Street sign posted on Ansley Street advertising pre-teardown garage sale. Photo by author, March 3, 2012.
Decatur, Ga., City Manager Peggy Merriss released a memo today proposing that the Decatur City Commission consider establishing a temporary moratorium on the demolition of single family homes. The city manager’s memo comes eight months after I made the same request in a petition [PDF] delivered to the Decatur City Commission and more than 18 months after I first suggested it as a Decatur resident.
It’s now up to Decatur’s elected officials to decide whether to adopt her recommendation or to continue doing business as usual. For many of the city’s current and former residents — some of its most vulnerable citizens — the move will be too late if it is passed. Does Decatur need better development regulations? The evidence is at Ruined Decatur.
[UPDATE: The Decatur City Commission voted 3-2 against enacting the temporary moratorium on single-family home demolitions. Read about it here.]
Here is the complete Oct. 7, 2013 memo:
Teardowns in Decatur’s Oakhurst neighborhood.
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On the surface this moratorium seems to respond to the concerns raised by some citizens. However, the fact that it was released to Decatur Metro suggests that CoD is again using its usual group of lynch mob to suppress the minority opinion. This advanced notice will likely not generate meaningful discussion. Instead, it will bring out the pro tear down group to further the conflict during a city commission meeting, which will then enable the commission to table the moratorium. This approach is entirely politically oriented instead of merit based.