Residents Voice Concerns About Whole Foods Development

DECATUR, GA -- In advance of a public meeting next Monday, Decatur residents are raising questions about a much anticipated development on Church Street.

The 18-acre redevelopment at the current site of Nalley car dealerships calls for a Whole Foods Market, along with new restaurants, retailers and luxury apartments.

But residents of the area around the development, between North Decatur Road and Milscott Drive, are concerned about its impact on traffic and other quality-of-life issues.

"While the prospect of new businesses is exciting, this intensive change also has consequences that must be dealt with early on," Deanne Thomas, president of the Decatur Heights Neighborhood Association, wrote to members in a letter Monday.

Members of the association, and other local neighborhood groups, have met with officials from S.J. Collins, the developers of the site.

Their two chief concerns, according to Thomas's letter, are traffic impact and the need for pedestrian improvements.

Traffic in the area is already burdensome, she wrote, particularly around nearby DeKalb Medical Center. She urged Church Street-area residents to attend next Monday's meeting to make any concerns they have heard.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 13, at 7 p.m. at North Decatur United Methodist Church, at 1523 Church St.

North Decatur neighborhoods have seen a heavy development push in recent months.

The Suburban Plaza redevelopment, anchored by Walmart, has also brought in businesses including Home Goods, Starbucks, JoAnn Fabrics, Ross Dress For Less, Half Price Books and Louisiana Bistreaux Cajun Restaurant.

(Selig Enterprises, which is developing Suburban Plaza, also has plans to develop a property it owns in downtown Decatur.)

Just across North Decatur Road, Fuqua Development is in the process of building a mixed-use development on the site of what was once Scott Boulevard Baptist Church and now-demolished residences.

And just north of Decatur city limits, in the Medlock neighborhood, a developer's rezoning plan -- which met with stiff resistance from residents at a recent public hearing -- would replace six homes with a Residence Inn by Marriott hotel.