Residents Organize to Fight Development of Woods

The Briarlake Community Forest Alliance, Inc., a non-profit group that recently formed, is sharing its concerns about a proposed development of a 21-acre wooded tract at the intersection of Briarlake Road and Amberwood Drive in DeKalb County.

The group’s website describes the area as old-growth forest at risk from development. It says nine communities in the area oppose the rezoning.

Group members told Patch they plan to attend the DeKalb Community Council meeting that will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, at the Toco Hills/Avis G. Williams Library, 1282 McConnell Drive in Decatur. BFCA will share its concerns about the re-zoning proposal with the DeKalb community council members.

Following is a letter from the Briarlake group sent to community members last week.

Briarlake Community Forest Alliance, Inc.

With nearly 200 people in attendance, Briarlake Community Forest Alliance, Inc. (BCFA) held its first Town Hall Meeting at the Oak Grove United Methodist Church on Monday October 6, 2014. This was an introduction whose objective was to educate the citizens in our community about the current process of rezoning for a proposed residential development of the 21 acre wooded tract of land at the intersection of Briarlake Road and Amberwood Drive in DeKalb County. We wanted to explore all options in seeking to maximize the value of the ownership stake for all who live here, as well as the owner of the property.

The goal of the BCFA is to preserve and enhance our quality of life as a community.

The eight board members of BCFA have spent countless hours of research during the last four weeks uncovering many of the significant issues surrounding the proposed rezoning and residential development of the Briarlake forest. BCFA represents residents from nine neighborhoods and presents five requests to DeKalb County. We ask that DeKalb County:

1) Delay the currently scheduled rezoning application process.

2) Reject a zoning change that would subsidize developer’s profits.

3) Reject a zoning change to R-NCD that would promote higher density development in areas that are not in or adjacent to designated Town Centers, Activity Centers, or major transportation arteries as stipulated in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

4) Reject a zoning change that will be a net drain on DeKalb County’s budget or that may result in higher taxes for the residents.

5) Reject a zoning change that carries significant environmental impact concerns that need to be appropriately assessed before any zoning decisions are received.

We call on you to show solidarity in our efforts to achieve the best possible outcome for our community:

1) Respond to the on-line questionnaire you got by email (it takes just 3 minutes to complete). Let us know if you need more information.

2) Write letters, call, and email to all Community Council members, County Commissioners (below, the key ones are marked with a green star), and the Planning Commission focusing on our five requests above.

3) Attend upcoming public meetings of Community Councils, the Planning Commission, and the Board of Commissioners. The next County meeting on our topic (combined for District 1 and 2) is on Tuesday, October 14, 6:30-8:30 PM. It will take place at the Toco Hills/Avis G. Williams Library located at 1282 McConnell Drive, Decatur 30033 – please come. We ask all residents to attend and to wear a Green shirt or garment to these meetings; we want our “Sea of Green” to make a strong statement. If you don’t have green clothes, come anyway!

4) Visit the website at www.BriarlakeCommunityForest.org for the latest news that is updated every day.

5) Donate to the Briarlake Community Forest Alliance, Inc. (Paul Herd is our Treasurer - 2687 Briarlake Woods Way 404-803-0653). Legal counsel is necessary, and we ask for your financial support.