaders would want to have for clients and themselves. It is part of the city’s larger development plan, which includes a 700-acre mixed-use office and business park near the intersection of I-575 and Riverstone Parkway.
The business park will be bordered by a 411-acre lake, Hickory Log Creek Resorvoir, which is a joint effort of Canton and the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority. Construction has started on the 180-foot- high dam, and workers expect to start pouring concrete in the next 60 days.
In addition to the lake and golf course in Canton, Cherokee County is expanding it’s airport runway to accomodate private jets. It seems the city of Canton and Cherokee County officials are determined to lure higher quality commercial businesses to the area.
The question remains…will it work?
Information in this post was gleaned from the AJC and Golf Homes of Atlanta.
How to raise money to solve Atlanta’s traffic problems
Posted: Wednesday, November 15th, 2006, 1:22 pm EST
Category: Atlanta Real Estate
I have blogged many times about the traffic problems in Atlanta (read here, here and here) and I generally come to the same conclusion…money is needed to make a difference. Atlanta transportation funding lags behind many similar sized cities, yet no one wants to be pay more taxes to raise the money needed.
Yesterday I read an interesting proposal to adjust how money is generated for transportation. The current state gas tax being charged as cents per gallon, not per dollar. So when general prices rise (inflation), that 7.5 cents per gallon of gas doesn’t. How would you feel about eliminating the 7.5 cents per gallon gas tax state wide and implenting a 1% sales tax to be allocated for transportation? The sales tax being a percentage would automatically adjust with inflation and we can only anticpate that road and transit construction is going to increase with time.
The AJC wrote…
1% gas sales tax proposed to replace per gallon levy
An influential transportation lobbying group wants the Legislature to consider a referendum for a constitutional amendment eliminating the state gas tax —- the major source of transportation money in the state —- and replacing it with a 1 percent statewide sales tax.
Mike Kenn, president of Georgians for Better Transportation, made the suggestion Monday at a forum on transportation held in downtown Atlanta. He said the proposal would have the benefit of rising with inflation.
Much of the current state gas tax is charged as cents per gallon, not per dollar. So when general prices rise, that 7.5 cents per gallon of gas doesn’t. There is also a 4 cents per dollar gas tax, 3 cents of which go to transportation. Transportation funding in Georgia has fallen from $159 per capita in 1975 to $61 per capita last year, according to the group.
The proposal would leave gas untaxed by the state except for the 1 percent, and where counties have special taxes levied on it.
Kenn said the idea he presented Monday morning would replace both the cents-per-gallon and the per-dollar gas taxes, but the Legislature could decide to do something different.
Kenn said his organization was open to other ideas, offering this as a starting point. He pointed out that while the gas tax is constitutionally dedicated to roads and bridges, a sales tax could have a percentage dedicated to other transit, such as commuter rail.
Vance Smith, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said, "I think everything’s going to be on the table," but "something’s got to be done."
Sitting at the table with Kenn were some key transportation planning officials as well as the president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Sam Williams.
Williams said he and his board would take no position on the group’s proposal or any other until its meeting Thursday. However, chamber officials have spoken of the benefits of a regional funding system such as a special local sales tax with which counties would be able to band together to address regional problems with regional money.
A 2004 study by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group showed that the Atlanta region’s federal gas tax was subsidizing the rest of the state, with some revenues produced here being redirected to projects elsewhere.
The tax proposal would probably be put forth as a referendum, which would require a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly in the 2007 or 2008 session to make it on the 2008 ballot, and then a simple majority of voters, Kenn said.
Georgians for Better Transportation was a key backer of the Congestion Mitigation Task Force, which Gov. Sonny Perdue convened, and whose recommendations four metro planning agencies adopted.
The recommendations set a formula for valuing congestion relief at 70 percent of the value of a transportation project when deciding which projects get money.
Moving from Real Estate 1.0 to Real Estate 2.0
Posted: Sunday, November 12th, 2006, 3:04 pm EST
Category: Tips, Tools & Tech
Last week I had lunch with another broker to discuss our local real estate market, but also to share thoughts and ideas about the future of real estate as an industry. Wade Sonenberg of The Sonenberg Company is a second generation real estate agent and his father, David, is on the cover of latest issue of REALTOR Magazine. Wade and I both grew up with real estate in our family, but more importantly we grew up in the technology and information era. Our conversation focused on how we can use technology and information to better enhance real estate.
Just the fact that two competitive brokerage firms are having lunch to discuss the future of real estate is a step in the right direction. The old way to do business in the real estate industry (real estate 1.0) was very cut-throat and brokers competed for every client, listing, and sale and their hopes for success hinged on not sharing information freely. I feel the new way to do business in the real estate industry (real estate 2.0) is to share information freely with everyone. Whether it’s general market information, specific property details, or sharing ideas to improve business with competiting broker, information should be free and free-flowing.
Technology should be a tool to help facilitate the sharing of information. This blog is a great example of how I use technology to improve communication and information to clients, brokers and the general public. Wade Sonenberg has started an online real estate forum to share info about the Atlanta commercial real estate market. It does not matter if these tools are succesful in changing the way we do real estate. What matters is the fact that we are trying and thinking of ways to try to make things better.
WebHomeUSABlog recently wrote about real estate 1.0 vs real estate 2.0 …
Real Estate 1.0, the NAR, Realtor.com, and MLS-Friendly Search are all about Big Real Estate, Big Brokers, hard sell, withhold data until you get the information. House first, ads second and home buyer third. Real Estate 2.0, Real Estate Search 2.0 and Real Estate Search Marketing 2.0, Google and Zillow are all about open data, open communication, contextual ads, and free content. Just where and when are these twains meeting?
I know that two local real estate companies (Maxsell Real Estate and The Sonenberg Company) are making the meeting place at Magnolia Thomas Restaurant and online at blogs and forums.
