The Wright Campaign (Dist. 3) ... River Place and River Station

Greetings,

I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend in spite of all the rain. As part of our ongoing campaign travels around District 3, we are visiting neighborhoods in our district each weekend. Last weekend we were in Amberfield. This weekend we visited River Place and River Station.

River Place is my home neighborhood and so of course I have a special affinity for it. River Place was developed in the early 1980s and has 106 homes. An interesting tidbit about River Place is that when it was being built, the original developer went bankrupt after completing about 20 homes. A new developer took over and built out the rest of the neighborhood except for a few lots at the very back of the neighborhood that back up to the river. These were completed in the early '90s.  The result of this start and stop development is three fairly distinctive types of architecture in the neighborhood which is fairly unusual for this area. 

River Place is zoned for , Duluth Middle and .  River Place does not have its own pool and so many residents join pools across Peachtree Corners. Land was set aside by the developer in the early '80s for a pool but for various reasons it was never built and now current land use rules prevent construction in the lot due its proximity to the river.  Even though River Place does not have a pool, it still has a very active social life that revolves around various events such as the Halloween/Fall Festival block party, Christmas luminaries, progressive dinners, Cookie swap (for the women) and many other “unofficial” activities that keep the neighborhood fun and enjoyable.

On Sunday we visited River Station. River Station was built in the mid 1980s by Jim Cowart who also built other well known Peachtree Corners neighborhoods such as Linfield, Peachtree Station, Spalding Corners and many others. 

River Station is a fairly large neighborhood of about 170 homes. The neighborhood’s entrance is at Jones Bridge Circle and slowly rolls downhill to the river where its beautiful clubhouse, pool and tennis courts overlook the river. Like many of the neighborhoods in the area, River Station has a very strong HOA which offers a variety of social events and maintains an excellent website http://www.riverstation.net/ that provides info not just about the neighborhood comings and goings but also items of interest about Gwinnett County. 

During my visit I had an opportunity to speak to the current HOA president, Janice Crosby. Janice told me a little bit about the neighborhood, including the news about the current renovation/expansion of their clubhouse. Due to the clubhouse’s proximity to the river there are a plethora of rules and regulations regarding what you can and cannot do to a building. As a result of complying with the various regulations, the project was delayed several times but now is right on track. 

River Station is zoned for , and .  As with all the other neighborhoods in this area of the city, it has fairly easy access to the , and .  Its proximity to Simpson and Pinckneyville enable some children to even walk to school if they so choose. 

During my discussions with residents in both River Place and River Station, I noted there were a large number of questions regarding development or redevelopment of commercial corridors that have begun to see some decay and in some cases significant decay. Many residents are very concerned that if this decline is not arrested that it could eventually have a significant impact on their home values. 

My view is the same. Continued decline in our major commercial arteries will eventually impact not only our property values but our overall quality of life as well. While government can have an impact on helping commercial areas improve by enforcing existing code and making prudent zoning decisions, the only real way to truly make an area more attractive and vibrant is through the power of the private market. Attracting high quality commercial and residential development (or in many cases redevelopment) has the ability to ensure that our new city will be great not just now, but well into the future. 

Our area is like an undervalued stock. Our underlying income, crime and education demographics are very attractive but we currently do not have a distinct identity that is well known beyond our immediate area. With proper ‘branding’ of the Peachtree Corners name and a successful marketing campaign of that brand, we can attract the type of private market investment which will help ensure our area not only remains great but will be great in the future. 

But to accomplish this, the new city will need council members who not only have a vision of what our new city can be, but also the leadership experience, judgment and critical thinking necessary to turn the vision into a reality. I hope you will review my background and positions on the issues and consider choosing me as your City Councilman for District 3. 

Please learn more about me and my campaign at www.wright4pccouncil.com or on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wright4PCCouncil/149565261815748.