Clifton Corridor Urban Design Guidelines PREPARED FOR THE CLIFTON COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP BY GOODY CLANCY DECEMBER 2008 Contents Letter from Mike Mandl D. Design Guidelines 27 Letter from the Clifton Community Five Steps to Creating Successful Places 28 Partnership Advisory Group v Natural Environment Restoration Areas 30 Behind this Plan v Connectivity 37 Acknowledgments v Neighborhood Preservation Areas 44 Overview x Corridor Enhancement Areas 49 Using these Guidelines xv General Guidelines 51 The Planning Process xx District Guidelines 63 Clifton | Sage Hill 64 A. Forces shaping growth and Clifton | Wesley Woods 76 change in DeKalb County Clifton | Hilltop 88 and the Clifton community 1 Clifton | Emory Health Sciences 104 Demographics 1 Clifton Station 116 Household affluence 2 Clifton | Emory Core 128 Land use and transportation 4 Haygood | Druid Hills High School 144 Institutional growth and scale 6 Druid Hills | North Decatur 158 Transportation challenges 7 Clairmont | North Decatur 172 Clairmont | Lullwater 184 B. Core Principles 11 Create places of greater civic value 12 Appendices Promote environmental sustainability 13 A. Appropriate plant species list Expand choices 14 B. Emory Forest Canopy Policy Improve accessibility and connectivity 15 C. Zoning Analysis Enhance personal well-being 16 Foster community-wide engagement 17 C. Vision 19 Natural Environment Restoration Areas Neighborhood Preservation Areas Corridor Enhancement Areas Clifton Corridor Urban Design Guidelines ■ From Mike Mandl Weather and schedule permitting, the latter not nearly often enough, I enjoy walking from home to my office at Emory. It is surprising what I notice on these walks to work, when, out of my car, I am able to see the Clifton community in a very different light. Our community is fortunate to maintain a healthy, green “tree canopy,” an abundant stock of classic historic homes and mix of local businesses. Unfortunately, walking or bicycling within the Clifton community can be dangerous, with uneven or missing sidewalks and a lack of bike lanes. Over time, a clear pattern has emerged of traveling through our community primarily by car—often with only one occupant. These Urban Design Guidelines are meant to challenge each of us to see a new vision for our community. The Clifton Community Partnership (CCP) and Emory initiated this project to support the four CCP focus areas—transportation choices as alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles; housing that enables employees to live closer to their workplaces; vibrant activity centers with shops, restaurants and amenities; and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes and outdoor spaces. The vision and ideals reflected in these Guidelines are energizing and provide a solid foundation for tackling long-term changes and opportunities in our community. But, I am equally pleased that this initiative provided many occasions for neighbors to assemble and begin discussions about how our community should evolve in the most beneficial way for the largest number of people in the face of inevitable change. From the start of our discussion at the end of 2006, hundreds of neighbors, civic leaders, business owners, and Emory stakeholders contributed to the final set of Guidelines. This document outlines what aspects of our community are “sacred” and should be preserved—and what aspects are dated, underutilized, and do not contribute sufficiently to the public good. Please take some time and review the Guidelines closely. The ideas envisioned in this document will evolve over the coming years and quite possibly decades. But the Guidelines provide a great planning tool that allow us to continue our ongoing conversation about what the Clifton community can look and feel like in the years ahead. I look forward to seeing the evolution firsthand on future walks and bike rides throughout the community. Best wishes, Michael J. Mandl Clifton Corridor Urban Design Guidelines ■ From the Clifton Community Partnership Advisory Group To the Clifton community: Fifteen months ago, the Clifton Community Partnership, Emory and members of our community met to initiate the development of Urban Design Guidelines for our community. As we started this extended dialogue – the first of a series of public meetings and charrettes - we met, appropriately in the auditorium of Druid Hills High School, a rich, historic educational fixture in the middle of our community. The setting was appropriate as we were about to embark on an experience that was educational as much as it was visionary. As we learned, our community, our county and our region are all changing. The projected demographic shifts and lifestyle changes will be profound. A primary goal of these guidelines is to ensure that we, as a community, have a broad yet nimble plan that will provide the framework for embracing change in a way that preserves our cherished quality of life. Ours is not a one-size-fits all community, and as one Advisory Group member aptly described, “We are not just a collection of cul-de-sacs.” Different corridors require different considerations and no two should look the same. The “gateways” to our community touch key thoroughfares – Briarcliff, Clifton, North Decatur and Clairmont roads – but also coexist with historic communities, pristine woodlands, creeks, schools, shops and jobs. The distinct corridors received individual attention to preserve their unique qualities. The education didn’t end with urban design concepts. These guidelines represent not just standards for a community in evolution, but an important process that brought divergent views together to find common interest. Hundreds of community members rolled up their sleeves, marked maps, ate pizza and listened – really listened to one another -- as we envisioned what our community “could” be. The discussion easily led from specifics on certain streets, to the larger needs of our community through a process that most of us had not participated in previously. v No education is cheap and ours was not either. We thank Emory for generously funding this process, and extend special thanks to David Dixon and Ben Carlson at Goody Clancy, without whom we would not have produced this exceptional work product. When people of divergent opinions sit down together, in the spirit of goodwill, there is no end to what we can accomplish. We hope you enjoy reading these guidelines and a perspective on shaping the future of our community. CLIFTON COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP ADVISORY GROUP (CCPAG) mEMBERS Ingrid Blanton Stuart Meddin Emory University Alliance to Improve Emory Village Robert L. Brown Jim Morawetz RL Brown & Associates Druid Hills Civic Association Charlie Bleau Maria Mullins Clairmont Heights Civic Association DeKalb Economic Development Vanessa Cameron Harvey Nation Mason Mills Civic Association Nancy Ciliax Clairmont Heights Civic Association Everett Patrick Druid Hills High School Natalie DiSantis Atlanta Neighborhood Mac Platt Development Partnership, Inc. Druid Hills Civic Association Jeffrey Dufresne Julie Ralston Urban Land Institute (ULI) Atlanta Regional Commission Sara Fountain Dr. James Ramsay Leadership DeKalb, Briarcliff Woods Emory University Civic Association Doris Robinson Alicia Franck Coldwell Banker Emory University Kenneth Rose Lynn Cherry Grant Centers for Disease Control and Prevention DeKalb Board of Education Sally Sears Renee Huskey Alliance to Improve Emory Village Mary Leight Arnie Silverman Briarwood Hills Civic Association Silverman Program Construction Management Bruce MacGregor Lorine Spencer Druid Hills Civic Association Centers for Disease Control and Prevention JoAnn Godfrey McClinton John Wegner MARTA Board of Directors Emory University Clifton Corridor Urban Design Guidelines ■ v Behind this Plan: The Clifton Community Partnership, the Clifton Community, and the Clifton Community Partnership Advisory Group The Clifton Community Partnership (CCP) impact on the community, including: is an initiative started by Emory University • Encouraging housing in the Clifton to provide a framework for discussing community that will appeal to local common quality-of-life issues within the employees, allowing them live near Clifton community—the area within three their jobs, and reducing the number of miles of Emory’s main campus. commuter vehicles on area roads. • Promoting walking as a healthy The collaboration between the CCP and viable commuting option on and Emory supports the University’s pedestrian-friendly streets with wider Strategic Plan and its challenge: sidewalks and safer pathways. Creating Community, Engaging Society. • Reducing the number of residents Through the CCP, Emory is putting its and employees traveling on local strategic initiatives into action. Many roads in single-occupancy vehicles. of the CCP’s projects support Emory’s The CCP encourages the idea of Sustainability Initiatives, which promote commuters’ traveling in ways other healthy ecosystems and environmental than single-occupancy vehicles to stewardship. improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion in the Clifton community. Community input is a core value of • Improving the community by the CCP. The CCP initiates significant supporting local shops, restaurants, outreach and engagement efforts that entertainment venues and activities. include a dynamic community website, a monthly newsletter mailed to nearly The CCP established an Advisory Group 16,000 homes in the Clifton community, of neighborhood, business, institutional, and periodic community workshops. and civic leaders representing broad