Sometimes folks ask me what did that little group of citizens called the Collegedale Tomorrow Advisory Board do. Until now no one could really see what we our group did because it was all on paper in the form of new ordinances for the city of Collegedale. CTAB was largely responsible for the new sign ordinance, the new landscape ordinance, and the commercial/multi-family residential design standards ordinance, along with help from the city’s planning staff. Our little group of citizens would compile other ordinances from other successful cities then chop, dice and take everything we thought would be useful for our city and then merge together into a new ordinance.
Our goal was to get Collegedale ready for the coming wave of growth that will hit our little “dale” as Volkswagen and Amazon fully come online, Apison Pike connects directly with the freeway, and Mckee Foods and Southern Adventist University keep growing with every year. As chairman of that group I would have to say that by in large we were successful in our endeavor, because our ordinances are starting to bare their first fruit.
First though I want to thank our membership publicly, they are all dedicated to their city, and met every month for over a year to see our city have a brighter future, a future we could be proud of. CL Melenyzer, Ruthie Gray, Abigail McDonald, Rocky Chambers, Mayor John Turner, Lisa Foote, Stephanie Massey, and City Manager Rogers were our membership and our town owes each of them a debt of gratitude for their service. But no one owes them more than I do because they made my life easier as chair of CTAB.
So back to the fruit of CTAB’s labors, Collegedale is about to have a great deal of growth, and that growth is going to be top notch. I am very proud of both new projects under construction on Little Debbie Parkway because both are the first projects to be built under all three of CTAB’s ordinances.
Look at the new doctor’s office across the street from the Sherman Williams Paint Store as it is finished up over the next two weeks. The building is very attractive, banded in brick, cornices, columns, awnings, and a portico, with all of its electrical and air conditioner equipment hidden – thus you see the commercial design standards work. The landscaping is already shaping up to be impressive, with trees around the building, the parking lot behind the building, sod on the lawn, and parking lot screening – thus you see the new landscape ordinance at work. Then instead of a pole sign, instead of neon, instead of loud and obtrusive mounted signage the owners have built a stately monument sign – thus our new sign ordinance at work.
As the Integra Apartments are built up on Little Debbie Parkway I believe everyone will be impressed with the quality, the design, and the forethought that these developers have put into their project. So yes the fruits of CTAB’s labors are coming to fruition.
When you drive by a commercial building or an apartment complex over the next few years and you say to yourself “wow that really looks good”, thank the citizens of Collegedale who worked on the Collegedale Tomorrow Advisory Board. Thank your Planning Commissioners and the planning staff, and our commissioners and our city manager for daring to dream of a better Collegedale, tomorrow.
David C. Barto
Chair of the Collegedale Tomorrow Advisory Board
Member of the Collegedale Planning Commission