The Overpopulation of Lenox Park

I am writing to oppose the Special Land Use Permit requested by The Worthing Companies, WSE Development LLC to allow for a 6-story, 273 unit apartment development in lieu of two office buildings currently approved for development on the vacant portion of the property located in Lenox Park.

As a Brookhaven resident living in Lenox Park, the issue for me isn’t whether these new residences will be built, but rather where they will get built and what kind of residences they will be. Stated differently: what kind of communities should we build?

The character and makeup of Lenox Park currently consists of commercial office buildings, low-density housing built in cul-de-sacs, and apartments all separated from strip malls, mixed use developments and big box retailers. You look from side to side and you see trees, a pond with ducks and people enjoying greenspace. You look up and see, within a mile, the beautiful Buckhead skyline.

I understand that compact developments – sustainable communities that promote additional transportation choices, higher density, mixed-use and mixed income development and reasonably attractive design – have growing interest, and there certainly is a place and a need for such development, but not at the expense of greenspace and additional traffic congestion inside Lenox Park.

The development alongside the Brookhaven Marta Station is perfect for this type of project. The gentrification along North Cliff Valley Way is perfect for this type of development. This project is not appropriate for Lenox Park.

Consider, please the following as you carefully study WSE’s request to amend the current approved plan for development:

• The request is contrary to the well-established local area plan for housing and development within Lenox Park,
• We have no need for a “coffee shop” or any other type retail establishment as there is a Starbucks, a Dunkin’ Donuts and The Sugar Shack all within a mile of our neighborhood,
• We have no need of any type of “mixed-use” development as we are within a mile of Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza, Lenox Marketplace and the already over-developed corridors along Peachtree Road and Dresden Drive,
• The proposed construction would sit on the edge of a private park which would disrupt an established ecosystem for trees, plants, shrubs, birds, fish, etc.,
• There is insufficient and safe access to the property, both during construction and later when occupied – the property rests on a dangerous curve and without additional lanes or loss to established trees, there would be no safe entry/exit,
• The building process would be disruptive to surrounding neighbors,
• There would be a loss of privacy to all adjacent properties,
• The proposed development would force the loss of greenspace in an already built up area,
• Traffic congestion with an additional resident population would add to the already undesirable traffic issues,
• The additional lighting, parking and noise are not conductive to the character of Lenox Park.

Further, when looking at the Charette Character area study for Lenox Park, the proposed construction isn’t “appropriate anywhere” when looking at residential housing preferences, neighborhood commercial preferences or bicycle and pedestrian preferences; it belongs elsewhere.

As a resident of Lenox Park, it is my strong desire to keep the traffic flow routed along the main corridors of Roxboro Road, North Druid Hills, Peachtree Road and Buford Highway, NOT in Lenox Park via Lenox Park Boulevard. The current building projects at the intersection of East Paces Ferry Road and Roxboro only exacerbates problem – and while those projects aren’t “Brookhaven”, they too are within one mile of the proposed exception and further invalidate the need for more apartments.

My request is simple: stick to the plan for Lenox Park and deny the WSE Development Company’s request to amend the land use permit.