Cheshire Bridge Road ordinances postponed yet again (Atlanta, Woodland: 2015, crime)

[arjay57]

Interesting. Should Cheshire Bridge be cleaned up? Or would that eliminate its charm?

In 2005, the city required local businesses to encourage pedestrian activity and streetside shopping. Other than "grandfathered" adult establishments, new strip clubs and sex shops were banned.

If the two ordinances were to pass, current adult businesses located along Cheshire Bridge Road between Piedmont and Lavista Roads would have to leave the corridor by 2015. In January, Wan said that the "grandfathering" issue has perpetuated what some neighborhood leaders see as a detriment to their community. Local residents helped the city shape the zoning requirements in 2005.

"The rationale is that their presence hinders significant, transformational projects that would provide meaningful progress towards the community's vision for the area," Wan said.

But not everyone stands behind that long-term plan. Some non-adult businesses - including Kong's Body Shop - would also need to relocate. Others critics, such as Atlanta Progressive News editor and publisher Matthew Cardinale, think Wan's ordinances would gentrify and yuppify the corridor, stripping it of its quirkiness and charm.

More...Cheshire Bridge Road ordinances postponed yet again | Atlanta News & Opinion Blog | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta

[aries4118]

It would eliminate its charm (and quirkiness).

[ATLTJL]

I see it as a case of you knew what Cheshire Bridge Road was all about when you decided to live near it. Don't expect it to change just because you live there now. There are much bigger issues to address than the adult businesses on Cheshire Bridge which as far as I can tell, keep decent storefronts and really aren't bad neighbors unless you just morally object to what they are doing.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I see it as a case of you knew what Cheshire Bridge Road was all about when you decided to live near it. Don't expect it to change just because you live there now. There are much bigger issues to address than the adult businesses on Cheshire Bridge which as far as I can tell, keep decent storefronts and really aren't bad neighbors unless you just morally object to what they are doing.

Here are a few of my observations:

(1) The neighborhoods predate the strip clubs and other adult businesses. Cheshire Bridge wasn't created with the idea that it would be a special zone for those places -- they just gradually crept in and set up shop where other businesses used to be.

(2) Cities aren't static, and I don't think the logic that "Well, it's that way now so it will be that way forever" applies. We can all think of many examples of areas that have gone through huge changes. It wasn't that long ago that Midtown was seedy and rundown, and famous as a haven for hookers, drugs, strip clubs and the like. Or consider the Ponce corridor, which wasn't a whole lot different. Or the Buckhead Village, which was the scene of rowdy late night bars, shootings, drug dealing, etc. All are seeing dramatic improvements and are among the hottest areas in the city.

(3) The larger goal is to make the city more walkable and pedestrian friendly. Unfortunately, many businesses on Cheshire Bridge are located in buildings that date back to the era when cars ruled the roost. There are countless curb cuts and prominently featured surface parking lots fronting the street. (Many of which are in extremely dilapidated condition).

(4) Why shouldn't the residents of a community have the right to decide how they want to see it develop? Do I, for example, have the right to tell people on Stewart Avenue that they just need to accept the strip clubs that have grown up on their main street? And if so, where does my authority come from?

[ATLTJL]

Those are good observations, and you make some good points. I would say the following:

1) I don't know what the turnover in places like Woodland Hills has been, but the seediness on Cheshire Bridge has been there for at least 15 years. Why the complaints just now? Most people I know in the area have no problem with what is happening there. More important for Cheshire Bridge would be to address traffic flow than worry so much about what types of businesses are there. If residents have a problem with adult businesses, they should have nipped it in the bud when it started instead of waiting until it hit critical mass.

2) The difference here is that the adult businesses on Cheshire Bridge are not seedy or rundown. In fact, Southern Nights and Inserection are probably two of the better kept up buildings on the road and look a lot better than most of the assorted restaurants, stores, etc. If they were attracting drugs, shootings, and crime, I'd say the residents have a point. As far as I can tell, though, these businesses sit there and quietly mind their own business. Many of the seedier things like the strip clubs and sex clubs are actually located in the backs of buildings or in warehouses off of Cheshire Bridge so unless you knew they were there, you would never know they are there.

3) I have no problem with them wanting to make it more pedestrian friendly, I only take issue with an outright ban on sex clubs and strip joints. This is Cheshire Bridge, and that type of thing is going to happen. If they ban these places, they will just be replaced by something even worse. The sex clubs and strip clubs don't seem like they are doing anything negative to me. If I didn't want them in my backyard, I wouldn't move where they are. If they started coming in, I'd start raising hell as soon as I saw them start to come in, not 15 years after they have established themselves.

4) Residents do have that right, but so do businesses as they pay just as much, and probably more, into the tax structure. If you are a business in a community, you should have a voice in that community as well. I think more productive than just banning sex shops would be to work with the owners and lay out a plan stating this is how we would like you to do business and I'm sure if it was reasonable, they would comply. The nice thing about Cheshire Bridge is these businesses already operate clean and safe businesses which is nice compared to many cities where you have to go to rundown, crime infested areas to visit disgusting seedy sex shops. These places on Cheshire Bridge are brightly lit, keep up their parking lots, have security, and are clean and inviting inside.

To me, the bottom line is you can regulate how everybody does business, but I don't like regulating something because you just don't like the type of business that is being operated. Because when does it stop? You could theoretically get to point where you are regulating movie theaters for showing rated R movies or book stores that sell Mapplethorpe books.

[midtown mile girl]

If they really wanted to do something for Cheshire, they could pave it! The road is falling apart.

[tikigod311]

I personally would not like it. The street really isn't all the seedy, the more seedy stuff is on Piedmont Rd and Cir, and it definitely is not rundown. It is nice to have a concentration of adult oriented businesses in an area that is not sketchy. We are a big city and there is a demand for these businesses.

If there were hookers walking up and down the street all the time, sure, clean it up. But apparently Atlanta has already designated places for that sort of thing and it doesn't seem to be Chesire Bridge.

Also, if these businesses were just now starting to appear in the area, I would fully support their cause to prevent the businesses from setting up shop. But these are established businesses. If they had a problem with them they should have stopped it day one.

I also do not support the idea that the current businesses are grandfathered in but no new adult oriented businesses
are allowed to open. That area is what it is. And it does a good job at it.

[ATLTJL]

Also, if they want to clean up the area, what they really should do is pressure law enforcement to raid all the massage parlors and other businesses dabbling in illegal activity. Why would you pass legislation banning businesses that are doing absolutely nothing illegal while leaving the places that offer prostitution alone?

Next thing you know, you won't be able to buy alochol on Sundays again!

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Also, if they want to clean up the area, what they really should do is pressure law enforcement to raid all the massage parlors and other businesses dabbling in illegal activity.

Good point. Those are mostly on Piedmont as I remember it.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I see it as a case of you knew what Cheshire Bridge Road was all about when you decided to live near it. Don't expect it to change just because you live there now. There are much bigger issues to address than the adult businesses on Cheshire Bridge which as far as I can tell, keep decent storefronts and really aren't bad neighbors unless you just morally object to what they are doing.

I COULD NOT AGREE MORE. These NIMBYS knew what they were getting into. Furthermore, the corridor is not some sort of crime magnet...stats bear that out. This is simply another example of government sticking their big nose where it doesnt't belong. Wan is targeting legitimate businesses that have been there for decades and trying to force them out because they don't fit his Disneyland vision of what the corridor should be. If change is meant to be, it will be. Big Brother should shove it...can you say Underground?