Truth and meaning matter when it comes to public spaces that form the backdrop of memories and experiences in community. The history and back story of Smyrna’s prized downtown recently succumbed to urban trends that toss out the old for lack of innovation and appreciation for history. Smyrna’s downtown area resulted from a need to change the image and economic prospects for a city failing in many ways. It was the forethought and vision of an architect who worked closely with community and city leaders to create what we have now. The town center was eventually awarded a Design Excellence award for Smart Growth by the Urban Land Institute in 1997. It would also be a highlight in the career of Architect Michael Sizemore of The Sizemore Group, Smyrna’s uniqueness a gift that would keep giving.
I recently took up the charge of joining with a passionate group of concerned citizens called “Smart Smyrna” to save the iconic fountain and traffic circle in Smyrna’s downtown. After wrestling with the fact that the majority of Smyrna leaders don’t share the sentiment, we hoped the chain of events that involved removing key components of our award-winning downtown could be reversed.
On Monday night, October 18, 2021, the majority of our Council members voted to do away with history, identity and sense of place that inspired other “Smyrna’s” to pop up all over the United States. Smyrna leadership bought into a vision that involves making the downtown “more” pedestrian friendly and adding “more” green space. Truth is, the more sustainable option was to re-purpose what we already have. The artificial turf soon to replace clusters of beautiful and mature specimen trees is a nod towards the “problem” this project addresses and depletes resources from much needed areas.
When committing to such a task, it begs the question, “why fight when you stand to lose more than gain?” Truth is powerful and yet it did not prevail in this particular cause. The citizens were told there was overwhelming support and yet our Mayor continued to silence the voices of the people by not sharing public comments in the public engagement sessions.
Moreover, he chose to dismiss the concerns of many to the point of excluding two senior Council members who had valid concerns voting to table the project after requested information was not provided. These two Council members were not allowed to participate in the deliberation for this significant project for ALL of Smyrna. And yet, fellow Council members sat in silence participating in a process that was less than exemplary. In addition, I have witnessed these two Council members be chided in public meetings unnecessarily by Mayor and other Council members for their concerns. They were pushed further outside the Mayor’s “circle of influence”.
The process was flawed from the start for the following reasons:
– The City did not engage the necessary studies (ie. traffic, feasibility, environmental, etc.) ahead of the conceptual design effort and proceeded to develop plans that had no connection to real life impacts.
– The City put forth a plan and a process with no consideration of context or adjacencies (ie. impacts to community center operations, impacts by Windy Hill project delayed completion, etc).
– The City omitted the brewery on the adjacent lot from the task force and public engagement discussions when UGA Today reported the Smyrna beer factory/event space will open in Fall 2022. If not now then when? This is truly unfortunate.
– The City controlled the narrative by not sharing the feedback from the public engagement activities. I am aware of many citizens who expressed concern about removing the fountain and/or traffic circle but were dismissed with responses that included standard talking points.
– The City allowed the consulting engineers to present the traffic study at a late date into the process (on the night of the final vote) which required the general public to understand the nuances of the traffic study in a small amount of time using graphics that do not reflect the final design but rather different phases of the project…confusing. In addition, one of the assumptions made for the traffic study assumed a 15,000 sf retail space going on the open lot (deemed for the beer factory/event space). Retail will require fewer cars than a bar/beer factory/event space. This one assumption gives clear indication that the study was not realistic.
– The City presented only one design option to the community where superfluous options were laid out to give a sense of engagement that fell short of true needs and, hence, the bigger picture.
– The City disregarded its original approved budget of $2.5 mil for the downtown redevelopment on June 21st. Instead, when cost overruns were excessive coming in at $5.7 mil and rising, they decided to report the project was $1 mil less than half the amount allocated in a shared SPLOST category with the South Cobb Drive Improvements (a much needed project). It was said the SPLOST fund would be divided with $6.5 mil for both projects. Council chose not to hold the Mayor accountable but instead to go along despite mounting budget concerns from Charles “Corky” Welch, Councilman for Ward 4 and also the Budget Committee Chair. Councilman Welch is one of the two Council members excluded from the downtown redesign “task force”. The other is Susan Wilkinson, Councilwoman for Ward 5.
What became painfully obvious to me was witnessing the voice and hopes of the community be snuffed out by two words spoken repeatedly by our Mayor, “Done Deal”. There were so many people who opposed but did not have the strength or agency to take issue with what the City was doing. Many citizens expressed fear of retaliation for speaking out. I feared the same but decided the fight was worth the cost. We proudly stand for the voiceless and refuse to stand on the sidelines and play spectator. The Mayor must be held accountable for his actions and should have a higher regard for ALL council members, especially the ones that disagree. Needless to say, his leadership continues to divide this City and I am hopeful that our Mayor and Council can right the ship before it’s too late.
I dedicate this fight for meaning and truth to my mother, Lillie Latimore, who loved Smyrna enough to point out where the City fell short in meeting the needs of its citizens. As a City Manager, she understood the tenets of good governance and taught me how to look for indicators of responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, etc. I’m all in and will continue the good fight. Smart Smyrna is here to stay.
Shaun Martin Architect 