COMMUNITY
Roswell
Sandy
Springs
Norcross
Tucker
City Council adopts zoning and land development codes
Dunwoody
Government
Calendar
The Dunwoody City Coun
cil usually meets the sec
ond and fourth Monday of
each month at 7 p.m. at
Dunwoody City Hall locat
ed at 41 Perimeter Center
East Suite No. 103.
For a complete and up
to date schedule of Dun
woody City meetings, visit
http://www.dunwoodyga.
gov/Residents/Calendar.
aspx
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be an allowable number of pets took
flight after city consultant Kirk Bish
op of Duncan Associates said city staff
members were recommending a limit of
10 “companion animals” per household,
raising the allowable number from the
existing limit of three.
Any household with more than 10
pets, he said, would be considered to
be operating a kennel. Problems with
homeowners with fewer than 10 pets
would be handled through nuisance reg
ulations, he said.
“There is no magic to 10,” he said.
“We deliberated on seven to 10, and de
cided to err on the side of flexibility.”
Councilman Denis Shortal argued
that allowed too large a pack of pets. “It
seems to me we’re putting down a num
ber here without any thinking, pulling it
down from the sky,” he said.
But Councilwoman Lynn Deutsch
thought picking any number could cre
ate problems.
“I think we need to take this num
ber out of here,” she said. “I don’t think
we need to tell people they can have 10
dogs. I think we need to regulate the
nuisances.”
Other council members agreed and
the number was removed. Council
members also agreed to consider sepa
rate nuisance regulations in the future.
On home businesses, Shortal sought
to eliminate a new provision that would
allow certain types of home-based busi
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
did not yet have a full-time community
development director in place following
the recent departure of former Director
Steve Dush for a job in Florida.
But her motion to defer the vote to
the council’s next meeting died after no
other councilor would second it.
Tony Delmichi, a member of the
city’s Community Council, one of the
bodies that studied and commented on
the proposals as they were developed,
also argued City Council should delay
its vote. He argued the proposal should
be debated by the candidates running in
the Nov. 5 City Council elections. “This
zoning rewrite still needs further de
bate,” he said. “You are rushing this zon
ing rewrite.”
But council members already had
held lengthy discussions of the propos
al in August and September. And sever
al residents were on hand to commend
the city on its work to develop the new
ordinance.
“The business community definite
ly has some problems with it, but [city]
staff [members] know it,” said Dun
woody builder Bill Grant. “Let’s move
ahead and do a little patch work in the
end. If I can speak for the builders, move
ahead.”
The disagreement over what should
“My thinking is this: It’s protection of residential
neighborhoods. If you have a non-resident employee and
customers coming in ... I think it’s time you should get yourself
a cubicle [in an office]. People come here for a quality of life.”
- COUNCILMAN DENIS SHORTAL
nesses to have one non-resident employ
ee. “My thinking is this: It’s protection
of residential neighborhoods. If you
have a non-resident employee and cus
tomers coming in ... I think it’s time you
should get yourself a cubicle [in an of
fice],” Shortal said. “People come here
for a quality of life.”
Sam Eads, a candidate for City
Council who is running for the District
3, Post 3 seat, said he thought the pro
posal showed the city was trying to reg
ulate too much. “You’re trying to turn
this into a homeowners’ association,” he
said. “The reality is, if you want very re
strictive covenants, move to a neighbor
hood with very restrictive covenants.”
At one point, council members found
some portions of the proposed home oc
cupation section so confusing that they
stopped their debate to give the city’s
lawyer a chance to rewrite it.
The new zoning code says most
home-business owners who bring clients
or an employee to their homes must go
through a public process for a special
permit. An exception allows teaching-
related occupations conducted entirely
inside homes to employ a non-resident
person and to accept customers into the
home.
6 | OCT. 18 —OCT. 31, 2013 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
DUN
