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Save the Doctors of Tucker's "Lavista Office Park"

It's  hard to believe it, but it appears that now the "Lakeside" group is trying to drive doctors away from Tucker, which will be a big blow to our retirees and senior citizens.  Many residents enjoy the convenient access to "Lavista Office  Park," because they can see all their doctors in one place without multiple car rides or having to get on busy interstates and freeways in our area.  

A recent rezone request made at the March county commissioners meeting was made by a person we believe is known online as "Randy Rand."  The public hearing takes place April 28.  We believe he is the owner of the office park and reportedly gave  his tenants until May 1 to vacate the building.  Some of these doctors have been in business more than 15 years in this one location.  The short notice will not allow them to move as a group and makes it very unlikely the will all be able to remain in the Tucker area.  The rezone will not be voted on for at least 30 days.  Below is our objection, emailed today to all commissioners:

Save Tucker!  If you wish to also write to the commissioners on this subject, here are the emails:   
njester@dekalbcountyga.gov; jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov; larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov; sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov; lmay@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov; stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov.

Dear CEO May and County  Commissioners,
We, as the group known as “Save Tucker,” are writing to express objections to the rezoning that was presented as a new application at your March meeting:
Application of LaVista Office Park, Llc to rezone property within the Northlake Overlay District (Tier 2) from O-I (Office Institutional) (conditional) and R-85 (Single Family Residential) (conditional) to O-I (Office-Institutional) to allow the entire property to be redeveloped as a retail shopping center. The property is located on the east side of Northlake Parkway and the north side of LaVista Road at 2163 Northlake Parkway in Tucker, Georgia. The property has approximately 864 feet of frontage on Northlake Parkway, and approximately 353 feet of frontage on LaVista Road and contains 21.16 acres.
 Our objections center around these issues:
1.)  This application will take away a very necessary purpose that this land currently holds in our community.  It is not simply an “office  park” that is requesting rezoning.  This particular  parcel is used a major medical hub and the physicians and specialists who are located in these offices have all been there for at least 15 years, probably more.  
2.)  This application will harm the medical practices already located in these buildings.  They often refer patients to one another for treatment and therefore many of their practices rely on being located near one another.  The timing of this request does not allow them to relocate to a similar location where they can continue to utilize their own referral network. 
3.)  This application will bring immediate and direct harm to the many retirees, senior citizens and other residents who count on conveniently located medical offices being very near their homes.   Please  recall that Tucker serves more seniors than the average DeKalb County city or unincorporated community.  And, you just approved a new multi family facility for adults 55+.  The location to doctors is seen as a huge benefit to seniors looking to move.  So, changing this zoning will also harm the developer  you already approved for a senior living area.  We have nearly twice as many in our Tucker zip code compared to the DeKalb County average overall. 
4.)  A school was allowed to open its doors in this complex a few years ago.  Where will this school relocate so that it can continue to serve the families of our community?
5.)  City feasibility studies have been conducted  using this tax base in their estimates.  A change this big could have an impact on city viability.
6.)  Retail areas usually increase the crime rate.  Since the future of our local  police precinct is not known, it is the wrong time to be approving something for this area without knowing which city will be paying to police it, or if it will be policed by the county. 
Please, deny this rezone application unless the owner, or the county, is willing to do the legwork and negotiating necessary to secure a similar location in TUCKER, or in the Northlake area in general, where these medical doctors can move and still serve their current patients.   
If not denied outright, then this rezone should be deferred to the appropriate city council, when and if one is established, so that they can determine whether the greater need in their area is for a cluster of medical offices or new retail shopping. 
Tucker has always tried to do things right without complaint, and look where that has gotten us.   We've helped keep the peace in this county between warring sides of North and South.  You'll notice that the wheels on the cart in DeKalb have been squeaking for so long that they are now the best looking wheels money can buy.  But, during all that time that the wheels were squeaking, Tucker has been the reliable engine that moves the cart forward.  And no matter how great the wheels are, no one is going anywhere if you forget to take care of your engine.
Please have some heart left to look out for the Tucker community.  We need our doctors.  We don’t need a duplication of the retail offerings that are already in this same Northlake area. 
Thank you,
XXX XXXX
Save Tucker!

http://savetuckerfromlakesidecity.blogspot.com



N.7 Z‐15‐19671 DEFERRED SUBSTITUTE SUBMITTED FROM THE FLOOR UNTIL APRIL 28, 2015; PUBLIC HEARING; DAY MEETING             
Commission District: 1 Super District: 7 
Portion of 18‐210‐03‐047, 18‐210‐03‐054 Application of LaVista Office Park, LLC to rezone a portion of property within the Northlake Overlay District (Tier 2) from R‐85 (Single Family Residential) to O‐I (Office‐Institutional) to combine with the adjoining property to be redeveloped as a retail shopping center. The property is located on the north side of LaVista Road, approximately 160 feet west of Winding Way at 2163 Northlake Parkway in Tucker, Georgia. The property has approximately 100 feet of frontage on LaVista Road and contains 2.69 acres.
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