Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch discussed toll lanes, Dunwoody Village housing possibilities, and preparations for the COVID-19 coronavirus disease in a new Reporter Extra podcast.
The following are some highlights from her March 3 discussion with Reporter Managing Editor John Ruch. To listen to the full podcast, click here.
Toll lanes
“In a lot of ways, of all the top end cities, certainly in DeKalb, we are taking the biggest hit,” Deutsch said of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s plan to add toll lanes along the top end of I-285. “We have.. the distinction of being the city that has the first complete subdivision that GDOT has ever purchased in its history to make way for a project.”
She had more positive hopes for bridge improvements, a new collector-distributor lane on the highway, and the possibility of adding multiuse trails.
Dunwoody Village residential uses
A zoning review that is rethinking the Dunwoody Village area has sparked debates about whether housing should be a component.
“I think that residential certainly should be part of what we end up with,” said Deutsch. “But the density and the type and the amount are … still questions we need to answer as we continue through the process.”
COVID-19
“One key thing is, don’t panic. Panic isn’t going to make it better,” Deutsch said of the coronavirus disease that is spreading across the globe.
State of the City
Deutsch will hold her first “State of the City” address at a local church rather than a hotel ballroom as in years past. “I think the expense of the past events and the perception that it wasn’t for the regular citizen were really a negative” that she is trying to turn into a positive, Deutsch said.