December 2015 North Buckhead Newsletter Page 1 NORTH BUCKHEAD Civic Association Newsletter www.nbca.org - [email protected] December 2015 Mailed four times each year to about 4,300 North Buckhead homes NBCA’s newsletter archive is online with color photos at www.nbca.org/newsletters.htm Wieuca/Phipps Roundabout Repaving & Roadway Plans Traffic congestion has gradually grown during City Council District 7 Office Representative Sal- morning and evening rush hour at the Wieuca/ ly Silver provided this information about Infra- Phipps Boulevard intersection. It is not uncom- structure Bond spending approved by voters in mon for southbound Wieuca Road to back up to March 2015. That bond issue set aside funds to North Ivy Road, about a half a mile away. Dur- begin addressing deteriorating pavement ing the Christmas shopping season, it’s worse. throughout the city. It also provided money to That’s today. But about a thousand apartments each Council District to address other problems. and a hotel are under construction near that in- tersection. Clearly, action is needed! Fortu- As part of this program, Councilmember Howard nately, hope is on the way. Shook developed a list of streets needing repair is his district. The following list includes North In March, realizing that the bad situation was Buckhead streets slated for repaving: going to get worse fast, NBCA contacted the Wieuca Road - Peachtree to Roswell Road (Continued on page 8) Old Ivy Road - Wieuca to Roswell Road (Continued, See Repaving Plans, page 6) Annual Holiday Tree Sale NBCA is conducting its annual Christmas Tree Sale. Tree orders may be placed using the cou- pon on the back cover or on our web site at www.nbca.org/treesale. Even though our sup- plier increased the prices we pay, NBCA will continue to use the same price list as last year. Tree pickup is inside the neighborhood (Sarah Smith Elementary Primary Campus, 370 Old Ivy Road), on the first weekend in December, the 5th and 6th. Order in advance — items will not be available for walk-up sale on Saturday. We need volunteer help and will reward helpers with extensions to their NBCA membership. Inside this Newsletter But Did It Rain Here? …………………………………. 2 NBCA Record Membership …………………………. 3 Education Events at Blue Heron ……………….. 4 Blue Heron Nature Master Plan …………………. 5 APD & Fire/Rescue Lunch ………………………….. 6 NBCA’s Facebook Page ………………………………. 6 NBCA Volunteer Night ……………………………….. 6 Neighborhood Planning Unit B …………………… 7 Land Use and Zoning …………………………………. 10 Code Enforcement ………………………………………. 11 Bird Award Helps Neighborhood ……………….. 12 Sarah Smith Walk to School Day ………………. 13 New Business Members …….………………………. 14 Conceptual plan: a roundabout at the NBCA Business Members …………………………… 15 Wieuca Road/Phipps Boulevard intersection. 2015 NBCA Tree Sale Order Form …………….. 16 Page 2 North Buckhead Newsletter December 2015 But Did It Rain Here? By Sue Certain, Associate Editor years of data for several water-related statistics, This is an updated version of a story that first two of which are very useful to residents: pre- appeared in the Newsletter in July, 2007. For cipitation and gage height. homeowners who have yards and gardens, this Internet option can be valuable. In spring and summer, if it doesn’t rain, we need to water our yards and gardens: but rain- fall matters in the fall, too. Many of us put in grass seed then, as well as fall crops like car- rots, collards, and kale. All these things need water, especially new plants and seeded lawns. We can look out the window in the morning and see that it rained. But was it a trace amount? Was it a gully washer that washed all the seeds away and caused flooding? What happened? We know it rained at the airport; we learned about that on TV. But how much did it rain in our neighborhood? We have a way to find out. North Buckhead has its own mini-weather station, accessible from the Internet. The weather station is located in the Blue Heron Nature Preserve by Nancy Creek, On our web page, the default display is the last near the Rickenbacker Drive bridge. It’s run by eight days of precipitation as shown above in a the US Geological Service and is funded by the sample graph from the web site. The reports on City. We link to it from our web site at the web site can be adjusted to show a day or www.nbca.org. Just go to the site and click on more, up to 365 days. We can see from this “Weather” on the right-hand side. graph that there was an inch of rain over the The site is updated every hour or so and retains eight-day period. On October 10, during the early-morning hours, there was almost an inch of rain. On October 13, again in the early morning, there was about a tenth of an inch of rain, raising the total to an inch. The other valuable statistic is “Gage height, feet”, which in plain English means, “How high did Nancy Creek get?” There is a point at which Nancy Creek reaches flood stage. This is useful information. We think many will find this site interesting and valuable. We suggest that you add NBCA’s weather page to your browser’s bookmarks (favorites) list. Then you will quickly be able to find out the answer to the questions, “But did it rain here? And how much?” NBCA Standing Meetings (NBCA meetings are open to the public) Board — 7:00 pm, 4th Monday of month ex- cept March, Nov., and Dec., Room S-103, Wieuca Road Baptist Church. March meeting: the Annual Meeting. Joint Nov./Dec.: Dec. 7, 2015. Land Use/Zoning — 7:00 pm, 3rd Monday, Room S-103, Wieuca Road Baptist Church. December 2015 North Buckhead Newsletter Page 3 NBCA Hits Record Membership High—Needed: 163 More By Gordon Certain, NBCA President tended their membership for ten additional A year ago, in an article entitled “401 More years — those are the kind of people we call Members Needed”, NBCA Member Marianna Lee true supporters. wrote, “North Buckhead has about 4,300 home- The second reason many joined/rejoined was owner families, of which 674 pay the annual $35 that the North Buckhead Neighborhood Master fee for NBCA dues. Many Buckhead neighbor- Plan, initiated and largely paid for by NBCA, had hood associations have a majority of their been approved by the Atlanta City Council in homeowners as members. Some have far July. That master plan should help protect our more.” She outlined our hope of reaching a neighborhood from high-density mixed-use en- goal of having 1075 of our households as NBCA croachment from the south, and should have a members. Why 1075? It’s 25% of 4,300. good shot at updating and improving the aes- This December I am delighted to say we’ve thetics of the developments along our Roswell made a heck of a lot of progress, and last week Road border. No, the Master Plan won’t protect our membership hit 912 members, which means us from every problem and threat. But we’ll we have picked up 238 households, almost 60% certainly be better off. The Master Plan effort of last year’s goal in just one year. did something else for North Buckhead: leaders in city government are now more aware of the Why the surge? There are a couple of reasons. strengths and weaknesses of our neighborhood First, and this is not remotely what your intui- and have a better understanding of what we tion would lead you to expect, we raised our need and don’t need. dues from $35 a year to $50, for reasons we will explain shortly. Many residents, knowing the For those who have join us since Marianna’s last value NBCA brings to the neighborhood, decided article, we are very grateful and committed not now was the time to show their support for their to disappoint you. But for the rest of you, we neighborhood association. Others, expecting to want to reach at least 163 of you during the to be NBCA members for a long time, paid dues next year and make you part of our member- several years into the future. In fact, two mem- ship. Even with the dues increase, what else bers, one a business and one a household, ex- can give you more value for less than a dollar a week? It’s an investment in your neighbor- hood. Join us. North Buckhead Area Map North Buckhead and surrounding areas. Page 4 North Buckhead Newsletter December 2015 Education Events at Blue Heron Nature Preserve By Amy Zvonar November 23, 1‐3 pm. $40, all supplies includ- Education Director, Blue Heron Nature Preserve ed. All ages welcome with children under 5 ac- Growing Up Wild - A new series for young companied by a caregiver. children and adults at Blue Heron Nature Pre- Thanksgiving Break at Blue Heron Nature serve. Join Blue Heron educators for a relaxed Preserve - Explore the bounty of nature this walk at the Preserve, focused on sharing nature Thanksgiving break! Each day, your children will with children ages 0-5. Children must be ac- explore our woods, creek, and wetlands with an companied by an adult. Wednesdays, Novem- experienced environmental educator. Go bird- ber 11, and December 9, 10-11 am. $5 per watching, track mammals, make a seed collec- adult, children free. tion, build forts, and more. November 23-25, Living with Beavers - Take a guided walk at 9 am-noon, for children 4-10 years old. Cost: Blue Heron with a Blue Heron Educator to see $40/day, $110 all three days.