Ciao, Dunwoody
Wednesday, July 1 — It’s Cathy from Rough Draft with my weekly newsletter on Dunwoody. As you read this, I will be “abroad,” which is such a bougie way of saying I’m OOT.
More details when I return, but for this week, I am leaving the newsletter in the capable hands of Hayden Sumlin, who usually covers Sandy Springs, but knows a lot about these here parts.
That being said, let’s get to a few reminders.
🇺🇸 Join 25,000 of your best friends at the Dunwoody 4th of July parade on Saturday. For a preview of what to expect, read our special section here.
🧨 While there’s no official public fireworks show in Dunwoody proper – unless you count the neighbors who treat their fingers and toes as optional – you can see some professional, patriotic displays in Tucker and Norcross on July 3.
👴🏼 Dad’s Garage is coming back to Stage Door Theatre on Aug. 15. Buy tickets here.
Let’s get to it!
🇮🇹 Cathy
🏃 100 miles. Six weeks. One incredible community. Join the Chastain Challenge and help keep Chastain Park clean, safe, and green while reaching your own goals. Details here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Dunwoody Homeowners Association previews 4th of July Parade changes, LifeSouth rezoning
🇺🇸 The Dunwoody Homeowners Association (DHA) previewed changes to its annual Independence Day parade ahead of the country’s 250th birthday. The changes come after a crash during last year’s July 4th parade that injured participants, resulting in the filing of criminal misdemeanor charges against two people.
Parade organizers and the Dunwoody Police Department have worked out a new safety plan and instituted tighter controls in response to the 2025 parade incident.
“We set up a bunch of different rules that people have signed on to following, and hopefully we’re going to follow them,” parade co-chair Matt Weber said. “Last year was just … I don’t think we can stop somebody from jumping out of a truck.”
🎉 Read about the parade and proposed LifeSouth rezoning here.
You can hear the fireworks. Can you hear your friends?
SPONSORED BY CLEARWORKS AUDIOLOGY
🎆 The Fourth of July fills the air with booms, crackles, and laughter – but for the 1 in 5 adults with hearing loss, the conversation is often the hardest part to follow.
Hearing loss doesn’t just affect what you hear. It affects how connected you feel. Straining to keep up in a crowd, nodding along, quietly withdrawing – it chips away at the moments that matter most.
You deserve to be fully present with the people you love.
ClearWorks Audiology is Sandy Springs’ and Atlanta’s trusted choice for hearing care – let’s get you back in the conversation.
➞ Visit our website to learn more.
DPT/Mount Vernon School collaboration
👩🏼🤝👨🏾 The Dunwoody Preservation Trust recently teamed with students from Mount Vernon School to address two organizational priorities: developing a capital campaign strategy and increasing brand awareness across the Dunwoody and Sandy Springs communities.
The collaboration was conducted through the school’s Innovation Diploma program, a multi-year, project-based learning experience in which students work with nonprofit, corporate, and civic partners to solve real-world challenges using design thinking and research-based strategies, according to a release from the organizations.
Single-family residences proposed
🏠 Dunwoody City Council will consider at a yet-to-be determined meeting a zoning request that would allow a former church property that straddles Dunwoody and Sandy Springs to be developed into a 24-detached-home community.
The site, which is owned by North Atlanta Church of Christ, is listed as 1369 Spalding Dr. and 5646 Roberts Dr. in a staff memo regarding the application. It was to be presented at the June 9 Dunwoody Planning Commission meeting, which was cancelled because of a lack of a quorum.
The application, submitted by the Providence Group of Georgia, proposes that three homes be built within the city of Dunwoody and 21 in the area that encompasses Sandy Springs.
⛪️ Here are the details of the proposed rezoning.
🏃 100 miles. Six weeks. One incredible community. Join the Chastain Challenge and help keep Chastain Park clean, safe, and green while reaching your own goals. Details here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
What’s it Worth?
SPONSORED BY ATLANTA FINE HOMES SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY
🏡 Located in Morningside, this gated 6,555±-square-foot home features a detached guest suite, two-story playhouse with electricity, covered outdoor living space, and a luxurious primary suite with a private terrace. The home offers six bedrooms and six bathrooms.
❓ Guess the price below!
Ch-ch-changes at proposed Kroger
🛒 The Dunwoody City Council on July 13 is expected to hold a public hearing on several zoning modifications for a proposed Kroger grocery store on Ashford Dunwoody Road in a space formerly occupied by Walmart.
The requests include a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) for a drive-thru pharmacy and other variances that will allow Kroger to develop a gas station on the Perimeter Village property, according to documents filed by the applicant.
“The applicant proposes to utilize the existing footprint of the building with alterations to the front façade, add a drive-through to the front façade, construct a new gas station, and make site improvements,” a staff memo regarding the application said. “The existing building would be subdivided into two retail spaces, with the proposed tenant, Kroger Co., occupying the larger, western, 117,736 SF [square-foot] suite.”
🤓 Read more about the plan here.
PICTURE THIS: DUNWOODY REPRESENTS
🐈⬛ Dunwoody’s Koehn Boggus and Kittie Miller made the cover of our July Pets & Their People issue, the first time we’ve had a cat in the premium position. His mother says that despite Kittie Miller’s “resting cat face,” she never swats or hisses.
Fun fact: Kittie Miller was raised, along with her siblings, by a surrogate dog, so when the Boggus dogs ask to go outside, she comes running too.
🐴 We’ve got some great photos of people with their BFFs. Check those out in our print edition.
