• The Next 10 Plan, now completed and approved by the ARC:  This plan brings much greater clarity to future zoning, land-use and density issues relating to all property types.
  
  
• Stronger building material standards:  All new buildings of 100,000 square feet or more (or more than 3 stories in height) must now be built with concrete and steel, verses stick-built construction.  This should improve the safety, longevity and quality of future structures built in our city.
  
  
• New Zoning Moratorium:  Last week, City Council approved a moratorium suspending all new zoning requests for the next five months to allow time to write and enact new zoning codes that are consistent with the Next 10 Plan.

Regarding point #3, a key strategic initiative in 2017 is to write and implement the new zoning codes so that they are consistent with the intentions of the Next 10 Plan.  Once in place, the City must be diligent in adhering to these new codes and I will work hard to assure that we are.

A thriving community requires parks and green space, walk-ability and quality restaurant and recreation options and the City is focused on delivering these services for our citizens.  A major initiative in 2017 is the continuing completion of City Springs and the parks, retail establishments and road improvements that go along with it. There will no doubt be frustrating times for our citizens as road closures for utility work and street-scape and lane improvements cause traffic delays.  As an older community, we have an aging infrastructure that is in need of repair, especially with the added volume of the new homes and businesses coming to our City.  I am confident that when completed, City Springs and the areas surrounding it will be an outstanding gathering place for our community that gives us a sense of place and culture.  Hence, I ask for your patience this year as this project progresses towards a spring of '18 completion.

Not all parts of our city are experiencing the wave of new development that is underway in the Perimeter and downtown districts of Sandy Springs.  The northern district continues to be challenged with aging, Class C apartments and older retail buildings and some residents in North Springs are anxious for the redevelopment that is occurring in our district to come their way.  The City will work in 2017 and beyond to encourage and help execute new developments in North Springs and across our community that offer quality, affordable housing options for citizens like our first responders, teachers and nurses.  We are also focused on improving the quality of retail and restaurant facilities across the city so that our citizens throughout Sandy Springs can enjoy the same quality dining and shopping options that are beginning to define our downtown district.

The desirability of Sandy Springs as a wonderful play to live and work can certainly create challenges and stresses on our infrastructure and on our nerves as more families and businesses move here, but I am optimistic that ’17 and ’18 will be defining years for our community as City Springs and other downtown construction projects reach their completion and future development slows to a more endurable pace.

We will talk in our next newsletter about another key initiative for 2017........traffic.  Until then, I hope that each of you has a great week!

If you are interested in reading the Week in Review provided by the City Manager regarding work activity on behalf of the community, you can access it here for the week ending in February 11th. If you missed any of the weeks in review, you can access all of them from the City's website here.

As always, please direct your questions and comments to me at cburnett@sandyspringsga.gov. Best wishes for a wonderful week.

Chris Burnett