Politics & Government
DeKalb Formally Approves Stone Mountain Community Improvement District
A group of businesses around Stone Mountain Industrial Park have won the right to tax themselves a little bit more and buy security and curb appeal, transport and other upgrades in their area through a community improvement district.
A group of business owners around Stone Mountain Industrial Park have won the right to tax themselves a little bit more and buy security and curb appeal, transport and other upgrades in their area through a community improvement district.
"It will do great things for that area," predicted commission chair Larry Johnson after a unanimous vote to create the district.
Extra taxes on area businesses should sum up to about $480,000 annually, according to the CID's math. Its board can decide what to do with the money. Security is a top priority, perhaps via private security patrols or visits from off-duty DeKalb police officers in the coming months.
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Cleanup and landscaping are also underway. So are lobbying and promotion.
The CID is claiming credit for the repair of a long-damaged guardrail on Stone Mountain Industrial Boulevard. Not for doing the work but for getting a public road crew sent out.
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Developer and CID President Emory Morsberger said in a statement that "not every project is about dollars and expense. It is more about knowing who to contact to get the job done."
One long-term CID goal is to raise occupancy rates in their corridor. It starts along East Ponce De Leon on both sides of Mountain Industrial Boulevard and runs north to include both sides of Hugh Howell Road.
After an inagural election among the CID members, Larry Callahan will chair the first board, with members Joey Chapman, Rusty McKellar, Russell Smith and David Westcott. Callahan and McKellar are both executives with Patillo Industrial Real Estate.
The county commission appointed the other two board members: state Sen. Steve Henson (D-Tucker) and Karen Glover, operations director at First Industrial Realty Trust.
Morsberger lobbied heavily for the CID creation. Earlier this year, he left Gwinnett's feuding Evermore CID, which has undergone leadership turnover and legal infighting.
This makes DeKalb's second CID. To form a CID, owners of three-quarters of business property in an area need to sign on to the idea. The other is the Perimeter CID, a chain of commercial areas in north Fulton and DeKalb counties.
