Friday, July 6, 2012
Language concerning daycares in residential areas is still scheduled for review by the Smyrna Planning and Zoning Board.
After a month-long debate, the two parties involved in the controversy surrounding the expansion of the Oxford family of daycares have reached a compromise, but one Smyrna City Council representative still thinks the city’s zoning language should be reviewed. Jimmy and Cindy Smith, owners of Oxford Academy and Oxford Babies have agreed not to expand their business into a home they own at the corner of Flagler Circle and Church Street, but instead renovate their family home located about a block to the west on Church Street for use as another facility. “The neighbors’ concerns were the building that faced Flagler, a parking lot that faced Flagler and a driveway that went on to Flagler,” Cindy Smith said. “We’ve said that we would not do any…
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Some residents think the expansion of the daycare into their neighborhood will impact property values and increase traffic volume.
Some residents of Flagler Circle in Cheney Woods neighborhood came before Smyrna City Council Monday to express their opposition to the expansion of Oxford Academy, a private daycare facility on Church Street. “To put a daycare on Flagler Circle is not community development it’s residential destruction,” said Becky Roberts. “I’ve never thought of Smyrna as being a place that did not support the residents of its community.” Oxford Academy is owned by former Ward 5 City Council Representative Jimmy Smith and his wife Cindy. The daycare is currently held in two buildings on Church Street, but the Smiths plan to renovate a rental house that they own on the corner of Church and Flagler Circle to serve as the third daycare building. Deborah …
Friday, June 8, 2012
Some residents voiced an interest in changing the ordinance allowing daycares as a permitted use in residential zones.
Emotions ran high at an informational meeting organized by Smyrna’s Ward 5 City Council Representative Susan Wilkinson about the proposed expansion of Oxford Academy. “We are a residential neighborhood and you have more or less tried to decide that the middle of Church Street is no longer residential," said Sandra McQueen, a Church Street resident. "My property values are going down because of this.” “This is our lives you’re talking about!” shouted Bonnie Berry, a resident of Flagler Circle and one of the organizers of Concerned Citizens of Cheney Woods. “Quit hiding behind your silly rules! This is our lives!” Berry and about 20 other residents of Cheney Woods and the surrounding neighborhoods assembled Thursday at the Aline Wolfe Adult …
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Smyrna-Vinings Patch will have coverage from Thursday's informational meeting later.
Good fences make good neighbors, but what about good daycares? That’s the question many residents of Cheney Woods subdivision are asking as Oxford Academy makes plans to expand into a third building. Oxford Academy is a private daycare facility located at 755 Church Street. The school currently has two buildings, but owners Jimmy and Cindy Smith have plans to renovate an adjacent house on a lot that faces Flagler Circle. The Grandmother Exemption The lot located at 805 Flagler Circle is zoned R15, which means it’s a 15,000 square-foot residential lot, however, a caveat sometimes referred to as the “grandmother exemption” allows for childcare in a residential area. Don Berry, who lives at 835 Flagler Circle, said he doesn’t think Oxford …
Brian
11:58 pm on Monday, July 9, 2012
Traffic and scale. They'd probably oppose a 6 story apartment complex being built in the same location. Single-family homes are appropriate development, even if renters rather than homeowners. Just consider yourself a homeowner facing commercial encroachment onto your street. This is a home you paid a lot of money for. Wouldn't you feel the same? more ›