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DECEMBER 2019 • VOL. 13 — NO. 12
Olympic Park bombing investigation: Remembering dark days P8
Sandy Springs Reporter
Proposed grocery would be eighth near City Springs
COMMUNITY
Advocacy group continues affordable housing push P4
COMMUNITY
Ryan Gravel
Designer of the Atlanta BeltLine
Richard Jewell
BY HANNAH GRECO hannah@reporternewspapers.net
A public challenge: Reimagine I-285 P21
ART & ENTERTAINMENT
‘A Tuna Christmas’ continues theater partnership P26
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The concrete “triangle” across the street from City Springs holds billboards that the city is attempting to remove.
HANNAH GRECO
Future park site stalled by billboard lawsuit BY HANNAH GRECO hannah@reporternewspapers.net
Mayor Rusty Paul says he has heard several complaints from residents and has his own frustrations with the “eyesore” property on the east side of Roswell Road across from City Springs. The city has long aimed to spruce up the area with a park and paths, but projects have been stalled due to a law-
suit over booting three billboards from the property. The suit has been drawn out for a year. City Attorney Dan Lee said at a Nov. 19 City Council meeting that the city cannot redevelop the land until a judge issues an order for the signs to come down. “I have been getting a lot of questions about the property...the wasteland, as it’s See CITY on page 28
Downtown Sandy Springs is bustling with grocery stores, with a new grocer filing to enter the already saturated market, which means more choices for residents and competitive pricing. But in the North End of the city, there are significantly fewer options and proposed stores for the area have not panned out. In October, Lidl, a discount German grocery store, filed a permit with the city to open a store in Sandy Springs in the City Center Crossing Center at 6337 Roswell Road. Within a 2-mile radius of the hub of Sandy Springs, City Springs, which is just a block from the proposed Lidl, there are seven major chain grocery stores: Aldi at 6336 Roswell Road; Kroger at 227 Sandy Springs Place and 4920 Roswell Rd; Publix at 6615 Roswell Road; Sprouts at 4600 Roswell Road; Trader Joe’s at 6277 Roswell Road; and Whole Foods Market at 5930 Roswell Road. Tosh Wolfe, the director of retail services at real estate firm Colliers International’s Atlanta office, said downtown Sandy Springs is an ideal market for grocers because of its mix of urbanism and suburbanism. “Looking at Sandy Springs demographically, it is a great opportunity for grocers,” Wolfe said. But the North End, which spans about 4 See NEW on page 30
It’s that time of year... “Siri, where can I buy the best wife insurance?”
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