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November 97CHRISTMAS TREE SALE NOTICE (see Social)ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING SET FOR JANUARY (see Social)MAIL BOX STICKERSPictured was NBCA's new membership mailbox sticker for 1997-98 which is currently being mailed to all dues paying members of the association. When you receive your sticker please display it on the door of your mailbox to show support of your neighborhood association. New membership stickers will be issued each year. (note: the sticker resembles the buck image shown in the title banner of this page) NEIGHBORHOOD WINS ONE AGAINST DEVELOPERThe battle may not be completely over, but for now neighborhood forces have prevailed over a developer who wanted to level single family homes and construct hundreds of apartments. City Council rejected a proposal by the Finger Company to build apartments on a tract that extends from Phipps Boulevard to the backyards of homes on Wieuca Road and Old Ivy, The council vote followed several months of unsuccessful negotiations with the developer and zoning Review Board deferrals. . . . . . .. (for full details of this article see Zoning) WIEUCA ROAD - BUMPETY BUMPFor months now, Wieuca Road has been a a bumpy ride, ever since city work crews roughed it up in preparation for repaving by a DOT contractor. And no one seems to know for sure when the work will be done, Richard Franklin of the city's Transportation and Traffic Bureau, says the repaving should already have been done. It must be done by December 31st or the contractor will face a fine, he said. Franklin thinks there should be better coordination between city work crews and the paving contractors, (note: Since this article was printed the paving has been accomplished but with questionable quality. Poor seam integration, patches of surface that did not adhere, and rough bridge transitions raise questions about DOT inspection of contractor's work.) FOUND - LEATHER JACKETA dark leather "bomber" type jacket was left by someone who attended the NBCA's October 18th party at the American Legion club on Powers Ferry Road. The owner may retrieve said jacket by contacting Jackie Goodman at 404-252-6669 and properly identifying same. MEMORIAL DONATIONIn the wake of the slaying of Zone 2 police officer John R. Sowa, the North Buckhead Civic Association at its October meeting voted unanimously to contribute $200 to a memorial fund for the officer. EXCELLENCE AT SARAH SMITH BIG NEIGHBORHOOD ASSETReal estate agents all seem to agree that one of our neighborhood's biggest assets is Sarah Smith School. The school's reputation, they say, is cited repeatedly by families moving into North Buckhead as one of the main reasons for buying homes here. Lee Friedman, who has been the Sarah Smith principal for nine years, says the school is in an area where families "place a high value on education." In reading and math skills, 94 percent of Sarah Smith students rank above the national norm. And among the 430 elementary schools in the metro area, Sarah Smith has placed in the top five over the last five years in reading and math, Friedman said. At last count, the school ranked second out of 430, surpassed only by Jackson Elementary. "We have an accelerated curriculum here," says Friedman, which puts the students anywhere from a half grade to a full grade ahead of their counterparts in most other elementary schools. The pupil-teacher ratio is 24 to one teacher and a paraprofessional in kindergarten. In second and third grades there are 20-21 pupils to one teacher and 25-1 in fourth and fifth grades. Sarah Smith also is one of the few elementary schools in the metro area where a foreign language, French, is taught. And when it comes to parental involvement and generosity, how about that computer classroom with 16 state-of-the-art computers given to the school at a cost of $20,000? Growth in North Buckhead and the school's reputation of excellence also has made Sarah Smith truly a "neighborhood" school, Friedman noted. Ninety-five percent of its students live in the school zone. Ten years ago, more than 50 percent were bused in from other zones. Sarah Smith is now a "filled-to-capacity neighborhood school of choice," 88 percent white, 10 percent African American and 2 percent "other." Current enrollment is 499. CRIME REPORTTwelve of our neighbors have been the victims of residential burglaries in the past two months of September and October. Even worse, 53 vehicles have had their windows smashed and items stolen. Most of the latter offenses occurred on the fringes of the North Buckhead residential area, along Peachtree, Piedmont and Roswell Roads. Bart Duncan, NBCA's security coordinator with the Atlanta Police Department's Citizens Advisory Committee, reports that theft from vehicles is the number one crime in North Buckhead. The vast majority of items taken, he said, are cell phones. His advice and that of the police: With the holiday season approaching, do not store anything in your car. Put packages and portable computers in the trunk. Take your cell phone with you when you leave the car. Police also are warning that an "Hispanic female" driving a 1997 Toyota Camry has been robbing homes in North Buckhead. The 12 residential burglaries occurred on Arden Way. Chastain Park, Herrington Drive, Ivy Trail, Loridans Circle, Loridans Drive, Roswell Road, Stovall Boulevard, West Wieuca Road (one on each street) and three on Wieuca Road. The crime report indicates that Roswell Road can be a dangerous area, particularly at night. Crimes that occurred in the 3600 to 4400 blocks included robbery by intimidation, wallet taken by force and robbery at gunpoint. No arrests were made in any of the reported crimes. Police offer these tips to avoid being a victim: take a friend along when
shopping, keep your car door locked at all times, place all packages in the trunk of your
car before you reach your next destination, don't place your purse on other valuable items
on the seat of your car, never show your money in public. To prevent checks from
being altered fill in all spaces, carry only the credit cards that you will be using, be
aware and alert to flimflam artists, leave your residence properly secured at all times,
advise the police if you are going to be away for the holidays, use fire prevention
techniques for holiday lights and Christmas trees. NORTH BUCKHEAD HOMES SELLING IN RECORD TIMEPrepared by Deb-C McGuire, Re/MaxAchievers, 404-233-0542 The following homes have sold since Sept 1:
MORE ABOUT SPEED HUMPSChances are improving that North Ivy Road will get a speed hump or two. Devonna Davidson, a transportation planner with the Department of Public Works, says city officials are "leaning in that direction." She said the 392-vehicle count over a 24-hour period recorded by a traffic counter was "close enough" to the required 400-count and that a recount probably will not be made. The traffic count showed that those 392 vehicles were traveling at speeds of over 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. The "average" speed of 35 miles per hour is an indicator that many vehicles are traveling at much higher speeds on North Ivy Road.
As your newsletter was going to press, the city officially approved speed humps for North Ivy Road. The number of humps has not been decided.
Davidson said city crews are installing speed humps on an average of one street per week. She also revealed that if those who want speed humps are willing to wait for the city to do the work there will be no charge. Those who want the work done immediately may hire private contractors, she said. Those who would like to see first hand what a speed hump looks like may do so by motoring over to Interlochen Drive or Broadland Road where several have been installed on both streets. If you are interested in having speed humps installed on your street you may contact Devonna Davidson at city hall for details, 404-330-6501. NEIGHBORHOOD WEB SITE BEING PREPAREDIt is not quite ready yet but perhaps soon a neighborhood WEB site will become a reality. That means that anyone in our North Buckhead Civic Association area who has a computer and is on the Internet can turn to the NBCA page for a variety of information about the neighborhood and about the various activities of the NBCA. John Mullinax, the NBCA's membership chairman and computer guru in residence, is currently working on the WEB site and describes it as a "work in progress." He is asking that anyone who would like to help him work on the site or has ideas as to what type of information should be included to call him at 404-255-4775. Meantime, for those who want to view the site, the address is http://www.nbca.org. (note: Since the printing, John was contacted by
Gorden Certain, a long time resident and retiring Lockheed computer professional, who has
volunteered to help with this project) WELCOME TO OUR NEW NEIGHBORS!Prepared by Natalie Spalding (Jenny Pruitt Associates, 404-814-9000) The North Buckhead Civic Association welcomes to our neighborhood 11 families and individuals who have moved in since August. We hope you find all of your neighbors delightful, charming and helpful, the green space refreshing and your route to work uncluttered with traffic. If our association can be of service to you please write us at PO Box 420391, Atlanta 30342 or attend our board meetings which are held at Sarah Smith School the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. sharp. Our new neighbors are: Cynthia Taylor, 3915 Ivy Road NATURE LOVERS...Sighted recently, flying directly over Stovall Terrace at a great height, a flock of about 50 migrating Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis), WIEUCA SIDEWALK STILL IN LIMBOThe date for the start of sidewalk construction on Wieuca Road is still in limbo. Survey work has been done and right-of-way verification proceeding. Contracts have been signed and the money is there. "It's a go," a city official says. But bureaucratic problems with the state, which is providing part of the money, developed, State and city officials currently are meeting to work out those problems. BURGLARS CLEAN OUT NEIGHBOR'S HOMEThis is about a neighborhood burglary that occurred in broad daylight and was witnessed by two people. The homeowner lost $8,000 in cash and household items and was left with a feeling of frustration with the 911 system. Although the victim of this burglary, for his own reasons, does not want his name or address published, he does want others to know what happened so they can take note and look at their own situation. The burglary, which occurred at 3:30 p.m. on a late September day on Arden Way, was committed by two "dark skinned males" while the homeowner was at work. Entry was gained by prying open a back window with a screwdriver. "They took anything you can take to a pawn shop, the victim said. That included money, a stereo, camera, watch, TV, a safe containing personal papers, and lots of power tools. "I feel like i've been invaded," he said. Unwittingly, the homeowner made it easy for the burglars. He left the keys to the back French doors in his dresser. The burglars found them, opened the doors, and easily hauled out their loot. It was all over in 10 minutes or less, he estimated. Two neighbors saw a white van pull up to the house. One later said she thought the two men were workers. But another neighbor watched through binoculars and called 911. It took 911 forty minutes to summon police. When Officer Goodrich did arrive, he told the homeowner that he had been only four blocks away during the burglary. The neighbors were unable to call the victim. They didn't have his phone number where he worked. Since then, he said, he has exchanged phone numbers with all his neighbors. He also has pinned all of his windows and doesn't keep keys in the house. Although the house was equipped with an alarm system, it was not on. According to police, the white van used in this burglary was stolen and reportedly had been used in another burglary. The van's DeKalb County license number, as written down by a neighbor, was 901LET. If anyone has information about this burglary they should contact Goodrich at the Zone 2 police precinct, 404-848-7231. Goodrich's pager number is 404-628-6923. If you have an emergency and a call to 91 1 does not bring a quick response, you may contact Zone 2 police directly at 404-848-6923. Advertising Credits For This Issue:
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