Jonquil Site Plan, Agenda Items Withdrawn at City Council Meeting

Smyrna City Council approved Branch Properties withdrawal of its proposed site plan for Jonquil Village at its meeting Monday, but that won’t be the last Smyrna hears from the firm.

“We are not leaving the project,” said Ellen Smith, the attorney representing Branch Properties. “We are going back to the drawing board a little having heard not only your comments, but a number of other comments over the past two months since we’ve had the application on file.

“We are still under contract. We haven’t terminated that contract and we are going back to the drawing board to really revisit the site and hopefully bring forth something that has renderings and that is more appropriate for this particular parcel.”

Smith confirmed to the council that Publix was still interested in the development, but was not authorized by Branch Properties to make further comments to the press.

The site plans were withdrawn without prejudice, a legal term, which Smyrna City Attorney Scott Cochran explained means Branch Properties can submit a new site proposal at any time.

“There’s no specific time that they’ve got to wait to bring it back up,” he said. “If the case would have gone forward and had been denied the applicant would have to wait a year. So this is kind of the spirit of working together so it can be brought back up immediately when a plan is received.”

Teri Anulewicz, Ward 3 council member, told Smyrna-Vinings Patch Monday before the meeting that Branch Properties should be introducing a new proposal for the site within 10 to 20 days. Once the proposal is submitted it will go before the planning and zoning commission and ultimately the mayor and council for a vote.

Although the proposal was withdrawn, two speakers still took the podium to participate in the public hearing before the council cast its vote.

Smyrna resident Jean Martin said she not only opposed apartments for the Jonquil Village development, but also Publix.

“We don’t need a Publix,” she said. “We’ve got three Publix (stores) within a three-mile radius of here. We already have a new Kroger. I don’t know what we’re going to do with another grocery store. Mr. Mayor and Mr. Lnenicka, several years ago you both promised you would not turn Atlanta Road into a South Cobb Drive or a 41 with all the commercial development. Please take this into consideration when this comes up again. We don’t need the apartments and we don’t really need a strip shopping mall.”

Conversely, Brian Bober expressed support for apartments and Publix, but with certain stipulations.

“Personally I’m not against the apartments, but with two conditions,” he said. “First of all, that they be luxury apartments and not low-end apartments and that there be a plan for converting some of that long-term into permanent resident property—condo conversions long term.

“I want to propose that there be a phased development pattern where they come up with a plan long-term to have residential, but they don’t have to build everything upfront. For instance if you built something like Ivy Walk, you could frame the outside of the units and not finish the inside—maybe create a show unit. I want to remind everyone of the value of having people living in that area of the foot traffic and the vibrancy it creates to the city, of the importance this parcel is to the city.”

Brian Bober said he favored a Publix Greenwise Market over a conventional Publix super market for the Jonquil Village development.

Before the council voted to approve Branch’s withdrawal, Wade Lnenicka, Ward 6 council member, stated that he supported including a residential component to the site calling it “critical to the long-term success of the city.”

“I don’t have a magic answer,” he said. “I’m not that bright. To the representative here from Branch, you’re in the business and you know better than me what can work and what can sell. I’m not sure we need just another strip shopping center without a residential component to bring life and vitality and energy to our downtown that’s such a key piece of property.”

Items removed from agenda

Four items were removed from the consent agenda at the start of the meeting. The first two items concerned the adoption and approval of the Restated Defined Benefit Master Plan and adoption of personnel policies regarding annual leave and sick leave. These items were withdrawn from the agenda based on a recommendation by Kay Bolick, Smyrna’s director of human resources, due to technicalities regarding language.

The third item concerned the award of a bid to Cobb County Tractor in the amount of $129,573 for the purchase of two mini excavators and trailers. This item was withdrawn based on questions regarding bid specifications.

Smyrna city council members also voted to withdraw a fourth item regarding an amendment to the SPLOST Program Management Services Agreement with Croy Engineering. If passed by the council Monday, this amendment would have authorized the City of Smyrna to pay Croy Engineering an amount not exceeding $54,000 for project management services for Fire Station No. 5.

Tammi Sadler, assistant city manager, outlined the duties of the project manager.

“Making sure that the architect is doing what they’re supposed to be doing, the construction manager, Catamount, making sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing or subcontractors that they use,” she said. “For example Catamount any invoices that they have, the architect, those all go through Croy Engineering.”

Deputy Fire Chief Roy Acree said that when fire stations were constructed in the past he and Fire Chief Jason Lanyon held this role.

“Basically Chief Lanyon and myself we didn’t oversee construction, we were the day-to-day,” he said. “We were the customers in other words like within a typical builder/owner relationship.”

Sadler said that City Manager Eric Taylor arranged for Croy Engineering to act as project manager in 2011.

“Although we’re familiar with the requirements and construction in general it’s not what we do for a living like Croy Engineering does,” Acree said. “It absolutely made sense to get them onboard just to make sure we’ve got all of our ‘T’s crossed and our ‘I’s dotted.”

This item was withdrawn from the agenda because some of the new council members needed more information.

"We have four new council members and we want to make sure everybody is up to speed," said Ron Fennel, Ward 7 council member who was sworn-in in January. "We're just being cautious that everyone is 100 percent informed."

Citizens offer their input

Several citizens took the stand during citizen input including former Smyrna mayoral candidate Alex Backry. He was concerned about the city allowing Atkins Park Tavern to advertise its oyster festival in the monthly water bill.

“If the city gets a nominal fee for putting it in an envelope it brings up a question that needs to be looked at under the state constitution’s gratuity clause,” he said. “I think that if the city hasn’t made additional moneys off it and put it in an envelope, I think it’s important that you offer it to any other business in Smyrna, not just Atkins Park. That to me would show favoritism or discrimination.”

Monday afternoon Jennifer Bennett, Smyrna’s community relations director, told Smyrna-Vinings Patch that the city rarely allows ads to be placed in the water bill saying it “is not an option on a general or wide scale.”

She went on to say that to be included in the water bill the insert must highlight a specific event that either has a tie to city business or city activities that are of benefit. An example would be a flier advertising the Public Safety Foundation’s Auction for Heroes Benefit.

The size of the insert is limited to one-third of a page. The business placing the ad pays for the insert and extra postage that the city might incur when mailing the flier. Arista, the company that prints the city’s mailings, charges one-cent per one-third-page insert. As the city sends out about 14,000 mailings each month this adds up to $140 plus additional postage, which is paid by the business placing the ad.

“Keep in mind that Atkins Park Tavern (and from time to time with some assistance from other merchants in the Market Village), spends thousands of dollars on the events they are holding (usually in conjunction with events the city also hosts in the downtown),” Bennett said in an email. “If they are able to place an insert in the water bill for a new event such as the oyster festival, they pay for the printing and they understand that if an extra cost is incurred by the city for the small insert being placed in the water bill, they will be billed.”

Smyrna Heights resident Mary Kirkendoll took the podium to comment about economic development in Smyrna saying that communities throughout Metro Atlanta were thriving while noting Smyrna’s empty Jonquil Village and Belmont Hills developments. She also asked why the city had not released information about a drug bust at Walnut Grove apartments in Smyrna.

“The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that a Mexican to Houston to Atlanta drug pipeline was uncovered here in Smyrna recovering large amounts of drugs, money, guns and bulletproof vests,” she said. “Why wasn’t the Smyrna Police Department involved or aware that this was even happening? Smyrna’s large illegal population makes it easy for the drug cartel to hide in plain sight. Ignoring this is simply denial. Not releasing these crime reports put all our citizens in harm’s way.”

Brian Bober addressed the council again during citizen input to ask that more information be put out about the quality of Smyrna schools.

“I think there are misconceptions,” he said. “I think the test scores are misleading and I think there needs to be more education about what we have to offer here in the city about schools to attract more people and keep them here versus sending their kids to private school and moving to East Cobb.”

Al Graves, another Smyrna Heights resident, took the podium to ask if the city had a formal committee in place to attract businesses to Smyrna.