County officials discuss how underused properties can be reimagined for economic growth

What happens to a piece of property that may have pollutants left by a former user, making it unfit as residential or commercial property? There are many such properties—called brownfields—in DeKalb County, according to Decide DeKalb.

As part of its Economic Development Week observance May 12 through 16, Decide DeKalb hosted an online Brownfields Visioning Session during which community members, developers, and stakeholders were provided information and invited to weigh in with ideas for transforming underused properties into catalysts for economic growth.

Diana Pitcher-Williams, manager of Redevelopment & Strategic Initiatives at Decide DeKalb, said that brownfields are among the issues she and fellow panelists—Jacob Vallo, chief development officer for DeKalb County, and Rachel Bragg and Andrea Folgherait of the DeKalb Planning & Sustainability Department—work on together.

Pitcher-Williams defined a brownfield as “a property whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant,” offering as examples former industrial sites, gas stations, landfills, and dry-cleaning establishments. “This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are common examples of brownfields,” she said.

Environmental issues that often are found at such properties include underground storage tanks, asbestos and lead-based paint, soil and ground water contamination, air pollution from chemicals that vaporize easily such as paint thinners, solvents and vehicle emissions. There also may be hazardous waste such as oil and batteries that need to be disposed of properly.

The first step is an environmental assessment to determine which pollutants may be present and how easily they can be removed, according to Folgherait, who said this might be determined in a single evaluation, but some properties require a deeper dive or phase II evaluation.

The program focused on two DeKalb County properties with brownfield issues—a privately owned former car care center and a former fire station. Pitcher-Williams explained that not all remediation of brownfields is done by the county. It may be done by private owners or developers working with the county. In fact, she pointed out, federal funds may be available to help provided the current owner did not contribute to the pollution.

Zoning is a crucial step in determining a future use once cleanup of the property is complete, Folgherait explained. “We can’t do planning without zoning. We have to take into consideration what’s already in the community and what may be missing from the area.”

Both comprehensive zoning plans and area specific ones are used to plan for the property’s future. “These plans extend to 2050—25 years from now—that’s how far out we look,” Folgherait said, adding that the county does not put forth development projects, but works with owners and developers on such projects.

Plans are created with input from DeKalb residents, said Bragg, who explained that listening sessions and surveys are used to gather information from those in the live in area. “Reimaging an area that might for example have been an industrial area to a mixed-use development affects not just the immediate community, but the metropolitan area,” she added.

Figuring out a new use for the now vacant former DeKalb County fire station on Derrill Drive “could be a little tricky,” acknowledged Folgherait, who explained that its adjacent to the area around Glenwood Road and Columbia Drive, which is part of a small area plan. One possible problem for the property, she noted, is the presence of diesel storage tanks that kept fire trucks fueled and ready to go.

Vallo said of a former car care facility on North Druid Hills Road, “The building looks sound. It looks like the roof is in good shape. It might be a good candidate for adaptive use. Tearing down a building and constructing another from the ground up is quite expensive. When the shell can be used for another type of business the investor can save money. I could see this building as a coffee shop, for example.”

Another example of a property reimaged to fit the current needs of the surrounding community is the old North DeKalb Mall, which is becoming Lulah Hills, a mixed-use development of multifamily units, townhomes, retail space and greenspace. “This is super exciting,” Vello said.