Newsletter of the Settles Bridge Homeowner’s Association, Inc.
Post Office Box 837 Suwanee, GA 30024
Is a "BIG BOX" in the Future for Suwanee?
The term "Big Box" is being used more and more by various people to describe such retail stores as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target. They generally are designed and constructed to look just like that - a big box. Although they are very popular and a great place to shop, they also bring with them various "challenges". They are usually unattractive as far as fitting into communities' architectural designs, have gigantic parking lots that sometimes create water run off problems, usually are very well illuminated, and create an excessive amount of traffic.
A Wal-Mart recently submitted plans to the City of Suwanee for our review. This structure was to be constructed on Highway 317 close the Falcon's complex. As most of you know from personal experience, the traffic there seems to get worse daily. We were surprised to see interest from this type store in this area.
After Wal-Mart representatives had several meetings with our City Planner, and our planner explained our various architectural controls, Wal-Mart decided to withdraw its plans for this site. I understand that they are now looking at a site also on Highway 317 that is unfortunately not in the city limits of Suwanee. They are doing this, I presume, so that they will not have to live with our strict architectural controls.
I will try and let you know of any future developments here. Like always, if you have questions, please call me. Talk to you next month.
I would like to share with the citizens of Suwanee and the Settles Bridge Community a common issue that normally occurs during this time of the year. With the weather getting very nice and conditions conducive to playing outside, many young people involve themselves with motorized vehicles for pleasure and fun. Now don't get me wrong. I have been riding 2 wheel vehicles since I was old enough to ride a bike, so I understand the FUUUUN you can have. Some of the best days of my law enforcement career were the days I worked traffic on a Kawasaki 1000 Police Bike. So please understand and take time to consider some of the issues I hope to explain.
The police department has recently received complaints from citizens about people riding motorized vehicles on the roadway, shoulders of the road, and private property. If the police department gets a call regarding a motorized vehicle creating a disturbance by making a loud noise, even if the person operating the vehicle is on his or her own property, the operator could be in violation of the noise ordinance. The best policy is to consider your neighbors and talk to them about your recreation. Many times arrangements can be made that are good for everyone. If you ride your recreation vehicle on private property, please get written permission and keep it with you. This will help us in the event we get a complaint about a possible trespasser riding on someone's property.
I would also like to remind everyone that the driver and vehicle must be street legal with lights, mufflers, eye protection, helmet, shoes, etc. In addition to the vehicle being street legal, the driver must also have the proper license to operate a motorized vehicle on the highway. This includes the shoulders of the road. By the way, there is state law that prohibits motorized vehicles from being operated on the sidewalk.
This letter is just a reminder to each of you about the laws and ordinances we must follow while operating a motorized vehicle. I hope all of you enjoy the summer and have a wonderful experience on your recreation vehicles.
Chief Michael S. Jones Suwanee Police Department
Personal Computer CD "Burners"
You may want to wait before purchasing a CD Reader/ Writer for your home PC. Not all CD players can yet recognize or play a CD that's been programmed by a home user. Even thought the formats are supposed to be compatible, they often are not. Sometimes the laser inside one type of player gets confused because a particular disc was programmed with a slightly different type of laser. Also, engineers have discovered that CDs can hold more information if blue lasers are used to read them verses red lasers. It has been proven that up to 27 Gigabytes of data can be stored on a standard size CD if blue lasers are used to write and read the data.
For those of you that do have software and hardware installed that allow you to "burn" CD backups, take a look at the directory of some of your audio CDs. You'll find more than music stored on those disks. Other info out there for you to explore will be video clips of recording sessions, fan club info, tee shirt and poster offers, etc. Quite interesting stuff.
Internet Usage Statistics and Grocery Shopping
Statistics now show a dramatic use of the Internet by people in the United States. In 1994, 3 million people were using the Internet for various reasons. Year-end figures for 1998 indicate that more than 147 million people were accessing the "web". And, the number of U.S. users will increase to over 320 million by the end of 2000. And, total traffic on the Internet in now doubling every 100 days!
Speaking of Internet usage, online grocery operations are now offering online grocery shopping combined with home delivery for busy households. Online grocery sales totaled $200 million in 1999, but Forrester Research predicts that online grocery shopping will total more than $10.8 Billion annually by 2003.
Webvan.com delivers groceries within a 30 minute window you chose and there is no delivery charge for orders over $50. HomeGrocer.com offers free delivery on a $75 order within a 90 minute window. They just went public last month and are substantially owned by Jim Barksdale who is former chief of Netscape. Streamline.com offers a different, but natural twist to all of this. For a $30 monthly fee they offer their virtual personal butler services who will fetch groceries, dry cleaning, pick up prints from your local photo shop, as well as a number of other personal products and errands! Boy, wouldn't it be nice if someone local offered web-based baby sitter services for the younger parents of the neighborhood?
The annual Financial Support drive for SBHA is now underway. The minimal support contribution that is asked of all households will remain the same as last year, which is $50. Sometime during April you will receive the notice and a household information update sheet. However, you do not have to wait until you receive the notice. You can mail your contribution check at any time to SBHA, Inc., P.O. Box 837, Suwanee.
SBHA Treasurer, Ron Rogers, reports that we still have a number of households that did not make their $35 pledge last year for the front entrance re-build project. We are still behind in raising the necessary funds for this project. Ron will be presenting the SBHA 1999 Financial Report at the upcoming neighborhood meeting that will be announced soon.
Ok, here's some advanced notice for the Settles Bridge neighborhood Spring garage sale to help you plan ahead. Start surveying those attics, garages, and basements for treasures that you want to offer for sale on Sat., May 27th. That is Memorial Day weekend, and we will again sponsor the SBHA Spring Garage sale for everyone in the neighborhood on that day. We will provide the local advertising including an ad in the Atlanta Journal Constitution for good public exposure. Make plans now to participate.
Do you want to help make the SBHA newsletter even better? If you have a topic that you think would be of interest to the residents of Settles Bridge, even if you don't think that you can write a full article, please write something up, get it to me, and we will see about getting it into a future issue. Send suggestions and material to David Hancock, 4520 Settles Bridge Road. Or e-mail me at david@settlesbridge.com.
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