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News & Events
 
Neighborhood Notes - Potential Rezoning of Les Jardins Apartments on Henderson Mill Road
4/14/09 Board of Commissioners Zoning Agenda/Minutes - recommended denial of application.
N.1    LP-09-15364    DEFERRED TO APRIL 14, 2009; DECISION ONLY     Commission District:  1  Super District:  7
18-285-03-004

Application of Steve Beltran to amend the Comprehensive Land Use Plan from Suburban (SUB) to Town Center (TC). The property is located on the south side of Henderson Mill Road, approximately 81 feet east of Interstate-285, at 3207 and 3217 Henderson Mill Road. The property has approximately 249 feet of frontage along Henderson Mill Road and contains 12.83 acres.

N.2    Z-09-15363    DEFERRED TO APRIL 14, 2009; DECISION ONLY    Commission District:  1  Super District:  7
18-285-03-004

Application of Steve Beltran to rezone property from the RM-100 (Multi-Family Residential) District to the RM-75 (Multi-Family Residential) District for the purpose of increasing the number of units in the existing buildings of the Les Jardins multi-family development from 160 to 224 units. The property is located on the south side of Henderson Mill Road, approximately 81 feet east of Interstate 285, at 3207 and 3217 Henderson Mill Road. The property has approximately 249 feet of frontage on Henderson Mill Road and contains 12.83 acres.

DeKalb County Public Hearings Scheduled

Community Council Meeting

Tuesday, 2/17/09

Click here for county sign.

 

Planning Commission

Tuesday, 3/3/09

Board of Commissioners

Tuesday, 3/24/09

Click here for county sign.


Initial Notice

From: Nottaway Watch
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 12:02 AM
To: Steve Schultz
Subject: Rezoning of Les Jardin Apartments

Rezoning of Les Jardin  Apartments: 

There will be a meeting about the rezoning of Les Jardin apartments this Wednesday, January
7.  It is to be held at the Les Jardin apartment complex at 7:00 p.m.
 

In December the owner of the property met with many community folks outlining his plans to update Les Jardin apartments on Henderson Mill Rd. He is looking to keep all the same buildings on the property but to cut the current 2200 sf units in half. This will increase the density and update the property. 

This meeting is to present a detailed plan on how he would like to change his zoning and address the concerns of neighboring communities. 

Other news:

This week the DeKalb Police will be rolling out crimemapping.com. This will allow you to get all the local crime facts of our community from the internet. 

Please forward to anyone that you might think would be interested in this meeting. 

Steve Schultz

~~~

Thanks to Kathleen (Northcrest neighborhood) and Jannean (Empire Square neighborhood) for bringing this information to the attention of the hendersonroad.com readers.  Original email distributed by Steve from Nottaway Watch.


Correspondence with Board of Commissioners

 

From:  A Henderson Road neighbor (name removed to respect privacy)

Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 2:26 PM
To: Stokes, Connie; May, Lee; Johnson, Larry L.; McBride, Nancy J.; Rader, Jeff; Gannon, Kathie; ssutton@co.dekalb.ga.us
Subject: Rezoning/Increasing No. of Unit in Les Jardin Apartments 

Please do not allow rezoning/increasing of number of Units in Les Jardin Apartments located on Henderson Mill Road , 30341.  This area is already overcrowded with construction of new and existing apartments and condomiums in this and the surrounding area (Northlake, Embry Hills, Mercer University Blvd. & along I-85/Chamblee-Tucker Rd.)  Traffic is very congested with commuters as well as local traffic.  When accidents occur on I-285 and I-85,  Henderson Mill Road, Henderson Road, Mercer University Blvd., Chamblee-Tucker Road, Northcrest, Pleasantdale  become grid-locked with drivers who normally use the Interstate Highways trying to reach their destinations.  Even at normal school and commute hours,  these roads are at a stand-still now . There are several huge residential projects that are almost completed, but not yet occupied that will add to this congestion.  We DO NOT need any more congestion in this area on the roads or in the schools. 

Thank you very much.

 

From:  Gannon, Kathie

To:  A Henderson Road neighbor (name removed to respect privacy)

Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 1:20 PM

Subject: RE: Rezoning/Increasing No. of Unit in Les Jardin Apartments 

At this point the developer is applying to the county to make changes. His proposal will have to go through the zoning process which entails going before the Community council, the planning commission and then the Board of Commissioners for approval. If he in fact has filed an application, his project will be on the March calendar. I don’t have any information on this project yet.

But I encourage you to alert your home owners association and attend the meetings. Thank you for interest and involvement in your County.

Regards,

Becky in the office of Commissioner Kathie Gannon

404-371-4909

 

~~~

If you have comments or questions for the Board of Commissioners and CEO, their contact information is available on their websites:

http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/boc/contact.html and http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/ceo.htm


1/7/09 Les Jardins/Community meeting notes (by Nestor Young)

Subject: Update on the Les Jardin Apartments

Greetings, 

This is my report on the meeting I attended tonight (Wednesday, January 7) concerning the redevelopment of the Les Jardin Apartments located on Henderson Mill Road, next to I-285.  I will give you some background on the property, describe the redevelopment plan, and end with my thoughts. 

The meeting lasted about an hour and there were about 20 people attending.  The meeting was hosted by representatives of the company who own the property and their zoning attorney.  No Dekalb County representatives, or elected officials attended.  The redevelopment of the property is in the initial stages of planning.  An informal meeting was held recently with the county zoning staff, but no formal zoning applications or building plans have been filed yet. 

Background

  • The apartments were built in 1972.
  • There are currently 160 units (apartments), broken down as follows:  One Bedroom = 1; Two Bedroom = 41; Three Bedroom (1,785 square feet) = 98; Four Bedroom (2,200 square feet) = 20.
  • Total average square feet = 1,800.
  • There is currently a 35% to 40% turnover rate, and it is currently 90% occupied.
  • There is currently about 2 parking spaces per unit.
  • There are about 160 children living there now.  Elementary school aged children attend Pleasentdale Elementary, middle school aged attend Henderson Middle, and high school aged attend Lakeside High.
  • Crime within the property over the last four years has been largely insignificant.
  • The property was purchase by the current owner about four years ago, and the company who owns it is called TVO North America.  They own and operate apartment buildings throughout the country.  Here is their web site:  http://www.tvogroupe.com/tvo_na.html
  • Here is the web site for the property:  http://www.lesjardinsapartmenthomes.com/

The Redevelopment Plan

  • The plan is to divide the large four-bedroom and some three bedroom units into smaller two-bedroom units.  They said the total number of bedrooms within the complex will remain the same.  They only intend to reconfigure the larger units.  They said that since the total number of bedrooms will not increase, the total capacity of the property will not increase.
  • The planned units break down as follows:  One Bedroom = 45; Two Bedrooms = 125; Three Bedrooms = 54; Four Bedrooms = 0.  The total number of apartments will be 224.
  • Although they did not specifically mention how much money they plan to spend on renovations, they did mention it will be several million dollars.
  • In addition to the interior renovations, they mentioned that the exterior will also get a make over, including new roof, paint, gutters, and landscaping.
  • The rezoning application will request a change from 12 units per acre to 17 units per acre.
  • The  rental rates will increase by about $200 on average.  The proposed rental rates are as follows: one bedroom = $700 to $750; two bedroom = $800 to $900; three bedrooms = $1,200.
  • The average square foot per unit will decrease from 1,800 sq. ft. to 1,200 sq. ft.  The average cost of the unit will increase from $0.54/sf to $0.70/sf.
  • Their overall goal is to market the property to professionals with higher incomes than the current resident demographic.  In order to qualify for a lease, they require the renter to make three times the monthly rent, pass a credit check and criminal background check.
  • Overall parking will only increase by a few dozen spaces.  No new parking areas will be constructed -- only existing space will be utilized more efficiently.
  • No Section 8 housing is planned.

My Thoughts 

Initially when I first heard that they were planning to create smaller units, I immediately thought that the population density will increase substantially and therefore negatively impact our community in many ways.  After carefully listening to their plan, I now think the overall impact to the community will not be too significant.  The number of cars may increase a little.  An increase in the number of children may possibly not occur because they are reducing the size of the units and making them a little more expensive.  Because of the higher rent and their high qualification standards, the criminal element may be discouraged from living there. 

My initial impression of this company seems to be that they genuinely desire to improve their property and have a beneficial impact on the local community.  As a side note, they mentioned that they also own the apartment complex next to Henderson Middle School (on the north side of the school).  They mentioned that they are investing $5 million into renovations there also.  Their plan for that property is the same: fix it up and raise the rent.  They seemed to be very proud of their accomplishments there so far.  They haven't completed all of the renovations yet, but will gladly show you a finished unit if you're interested (I'm going on Friday to see it).  Generally, it seems that this company is interested in investing in this community. 

In summary, there are two alternatives for the Les Jardin Apartments:  maintain the property as-is, with no improvements; or, invest several million dollars in renovations that may potentially have a modest impact on our roads and schools.  I now believe that this community will be better served by renovating this 37 year old property.  I was told that their 35 to 40 percent turnover rate is low for an apartment complex like theirs.  This is a good indication that their renters are stable and are community minded people.  This company didn't have to have this meeting, but by doing so, they showed that they operate in good faith.  They plan to meet with Commissioner Boyer soon to discuss their plan. 

Let me know what you think, or send me an email if you have any questions.  If interested I can give you contact information for the representatives of the company at the meeting tonight. 

Sincerely, 

Nestor Young

Neighborhood Crime Watch Coordinator

 

~~~

 

Thanks to Pat (Embry Hills neighborhood) for sharing this information with the hendersonroad.com readers.  Original email distributed by Nestor.


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