Home Care In Sandy Springs, GA

Sandy Springs residents voiced their opinions on new plans for redevelopment and the city is listening.

Sandy Springs Planning and Zoning Manager Michelle McIntosh-Ross presented the Crossroads Small Area Plan to Mayor and City Council at the Dec. 5 city council meeting.

“We used community feedback to form recommendations and the design of the plan,” said McIntosh-Ross.

The plan encompasses south of I-285 along Roswell Road and extends south to Target at The Prado, west to Lake Forest Drive, east to encompass the Whitley and Harrison apartment communities, as well as Long Island Creek.

According to McIntosh-Ross, “major themes confirmed by the community were protection, preservation and rehabilitation of neighborhoods; enhanced open space and natural areas; provide for more multi-modal connectivity and enhanced lighting and encourage redevelopment at specifically identified sites.”

McIntosh-Ross also emphasized plans for a rapid transit bus station, citing possible locations to be further discussed with Georgia Department of Transportation.

“These new connections intend to create a grid system to serve pedestrians, cyclists and address the circulation within The Prado and better connections between neighborhoods,” she said.

The circulation issues within The Prado garnered significant discussion.

According to McIntosh-Ross, this plan would “allow for substantial investment that would induce an extensive redesign of the parking and circulation within [The Prado].”

“We are proposing to transform the property into a well connected mixed-use commercial and residential destination, with a central open space, 3 to 5 stories fronting Roswell Road and 7 to 10 stories residential above ground floor retail/restaurant that will surround central green space on and along Lake Placid Drive,” she said.

The additional density resulting from the 7 to 10 stories of residential was a point of contention for Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul.

“What makes staff think that adding density to that complex will make it better,” said Mayor Rusty Paul.

According to Assistant City Manager Kristin Byars Smith, specific guidelines were established when The Prado’s owner previously approached the city two years ago with interest in redevelopment.

“The plan anticipates major structural changes to the site that would be needed. We’ve had many discussions with the property owner and have given them general guidance that should they want to request a rezoning, significant investment should be made and they’ll have to do restructuring,” said Byars-Smith.

In short, one cannot happen without the other.

“In your estimation a major redevelopment is the only way to justify adding 7 to 10 stories,” inquired Paul.

“Yes, major site investments must be made in order to add that density,” answered Byars-Smith.

To date, there are no set plans for redevelopment at The Prado, the Crossroads Small Area Plan is requesting the potential for it to occur.

People trying to drive out of neighborhoods along Roberts Drive are dealing with traffic delays due to a detour as bridge construction closesd the road over GA 400 for a week.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) said contractors will close Roberts Drive over GA 400 for approximately one week, from Friday, Dec. 15 through Friday, Dec. 22. The closure is part of construction on the GA 400 Bridge Replacements project. Completion is anticipated by May 22, 2024.

There will be a full closure of Pride Place at Sandy Springs Middle School and a closure of Roberts Drive between Pride Place and Gettysburg Place, which are on opposite sides of Ga 400.

Contractors need the closure to complete work to match the new roadway alignment with the existing roadway, GDOT said.

The detour will be signed and marked. Law enforcement will be in place during peak travel times.

Roberts Drive between Roswell Road and Gettysburg Place does not connect to any other through streets, so while the detour is in place all traffic must use its intersection with Roswell Road near the bridge over the Chattahoochee River.

Valeria Palmer, a resident of Roberts Drive, said the problem is that on those two miles between Roswell Road and Dunwoody Place there are as many as seven condo and townhouse communities and almost as many apartment complexes.

“Georgia Power says there are more than 1,800 accounts off Roberts and having that many people using one exit with no controls other than a stop sign is dangerous,” she said.

More options exist for motorists off North River Parkway faced with the detour at Pride Place to connect with Dunwoody Place and reach signalized intersections at Northridge or Roswell Roads.

A Sandy Springs spokesperson said the city coordinates with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) on project-related traffic impacts.

“Our Traffic Management Center (TMC) will monitor the traffic and adjust signals if necessary, in coordination with GDOT,” Interim Communications Director Dan Coffer said in an email reply to questions.

Though vehicular traffic won’t be able to use the Roberts Drive bridge, GDOT said pedestrian traffic across the bridge will be maintained.

GDOT said that Roberts Drive Bridge is being replaced and widened with a raised profile. It will include a 12-foot, multi-use path on the south side, a sidewalk on the north side, and an interior barrier wall on the south side separating pedestrians from the travel lanes. Sandy Springs entered into an agreement with GDOT for bridge aesthetics.

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — A metro Atlanta woman says she got contaminated gas at a Sandy Springs Costco and the retail giant won’t do anything to help with the $700 bill to fix her car.

“The engine light started flashing and the car started shaking. So, I got super scared. I turned around and came back to my driveway,” Michelle Robinovitz told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray.

At a Volkswagen dealer, they diagnosed the problem as bad gasoline. The mechanic even recorded a video showing that the fuel was contaminated with water.

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“They were like, you have bad gas. We have to drain all the gas and put in new gas and clean everything out before we do that,” she said.

Robinovitz says she knows where the gas came from because it is the only place she and her family buy gas -- the Sandy Springs Costco.

She had just filled up the day before the car started experiencing problems.

Until this, Robinovitz was a big Costco fan. Even the coat she wore during her interview with Gray, was from Costco.

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“So, I went straight to Costco thinking that they would stand behind their product and they did not,” Robinovitz said.

Even though Robinovitz provided Costco with the video from her mechanic and the proof she purchased the gas at Costco, they denied her claim.

We showed the video from Robinovitz’s mechanic to the head of Georgia’s Fuel and Measures division at the Department of Agriculture, Doug Killingsworth.

Fuel and Measures regulates the state’s more than 100,000 gas pumps.

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Killingsworth said he could tell by sight that it was bad gas.

“That sample, I can promise you, would fail, but that is what we call an unofficial sample,” he told Gray.

Killingsworth says if you suspect contaminated gas, you should report it to the Fuel and Measures division of the Department of Agriculture immediately.

“If they call us that day, we can be on-site that same day. We have done that before and found major issues and were able to clean things up very quickly,” Killingsworth said.

In 2023, Fuel and Measures received 809 complaints and confirmed 547 of those had contaminated or sub-standard fuel.

“Number one, call us and call us in a timely manner. I mean, don’t wait. You know, if your vehicle’s given an issue, don’t wait two days, five days,” he said.

Robinovitz didn’t know to call fuel and measures back on January 4th.

She thought Costco would step up and take care of the $700 repair bill.

“For them just to dismiss me like that, I know it could not have only been me. I got it on the fourth. This happened on the fifth. I am sure other people had problems,” Robinovitz said.

Channel 2 Action News first started trying to reach Costco for comment last week. We are still waiting for a response.

Fuel and Measures says if you file a complaint, not only will they shut down a pump until it is fixed, but they can provide you official test results for the gas that can be used in any claim for damages.

IN OTHER NEWS:

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (Atlanta News First) -The City of Sandy Springs is cracking down on old apartments failing to prevent fires with a new ordinance passed this month.

It comes just three months after a fire broke out for the second time in the last three years at the Azalea Park Apartment complex.

“I think it’s atrocious the way that these buildings are so old and they haven’t been kept up appropriately,” Azalea Park Apartment resident Sam Falcone said.

Falcone has lived at the Azalea Park Apartment complex in Sandy Springs for five years and said it’s time old apartments like this are held accountable.

“I can tell you since I’ve lived here in 2018 this is now the second apartment fire and second building that has burnt down,” Falcone said.

In March of 2021 fire officials told Atlanta News First that a fire hydrant wasn’t working on the property and it prevented crews from accessing water to put out the fire that ignited on the property.

This year, fire officials told Atlanta News First the building didn’t have a sprinkler system because it was an older building.

Residents also told Atlanta News First that smoke detectors never went off during the latest fire that happened.

“The fact that they didn’t learn from their first mistake is like, ok clearly someone is being negligent here,” Falcone said.

The city said 47% of the 98 total apartment buildings in Sandy Springs are old and outdated and don’t have a sprinkler system, therefore, they are required to have other lifesaving tools like fire alarms and fire extinguishers.

However, city officials said too many times apartment owners and property managers aren’t ensuring these deterrents are fully operational.

The city said they made $35,000 off apartment fines in one year.

“That’s why we are requiring these inspections because some of the fires we’ve had previously at some other apartment complexes were directly related to lack of maintenance,” Sandy Springs Structural Engineer and Building Department Manager, Jonathan Livingston said.

Now under the new ordinance, apartments will be required to hire a certified building inspector to inspect complexes annually instead of over the course of five years, according to the city.

In addition, city officials said apartment managers will have to take a city ordinance course detailing the new building, record keeping, and maintenance requirements.

By January city officials said apartments will have to be in compliance with the new city ordinance or face fines and possible litigation for ongoing violations.

“Yeah absolutely, I think it’s appropriate I think it should have happened a long time ago,” Falcone said.

The city says under the new ordinance, apartment buildings will also be required to have their own insurance in case there is a loss of life during a fire.

Details included in the ordinance can be viewed in this document beginning on page 105.

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Millennials are on the move, and apparently quite a few of them are headed to Sandy Springs.

One in four millennials moved to a new city last year, and SmartAsset wanted to know where they’re ending up.

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For its analysis, the financial website gathered data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s one-year American Community Survey for 2022. The study included 268 cities with 100,000 or more people age 1 or older, and had available data.

Millennials were defined as those age 25–44, even though the generation’s age range in 2022 would be 26–41 (they were born 1981–1996).

SmartAsset then calculated the percentage of the total population represented by millennials who moved to the city last year and ranked them from highest to lowest.

Two Georgia cities — Sandy Springs and Savannah — ranked high in the study.

Sandy Springs finished at No. 10, with 10.49% of its total population made up of millennials who moved there in 2022. That equates to 11,210 new residents in the study’s age range. A high rate of these transplants were from out of state, the analysis found.

Overall, nearly a third of Sandy Springs’ residents, 32.05%, are millennials. The city also had the highest median age in the top 10 at 39.5 years old.

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Just behind Sandy Springs was Savannah, which was ranked No. 11. America’s First Planned City welcomed 15,303 millennial transplants, which was 10.45% of its population. The city’s total population is 31.72% millennial.

What city is attracting the most millennials? That would be Cambridge, Massachusetts. Santa Clara, California; Seattle; Sunnyvale, California; and Denver round out the top five, in that order.

You can read the full analysis here.

About the Author

Nancy Clanton is lead editor for revenue content, but also writes stories about health, travel, events and entertainment. She also coordinates coverage of Pulse, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's digital magazine for nurses in the Southeast. A native of Knoxville and graduate of the University of Tennessee, she has worked at the AJC for 23 years.