Unchained Misery In East Atlanta Village?

The East Atlanta Village parking lot that was at the center a car-booting controversy in June may find itself the focus of discord again.

In June, Anthony Deljou, who owns the 55-space lot at 535 Gresham Ave. put chains at the two entrances the property, which sits between Gresham and Flat Shoals avenues. He also posted no parking signs.

Tuesday he went to the parking lot and found the chains cut away and the sign gone.

"I have no choice but to hire enforcement myself," Deljou, a principal of Deljou Art Group Showroom and Gallery, told East Atlanta Patch.

Translation: He may hire a company to boot cars that park there, because the lot is still off-limits to vehicles.

Even so, several cars, a van belonging to the 13 Roses Tattoo Parlor, and a garbage bin could be seen on the property Wednesday afternoon.

Deljou found himself at the center of attention in late June after a woman to whom he leased the lot began booting people in that lot without warning.

At least 55 vehicles were booted over a three-day period — at $75 a boot — creating such a row in the Village that Deljou cancelled the lease and chained off the property.

He said he received around 200 e-mails regarding the booting.

"I refunded everyone who got towed," he said.

As he sees it, the parking issue stems from neighboring businesses that want the benefits of the parking lot for their customers, without having to pay for it.

The lot was previously owned by the now-defunct , which leased it to the Graveyard Tavern.

Deljou took the lot after foreclosing last year on a loan he made to Jeffrey Notrica, Inman Park Properties’ principal.

In an earlier interview, Deljou said he shopped the lot around to the surrounding shops and bars but no one was interested in leasing it.

More recently, Deljou, who said his expenses related to the lot are about $2,500 a month, ironed out a deal where the businesses that operate during the day would pay $100 each to jointly lease it. The bars and other mostly nighttime establishments would chip in $200 per business.

But he said only two businesses — Earthshaking Music and the 529 bar were willing to do the deal.

Earthshaking Music's owners could not be immediately reached and 529 did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

“I’m not carrying the expenses, for an entire business community to use it for free,” Deljou said.

Parking is a premium in other Atlanta neighborhoods — Buckhead, Virginia-Highland and Midtown — which have several pay-to-park lots.

But East Atlanta Village doesn’t allow that, with the exception of one lot on Glenwood Avenue that already was charging to park before the rule was established. In most instances, lots are leased to surrounding businesses.

At the time, the businesses wanted to give potential customers some enticement to come patronize the shops in the EAV, which wasn’t as popular as with shoppers as retail districts in other neighborhoods.

But Deljou said it’s time to revisit that policy and that the Village has grown to be big draw and no longer needs it.

“It’s absolutely ludicrous. Closing up parking lots is not good for business,” he said, adding he will press the issue with community groups and seek a variance to that rule.

“If I could put a [pay] box there and then if no one wanted to pay to park on the parking lot, that’s fine. It’s their choice.”

But Edward Gilgor, who is chairman of Neighborhood Planning Unit-W, which makes recommendations to the city council on land use and zoning matters affecting EAV, sees no need to change the existing policy.

Unlike some other neighborhoods in Atlanta, the Village is not surrounded by multi-family properties, so there’s no shortage of street parking.

“We have a lot of excess parking space because people can park in their own driveways,” Gilgor said.

Village patrons can park on side streets and that foot traffic has an added benefit to the neighborhood: “It actually makes it safer because having activity in the neighborhood lessens the likelihood of crime.”

Free parking has always been a point of pride in the Village.

When city parking officials sought to increase revenue to Atlanta coffers in 2004, they decided to install parking meters on Flat Shoals Avenue.

And though parking officials got as far as installing the metal poles on the sidewalk, it was met with extreme opposition.

The owners of Traders Neighborhood Store, a Village staple, spearheaded a petition drive that resulted in the city reversing itself on the idea.