Council Considers Finalizing Purchase of PVC Farm, Takes a Look at Impact Fees

The city of Dunwoody is ready to take the keys at the PVC Farm property.

At its next meeting, the Dunwoody City Council will vote on finalizing the purchase of the 15.94-acre property.

Monday night, the council was briefed on the due diligence that was done on the property by the city.

There had been some issues with the title on the land, which was smoothed out, said City Manager Warren Hutmacher said.

The city has negotiated a purchase price of $5 million, a steal, Hutmacher said, noting that a recent assessment valued the property at $6.5 million.

The city has the cash on hand for the purchase, but for cash flow reasons, will pay off the land over a seven year period at an interest rate around 2.35 percent – that percentage will vary based on when the purchase is finalized.

The land had been set to be home to multi-family housing, but the deal fell through when the economy went south. The abandoned project left the property full of PVC pipes sticking out of the ground and a series of paved streets weaving through.

It isn’t clear yet how the city will use the land. There has been discussion of using it for an open green space, as parkland or even as a new home for city offices and other city services.

Impact fees

The city heard from Ross and Associates about possibly using impact fees to help pay for adding infrastructure for new development in the city.

Impact fees are charges that can be assessed on development projects that create a need for more city services.

The philosophy behind the fees is that usually existing taxpayers end up paying for the majority of the city services that are added for new development (such as extending water and sewer lines).

“An impact fee is a tax on development,” said Doug Thompson. “I’m not sure we are in the right part of the economic cycle to be putting it in.”

Most on the council agreed with Thompson. However, because the city has paid for a report on the impact fees, the council will likely form a citizen committee to take an in-depth look at the issue.

The council also…

• heard from City Finance Manager Chris Pike, who gave an update on city finances through the end of June. Pike said the city is meeting or exceeding revenues.

“We are right in line where we expected to be,” he said.

He was also commended for publishing the city’s check register.

Pike also pointed out that the estimates for county HOST funds coming in is much higher for this budget year than last year, more than double what the city has been expecting – between $4.8 million and $5 million.

• heard from Public Works Director Michael Smith about a possible crosswalk at Tilly Mill Road and Binghamton Drive.

The city had a study done at the intersection, but didn’t find enough pedestrian traffic at the intersection.

Smith recommended that the council might consider putting a crosswalk in at Stonington Road instead of Binghamton Drive, as it appears there is more pedestrian traffic, better transit access and a higher level of safety at Stonington.

There was support, during the public comment section of the meeting, for putting in a crosswalk at that intersection or nearby.

“We are in a day and age where we are encouraging people to walk,” said Dunwoody resident Gerri Penn. “We need safe ways, not just for our adults to ride bikes and cross streets, but for our children as well.”

• heard again from Smith, who recommended the council adopt a complete streets policy, which encourages improvements to streets to incorporate not only road improvements, but also bike lanes and sidewalks.

• discussed replacing security guard services at North DeKalb Cultural Arts Center with cameras and a key card system. Currently the city pays $45,000 per year for security guard services with a combination keycard and security camera system.