Here's why some Smyrna residents are concerned about the proposed downtown redesign

Jun. 20—Some Smyrna residents have mixed feelings over a proposed makeover of the city's downtown area, and they were on full display at a Saturday town hall.

The forum was hosted by Ward 5 Councilwoman Susan Wilkinson, and of the approximately 50 people who attended, most had concerns about the design. Their reasons and level of concern, however, varied.

Smyrna Mayor Derek Norton has proposed a redesign that would replace the fountain and roundabout in front of the city's library with a green space and splash pad. Norton has also proposed selling a patch of land between the community center and Atlanta Road to Suwanee's StillFire Brewing for a three-level brewery and using the proceeds to create a public park beside it featuring a playground and dog park.

If the residents at the Saturday town hall reached any consensus, it was that the process was moving too quickly and without enough transparency. Wilkinson called the town hall, she said, because many of her constituents were not familiar with the proposed plan and felt out of the loop.

Wilkinson said she first learned the mayor was pursuing the redesign plan on June 3. Council met on June 7, and a public meeting on the plan was held June 8. Another public meeting was held this past week, and council was set to consider the proposal Monday evening.

Wilkinson and the other council member present, Charles "Corkey" Welch, had expressed concerns to their council colleagues at the June 3 meeting, but other council members pointed out that the previous administration had commissioned a study that considered ways to redevelop the area. That study, Norton said, had gathered input from more than 600 residents over seven meetings. Wilkinson said at the town hall that the council never formally voted to adopt the study.

Former Smyrna councilman Mike McNabb said Saturday the downtown needs a facelift, and he called the plan a "step in the right direction." But he also suggested the plan be tabled for further review. More consideration was needed, he said, since the plan could change the face of Smyrna for decades to come.

"If you're going to transform our downtown, we need to allow the public more time ... we don't need to rush to judgment just because our elected officials feel comfortable with the plan," McNabb said.

Wilkinson and Welch said they would try to table the proposal.

"I'm not saying that we don't need to improve the downtown area because we do ... but there are many, many other ways to skin a cat," Welch said.

Welch told attendees that if they have reservations, they ought to email the mayor and council requesting the plan be tabled.

Norton maintains far more people in the community are excited about the project than not.

The plan as it stands

Norton and Mayor Pro Tem Tim Gould say the new downtown, with its proposed green space and splashpad, would be a boon to pedestrians and provide a central gathering green space, complete with a plaza/stage area, terraced seating and sidewalk improvements. It would also extend King Street, connecting it to Powder Springs Street.

The proposal would also add a stoplight at the corner of Powder Springs Street and Atlanta Road, something town hall attendees seemed to support for safety reasons.

The project would be funded by revenue from a special 1% sales tax for projects that county voters approved in November, which will begin collection on Jan. 1. The green space will cost roughly $2.5 million and a 250-spot parking deck, to be built north of Powder Springs Street off Atlanta Road, almost $4 million, according to Norton.

If construction were to begin at the end of October, engineers from Croy Engineering, which designed the proposal, estimate it could be completed by August of next year.

Grievances

Some town hall attendees like downtown the way it is and saw no reason for it to change. Others thought a piece of land between the community center and Atlanta Road should be preserved as is and didn't agree with Norton's proposal to sell it to a brewery.

Resident David Lincoln and others said if the city wanted to add more commercial space, such as a brewery, it could be in another part of town, leaving downtown as is.

"I think the thought is that a brewery is good economically for the city," Wilkinson told residents.

The proposed elimination of the traffic circle in front of the city's library and community center in favor of a lengthened King Street was particularly contentious. Traffic circles tend to slow cars down while maintaining traffic flow, while the proposed two-lane road would have no stop sign or light to replace the circle between Powder Springs and Bank streets. The traffic circle, some argued, also enables access to Atlanta Road from west of the community center, a route that would be eliminated.

"This (proposed) road, because of its width, because of the way that it curves in a pretty wide angle, will become a fast road," said Maryam Atassi, an architect. "Cars are going to zip through there."

Atassi presented her own design of the area, emphasizing it was only one idea, to demonstrate the many possible plans that could be considered.

"What we need to do is sketch dozens of ideas and compare them all and study them and pick them apart," Atassi said.

In terms of the plan itself, McNabb thought the removal of the traffic circle would cause accessibility problems. Visitors to downtown would have to use the parallel parking on the new road or park in the proposed parking deck.

"Our whole community center has a very nice large drop off area right here, that will suddenly get wasted," McNabb said.

Asked if there had been a traffic study on the impact of the proposed plan, Wilkinson and Welch said they weren't aware of one.

Even with Wilkinson and Welch skeptical of the proposal, the council members believe the rest of the council plans to vote to adopt the plan Monday. Some residents seemed resigned to that outcome, with one lamenting out loud, "It's a done deal!"

"I really kind of think it's a little bit of a power play, it's like new mayor comes in," Lincoln said, before backtracking. "I'm sorry, I don't know him ... But it's not the time to say 'Hey, we're going to wipe something out,' It's been working for us, it's growing, it's becoming something. Why do we want to destroy that? I don't get it."

Norton told the MDJ he maintains that the city has been overwhelmingly supportive of the proposed redesign, and he said Saturday's town hall was hosted by Wilkinson to highlight opposition to the project.

To criticisms that it's moving too fast, the mayor said the plan has been in the works since 2019. He acknowledged that "we're not going to make everybody happy," but said the city has to keep moving forward.

"I think it's going to be a game-changer, and I think people are going to very be pleased in the end," Norton said.