PDK Master Plan policies adopted by the DeKalb Board of
Commissioners on October 11, 2005
Read Master
Plan adopted by Dekalb County
Introduction to PDK Master Plan policies adopted by County
Commissioners on October 11, 2005
On October 11, 2005, apparently as a result of
Commissioner Kathy Gannon's response to concerned citizens, the DeKalb
County Board of Commissioners (BOC) passed a significantly amended
set of ten policy provisions to guide the PDK Master Plan process.
Two policy provisions that the concerned public had deemed "essential" were
included at the last minute in the approved policies, while one provision
that had been strongly supported by concerned citizens was removed.
On the positive side, at the eleventh hour the BOC has included a
provision (#5) that would appear to reaffirm the Airport's CII status,
although significantly without any statement--as requested by the concerned
public--precluding later development toward CIII status.
Also on the positive side, provision #9 would appear to reaffirm
the restriction on physical expansion of the airport (with certain exceptions),
although this statement appears not to be as explicit as the prohibition
on PDK physical expansion in the 1992 PDK Master Plan.
And on the positive side (though once again the proof is in what
is actually done, if anything), provision #10 calls for developing "new
and innovative flight and departure procedures," although it is never
said explicitly that the purpose of those new flight and departures should
be to help in achieving noise abatement.
On the negative side, note that the original AAB policy proposal #1
that would have prohibited regularly scheduled passenger and cargo service
has been removed; in its place the BOC has substituted a boiler plate,
feel-good statement.
Significantly, it took more than a month and a half after the PDK Master
Plan policies had been approved by the Commissioners on October 11,
2005 before an official copy of those adopted policies was made available
to the public, despite repeated public requests. Only after the PDK
Master Plan consultants themselves asked to see an official copy of
the policies was the document also made available to the public.
County government's long delay in releasing an
official copy of its approved PDK Master Plan policies raises the question
of whether the individuals officially working on the Master Plan ever
received a copy of those approved policies and whether those policies
were actually being used to guide the planning process.
For a complete copy of the document with revisions, see the final attachment
with this message, "BOC Policies Intro 1.doc"
So that's where the PDK Master Plan policies stand right now. It's
good that we finally have a clear statement of what was actually passed.
Now the larger question remains what, if anything, will be done to implement
the policies as the Master Plan process proceeds.
--Larry Foster
Read Master Plan as adopted by Dekalb County
