Rough Draft Atlanta hosted 14 Sandy Springs City Council candidates in district-wide forums to share their policy ideas regarding the city. Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Sarah Kallis and Bob Pepalis of Rough Draft Atlanta asked questions of the candidates. Donna Lowry, host of the network’s “Lawmakers” show, moderated the forums.
District One
Two candidates are campaigning for the District One council seat: incumbent John Paulson and Lorri Connor.
Paulson said he hopes that efforts by Sandy Springs to create recommendations for mixed-use developments to replace aging shopping centers in the North End will help with redevelopment.
“I’m hoping that that model of helping owners see what they can do and essentially telling them, if you build something like this that’s been vetted within the city, the odds of you getting approved are pretty high,” Paulson said.
Lorrie Connor said the North End has the majority of empty office and commercial space in the city. She wants to work with the National Park Service at its Island Ford Unit to turn the district into a destination for kayaking, boating, biking, and other family activities.
Related story:
• Mayoral candidates face voters from Sandy Springs’ North End (WATCH)
“I don’t understand why Roswell has been so successful in optimizing its riverfront, and we have just let it sit dormant,” Connor said.
District Two
Incumbent Melody Kelley is running unopposed after her opponent withdrew from the race on Oct. 3.
Answering questions during the forum, she said the city updated its development code in 2023 to create housing opportunities that the city’s firefighters, police officers, teachers, and nurses could afford. Shared courtyard and manor houses were among the options.
“We’re also looking at what I’m calling the North River tax allocation district. So, we’re exploring the feasibility of stepping it up a notch and creating a revenue source that will specifically be used to support public-private partnerships in the north end, redeveloping and continuing to revitalize the area,” Kelley said.
District Three
Tara Overzat is challenging incumbent Melissa Mular for the District Three council seat. The candidates were asked how they would move a second phase of City Springs forward.
Mular said she’d like to see what other designs could be made after a new council is seated next year. In the past, the city worked with Regent Partners and Morris and Fellows.
“I think that the residents really want places to go. They want to activate that district. So I would definitely look into supporting having different kinds of incentives, especially for restaurants and retail,” Mular said.
Overzat said City Springs itself has been great for community engagement and stressed its walkability. She looked forward to getting City Springs 2.0 done quickly.
“The financing issues, I imagine, are considerable, and we can make sure that happens by using citizen input and also by cooperating with different agencies to make sure that we can fund that and get it done quickly,” Overzat said.
District Four
This district will have a new council member as incumbent Jody Reichel is running for mayor. The four candidates, Dave Flynn, Steve Hickey, Frank Roberts, and Michelle Sullivan, were asked what they would do to bring businesses to the empty lots and buildings along Roswell Road.
Sullivan said she would consider adding an economic development position to promote technology innovation, such as AI, and determine how AI can impact local government.
“It all comes with having conversations, collaborations, and meeting with other businesses to give them the opportunity to know that Sandy Springs wants their business here,” Sullivan said.
Roberts wants the city to keep its neighborhoods exclusively single-family, maintaining low density. He advocates against rezoning that would infiltrate or alter the established character of residential areas. He wants to push for collaboration between the neighborhoods and developers.
“Of course, development in the north side, or any of these vacant lots, is a combination of collaboration between residents and businesses for a smooth and even business community,” Roberts said.
Flynn said he wants advisory groups to address the issue. The city needs to get the developers, property and business owners together with residents to figure out what is needed in that area.
“Whatever we do, it’s got to be something that’s going to work. We can’t just throw things up there,” Flynn said.
Whether it’s a concept, a story, or a potential mixed-use development, it must work for the area, Flynn said.
Hickey said he is pro-growth and wants to find a way to say “yes” for businesses to invest capital in the city.
“What you’re trying to do is develop environments for people to come and stay and linger,” Hickey said. “And under outdated land use models, that’s just no longer the case in some parts of the city.”
Hickey believes that lowering fees, taxes, and regulations should be considered.
District Five
This district is one of three that will have a new council member in office in January, as incumbent Tibby DeJulio, the city’s longest-serving city council member, opted not to run for reelection. Kristen Daddow-Rodriguez, Mary Ford, and Colin Hubbard offered answers to how they would work for affordable housing in Sandy Springs.
Daddow-Rodriguez supports creating districts in the city with more varied levels of housing prices.
“Some of the ideas that I have for making this possible are creating tax allocation districts where there’s a public and private partnership to create housing that’s more affordable for families, as well as prioritizing creating partnerships with a lot of developers to make sure that we’re choosing the right things for our city,” Daddow-Rodriguez said.
Hubbard said the city needs to craft an environment to encourage a variety of housing options, including multi-family, single-family for sale, and single-family for rent. Affordable housing only works if there is a “moon shot,” he said.
“The moon shot would be that the city has to become financially involved in a real estate project to drive down the basis and create rents that are attainable to our teachers, first responders, public works people, etc.,” Hubbard said.
Ford said many residents have spoken to her about workforce housing. Adding new types of housing, like the manor court style, creates options.
“The other thing that is happening is that in this year’s fiscal budget, the city allocated funding for a housing study,” Ford said.” I would recommend that the housing study be initiated with the priorities and the vision of the council and mayor that will be in place in January.”
District Six
This district, which is split by I-285 and borders the City of Atlanta, will welcome a new council member in January. Incumbent Andy Bauman is running for mayor. Andrew Chinsky and Tesula Stewart are seeking the office and took part in Rough Draft’s candidates forum, offering ideas on how the city could build affordable housing.
Stewart said the city needs to work with developers to make sure any changes in housing types, roads, or public utilities do not negatively impact existing residents. She thinks the city can help those who find that living expenses are too high.
“I believe the city can work collaboratively with developers, with the economic development department, with lenders, and also with other party owners, just to make sure that housing is affordable, but not impact existing homeowners,” Stewart said.
Chinsky said that, with land costs exceeding one million dollars per acre and limited financing, creating affordable housing is tough. These prices can cause population loss, lower school enrollment and decrease the tax base, which cuts into city services.
“I would like to look at other policy tools, like affordable set aside for community land trust or partnerships with Fulton County,” Chinsky said.
He wants to do that without compromising protected neighborhoods.
