Newspaper Page Text
COMMUNITY
Council asks commission to
reconsider hotel rezoning
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
13 meeting.
Cecil McLendon, the city’s attorney,
said he recommended the council’s ac
tion because of the “totality of the is-
>5
sues.
Developers of the Sterling Point proj
ect propose to build a hotel, a restaurant
and several retail buildings on the south
east corner of Ashford Dunwoody Road
and Perimeter Center North. Their plan
has stirred opposition from residents,
including the Dunwoody Homeown
ers Association, because it calls for a new
“curb cut” to allow a traffic connection
onto Ashford Dunwoody, one of the
city’s busiest streets.
Before the planning commission vote
on April 23, the project’s developer and
lawyers representing the developer filed
papers with the city saying they had
not contributed more than $250 to any
council or planning commission mem
ber in the prior two years, according to
city documents.
A member of the law firm later
amended the statement to say contribu
tions had been made to Planning Com
missioner Bob Dallas during his unsuc
cessful campaign for mayor in 2011, city
officials said. Dallas said he had accepted
contributions from both the lawyer and
the firm, and properly disclosed them
on campaign finance reports.
Councilman John Heneghan, who
cast the sole vote against returning the
proposal to the planning commission,
said he did not think the council’s ac
tion went far enough. Heneghan said
the plan should be sent all the way back
to the city’s Community Council, the
first step in the zoning process, for re
consideration.
“The Community Council is part of
the process, and I don’t believe they had
all the information,” Heneghan said. “I
don’t believe the process is being proper
ly followed. I believe this issue is flawed.”
Both the Community Council and
the Planning Commission approved the
proposal.
Dallas said he has written city offi
cials asking for guidance regarding the
city’s ethics code. He said he hoped for a
response before the Sterling Point devel
opment again is considered by the Plan
ning Commission.
In his letter, Dallas said he had taken
campaign contributions from the appli
cant’s legal representatives and that a fel
low planning commissioner is an officer
of the DHA.
“The Community Council
is part of the process and
I don’t believe they had
all the information. I don’t
believe the process is being
properly followed. I believe
this issue is flawed.”
- JOHN HENEGHAN
COUNCILMAN
“The questions raised here will like
ly be raised in future matters before the
planning commission, and will likely
be raised in matters before other Dun
woody boards and council,” Dallas said
in the letter.
Dallas said he did not think the cam
paign contributions are a conflict, and
that he should be able to vote on the re
zoning. “I think the best legal analogy I
can give to you is judicial campaigns,”
he said. “Attorneys do give contribu
tions to judges, and they represent cli
ents before those judges.”
He said the city’s Ethics Board needs
to consider the questions of what con
stitutes a conflict of interest and how
members of city boards and commis
sions should respond in these circum
stances.
Dallas wants to know what members
of city boards should do if asked to con
sider an application from a political con
tributor or another person or group af
filiated with that city board member.
“Dunwoody has a lot of very active
people, thank goodness, who may run
for office in the future,” he said. “I think
it’s important for the board to make that
pronouncement.”
Dunwoody Government Calendar
The Dunwoody City Council usually meets the second and fourth
Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at Dunwoody City Hall located at 41
Perimeter Center East Suite No. 103.
For a complete and up to date schedule of Dunwoody City meetings,
visit http://www.dunwoodyga.gov/Residents/Calendar.aspx
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