Update from Councilman Wittenstein

The following is an update from Dunwoody City Councilman Robert Wittenstein. In my next blog, I will tell you how I would vote on the issues if I were on city council (it wasn't for lack of trying, only lack of funding)! By the way Robert, how are you voting? Again, thanks for the update!

Dear Dunwoody Friends and Neighbors,
I've been spending time lately thinking about how much government regulation is the right amount and how much is too much. There have been several proposals or discussions in the last few weeks about enacting new laws or tightening up existing regulations. Not all of these have broad support on the city council, so many of these won't go anywhere, but some might.
Most of us worked to form the city of Dunwoody to improve the level of services and to gain control over zoning. Now that we are a city we need to establish the right level of regulation. Nearly all of us, me included, were in favor of new restrictions on bar closing times (from 4:00 AM to 2:00 AM). But what about other restrictions? Below is a list of several new regulations or increased restrictions that have been recently discussed:

Require all homeowners and businesses to display their street address so that it is easily viewable from the street.
Require all newly constructed single family homes to have sprinkler systems installed. (This is already a requirement for multi-family homes.)
Restrict people who live in subdivisions from parking their cars in front of their homes except for short periods of time.
Restrict the number of cars a homeowner can have in their driveway or visible from the street.
Make participation in the DeKalb recycling program mandatory.
Register, regulate and tax taxicabs and limousines that come into Dunwoody to pick up passengers.
Further restrict the times that a homeowner can have a landscape company working at their home or a construction company or roofing company can work anywhere in Dunwoody.

Which of these would you favor and which seem like government interference? I've gotten enough e-mails on all sides of these issues to know that what seems like government tyranny to some is an important quality of life or safety issue to others. What do you think?
On a somewhat related issue, next month the City Council will decide whether or not to allow Dunwoody homeowners to raise six to eight chickens in their backyard. There are already half a dozen families with children doing this in Dunwoody and their chicken coops are attractive and odor-free. The chickens are a kid-magnet in each neighborhood and the locally produced organic eggs are a prize in certain circles. Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Roswell, Atlanta and Decatur all allow small numbers of backyard chickens. The Dunwoody Planning Commission recommended approval unanimously. If you would like to learn more about backyard chicken raising check out this link.

Finally, I'm very pleased to report that we have been awarded a grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) as part of their Livable Cities Initiative of $80,000 to help underwrite the cost of creating a new master plan for Dunwoody Village. The master plan will "develop strategies for transforming the area into a vibrant town center, including development of new parks, green space, improved commercial space, and traffic flow." It is very exciting and I look forward to lots of community involvement later this year when we hold public meetings to help establish the vision.
Regards,
Robert