Lithonia/Stonecrest Merchants Interested in Business Alliance

Several merchants in the Lithonia/Stonecrest area are hoping to form a business alliance that would bring additional economic strength to the community and help achieve common goals for the area.

"We have a unique opportunity to create the kind of space both commercially and residentially that we want to see throughout the county," said Commissioner Lee May, District 5, which includes parts of Stone Mountain.

May spoke at a Lithonia/Stonecrest economic development meeting before an audience of about 40 people Thursday morning at Stonecrest library.

Topics covered by community leaders, elected officials, police and business owners covered everything from the positive initiatives in the area -- such as The East Metro Farmers' Market -- to concerns about crime, code-violating signage and trash left on private property.

DeKalb County Police Assistant Chief M. Yarbrough, uniform division, said the department's improved approach to fighting crime in the Stonecrest mall area has paid off: between June and August 2011, for example, there were nine fewer incidents of entering autos than during the same period in 2010. 

Arrests in the area from June to August 2011 included one aggravated assault; five narcotics; nine shoplifting; two pedestrian robberies; one weapons violation; one sex crime (indecent exposure).

Honey Van De Kreke of the 56-year-old Tucker Business Association told the audience about the importance of having a unified group in making improvements to an area and planning for its future.

"Somebody just needs to step up and say 'I've got an idea' and it's easier if you've got an organization that can help you," Van de Kreke said. "It only takes a few to get started. You just need to reach out."

Successes such as Tucker Day, the annual family event (canceled this year due to Tucker's Main Street Streetscape project) are possible, she said: "If you get enough hands, you can make those things happen."

Several people expressed interest in getting a business alliance off the ground, including Lem Howard, State Farm agent in Lithonia.

A strong association of merchants can have a trickle-down effect to helping youth, he said.

"I think this is a perfect time," Howard said. "We can restrategize and uplift the area."