This is a weekly feature of our For the Record newsletter, filled with the latest reporting from Canopy Atlanta and Atlanta Documenters, which trains and pays residents to take notes on undercovered local government meetings. Sign up to find this in your inbox every week.
🗣️ QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We heard loud and clear. We want community input as much as possible for anything the board does, so we’re basically putting that into law to ensure the board doesn’t do whatever they want against the will of the community.”
Every odd year, the Lakewood Heights Community Association is required to review its bylaws. At the September 8 meeting, Treasurer Andres Celeon presented the revisions approved last month, along with additional updates made in response to community feedback.
New bylaws say a director may be removed by a two-thirds vote for “violation of the bylaws, embezzlement, or misrepresentation of the general body.” The revisions also clarify that voting is anonymous and that the parliamentarian is not a voting member. LHCA will also establish a membership committee, which will be responsible for certification of membership and “ensuring a positive member experience.”
“We heard loud and clear,” Celeon said. “We want community input as much as possible for anything the board does, so we’re basically putting that into law to ensure the board doesn’t do whatever they want against the will of the community.”
The LHCA will vote to accept the revised bylaws October 13.
(Documented by Natalie Pilgeram; additional reporting by Ada Wood)
🔎 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
🧱 Atlanta City Council Community Development Committee
Efforts at the Chattahoochee Brick Company Memorial are moving forward as the brownfield design phase wraps up. The City received a $2 million EPA cleanup grant in 2023 to address the site’s contamination. (Documented by Dominique Huff)
💵 South Fulton City Council
South Fulton will maintain its millage rate cap, declining to raise or remove it to fund planned public safety facilities. Also discussed: Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council President Sandra Williams says the City’s current budget draft does not reflect the financial impact of ongoing wage negotiations. (Documented by Dominique Huff)
📈 Lakewood Heights Community Association
Lakewood Heights residents shared concerns about crime in the neighborhood surrounding Lakewood Stadium. (Documented by Natalie Pilgeram)
Each week, documenters take notes at public meetings so everyone can see what local government is doing—and why it matters.
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🛠️ PATCH WORK
The City of Atlanta allocated $50,000 to Neighbor In Need for emergency home repairs for low-income and senior residents in East Lake, Kirkwood, and Edgewood. The nonprofit provides critical fixes—plumbing, accessible bathrooms, tree removal, electrical work, and kitchen repairs—to help legacy residents avoid displacement. (Documented by Dominique Huff)
🅰️ UP FIRST
At a recent Atlanta City Council Community Development Committee meeting, Commissioner Jahnee Prince gave an update on the rollout of Plan A, the City’s Comprehensive Development Plan. Although Plan A has already been adopted, residents can still weigh in through Department of City Planning (DCP) presentations at NPU meetings.
For now, DCP is focusing on smaller projects within Plan A. Prince highlighted the first set of areas under review and the neighborhoods that will have a chance to provide input:
• Ashby Station: DCP received a $50,000 grant for bike and pedestrian upgrades, first- and last-mile connections, and bus and train facility improvements. The department will work with NPUs K, L, and T and surrounding neighborhoods.
• Lindbergh Station: In partnership with MARTA, DCP is advancing the Lindbergh–Armour Master Plan, which includes redevelopment of the annex building and South Bus Loop. Engagement will extend to 11 neighborhoods and NPUs B, E, and F.
• Peachtree Park and Edgewood: The DCP will work with each neighborhood on its own independent plan. Details have not yet been specified.
• Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative: The DCP will choose one of the mayor’s priority areas—Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, Campbellton Road, Downtown, or Thomasville Heights—but has not yet decided which.
(Documented by Dominique Huff; additional reporting by J.P. Irie)
🎤 PUBLIC COMMENT
Atlanta City Council Community Development Committee
🍞 Ethan Drakes, a Morehouse College student and owner of MoMoBros Bodega, is seeking community development grant funding to open a bodega on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. He said he wants to address food insecurity in the West End area.
🏢 Resident Nicky Buggs raised concerns that Landmark Condominiums, where she lives, is still being used for short-term rentals, which she says the building isn’t designed to handle.
(Documented by Dominique Huff)
🗓️ COMMUNITY CALENDAR
🍅 Healthy Food Distribution
📅 September 20, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
📍 Creel Park, 2775 Creel Road, South Fulton
🌏 International Cultural Festival
📅 September 20, 2 to 7:30 p.m.
📍 Wilkerson Mill Park, 8095 Wilkerson Mill Road, South Fulton
❤️🩹 NPU-P Health and Wellness Celebration
📅 September 20, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
📍 Princeton Lake, 3700 Princeton Lakes Parkway SW, Atlanta
🌳 Reaching New Heights: A Celebration of Neighbors, Nature, and PATH400
📅 September 26, 4 to 7 p.m.
📍 Mountain Way Common and Garden, 684 Mountain Drive, Atlanta
🫶🏿 Love Day Block Party
📅 September 27, 5 to 7:30 p.m.
📍 Rodney Cook Sr. Park, 609 Thurmond Street NW, Atlanta
🧹 Cascade Community Clean Up
📅 September 27, 8 to 10 a.m.
📍 Cascade Driving Range, 3520 Cascade Road, South Fulton
🏘️ Lakewood Day
📅 October 18, 12 p.m.
📍 South Bend Park, 1955 Compton Drive SE, Atlanta
🏫 Atlanta Public Schools Forward 2040 Public Meeting
📅 October 20, 12 p.m. via Zoom, or 6 p.m.
📍 Center for Learning & Leadership, 130 Trinity Avenue, Atlanta
Editor: Heather Buckner
Contributors: Ada Wood and J.P. Irie
Fact Checker: J.P. Irie
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