Business owners vow to clean up tract under threat of annexation
- 2/23/10
- Categorized in: Business, DeKalb News
A group of property and business owners under threat of annexation along East College Avenue plan to start tidying up the area this month with the help of a county commissioner.
On Feb. 27 commissioner Kathie Gannon will join on a small group of business owners who have protested several state representatives’ plans to annex a tract of unincorporated DeKalb County sitting between Decatur and Avondale Estates. The proposal would essentially bring Decatur’s borders east and Avondale Estates’ borders west along the small stretch of commercial property, making Sam’s Crossing the new border.
Gannon and other county officials protested the annexation proposal – spearheaded by Avondale Estates state Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield – earlier this month, claiming the annexation would drain the county’s already depleted commercial tax base. Under the current proposal, Decatur would absorb about 10 businesses and Avondale Estates would take 22. Benfield said she is pursuing the annexation to better control the appearance of what she says are blighted properties along the industrial tract.
Peggy Gargiulo, one of the property owners, wants to prevent that.
“We’ll be doing any kind of things that we can physically do and make a difference in terms of appearance,” she said. “Every single issue we can address, and there should be no reason for annexation.”
Gargiulo said she and several other business owners have created a list of improvements to businesses along the street that leads into Avondale Estates’ Tudor-themed gateway. That includes picking up trash, tearing away decrepit fencing and repainting some businesses’ exteriors.
Benfield told The Champion earlier this month that her annexation effort stalled after one of the representatives she needed to put the issue to a vote on the House floor pulled her signature – one of 10 Benfield needed to put the measure before the General Assembly.
Gargiulo said Benfield still has plans to push the proposal through and continues to lobby for the final signature. She said she’s hoping to make that unnecessary. “We want to be supportive. We want to be proactive. We want to make a difference,” she said. “We want to do what they want, but we don’t have to be annexed in Avondale to do that.”
1) There are over 10 vacancies in the city of Avondale Estates at the current time. Why, because businesses don't want to pay City and County Taxes.
2) Properties in both areas need upkeep.
3) Development for some of the property up for annexation has already a master plan for develpment consisting of mixed-use. It is common knowledge among developers as well as the City of Avondale. But, the economy has taken a toll on commercial development, leaving lenders skeptical. This would be more revenue than just $32,000.
4) The reasons for Annexation of this properties into Avondale Estates are: " to regulate future growth and development, increase the presence of the law and to beautify the gateway to our city." All of these can be done easily without annexation. For those of you, that are interesting in the saftey of this area, the will be a Dekalb County Public Safety meeting on Tuesday, March 2 at 1:00 at the Manual Maloof Building. Plan to attend to voice your concerns. The majority of the crime in the report provided by the City of Avondale were outside the annexation area.
5) The current property owners are working with the County help improve this corridor and are glad to see that The City of Avondale will be joining us Saturday, 2-27. We can work together as a team, without annexation. We as the newly formed, The Business Community group, will be meeting quarterly and also will meet with Commissoner Gannon and Keep Dekalb Beautiful on a regular basis. We will certainly help the City of Avondale if they would like for us to help with a work day for them.
6) Lastly, 18 of 23 property owners are not for this Annexation. Why is it that our voice doesn't matter. Who is going to pay the increase in taxes and absorb the high vacancy rate that Avondale is currently experiencing? You??
BTW, I live in the City of Decatur.
This is about property owners who don't care about the upkeep, appearance or use of their property so long as they are getting a rent check. My family has lived in Avondale Estates for 10 years. This area has been a run down eye soar for the entire we've been here. The statement that the owners have done everything possible is simply not true.
Annexation will allow both Decatur and Avondale Estates to include these areas in their master plans for development. The property owners, if they weren't so short-sighted, should realize that is a good thing. After all, they've been benefiting from the fact that most everyone thinks their property is already in either Avondale Estates or Decatur.
The City also claims that the area is Crime Ridden, but when you carefully read the crime reports in their presentation, you will find that the majority of the crimes in their report took place outside of the annexation area and out of Avondale's jurisdiction. The truth about their crime ridden area was that it had several cases of vandalism, graffiti and a car that was broken into.
Avondale raised their taxes last year and will raise them again this year because they all want pay raises. The administrative budget calls for over $60,000 in pay raises this year alone. They had a $58,000 raise last year. When the rest of the country is tightening their belts, the City of Avondale is getting Fat off of the tax raises of their subjects.
Next year the City of Avondale will attempt to annex the properties along Laredo Ave and Rio Circle and they plan to raise another $45.000 in tax revenues from those "Dirty Industrial and Commercial businesses".
Why does Avondale want to annex these areas? Mainly because they have already taxed the businesses in the City of Avondale to a point that many have left the area. Just 50 ft north of East College on Clarendon, in "DownTown Avondale " there several run down properties where the businesses have closed and moved out because they could not afford the high taxes. As you drive along East College, from Clarendon, towards Decatur, still in the City of Avondale, there are several run down properties where there are no longer any tenants.
So why is it that Avondale wants to annex in other properties. MONEY!
Please.....where has your civic responsibility been all these years? A no-man's land of poorly maintained properties has existed for too long, devaluing property and inviting crime. I can assure you, the primary reason Avondale residents are for annexation is to control what DeKalb County has refused to regulate. This will guide me at the polls next time I vote!