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Decatur City Hall.

The Decatur City Commission will meet on Monday, Nov. 5, and will have several items on its agenda.

Those items include a new alcohol license for Java Monkey and discussion of a petition from a group trying to make South Candler Street safer.

Commissioners will meet at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, located at 509 North McDonough Street in Decatur. All meetings are open to the public and can be viewed online. To see a live video feed of the meeting, click here.

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Java Monkey has a new owner and the changes have rankled some long-time customers. The coffee shop, a Decatur staple for over 25-years, temporarily stopped serving wine and beer. The new owner said she had to reapply for the license to sell alcohol again.

The license application is on the agenda and has been recommended for approval by city staff. To see the application, click here.

A local group called Calm Candler plans to attend Monday’s meeting to present a petition that calls for the city to take several steps to improve safety along the road.

Those steps include:

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– Conduct or commission a risk-based traffic study with the view of adjusting the speed limit to prioritize safety, and especially the safety of walkers and bike riders.

– Extend the School Zone.

– Improve the School Zone’s visibility.

– Implement automated enforcement in the School Zone and consider other means of enforcement.

– Add traffic islands (pedestrian refuges) to the crossings outside the school zone at Agnes Scott College and at Midway Road.

Source: Calm Candler Petition

There have been several high profile incidents on the road in recent months. Not all of them have been the result of conditions on the road, but they have all drawn more attention to concerns about it.

On Oct. 3, police responded to an accident caused after a vehicle ran a red light on East College Avenue at South Candler Street.

“Vehicle No. 1, a Chevrolet van, was traveling eastbound on East College Avenue at South Candler Street,” Lt. Jennifer Ross said. “Vehicle No. 2, a Chevrolet pick-up truck,  was traveling southbound on South Candler Street at East College Avenue. Driver No. 1 stated he ran the red light. Vehicle No. 2 struck vehicle No. 1 in the driver’s side door. Vehicle No. 1 sustained moderate damage to the driver’s side door and driver’s side panel. Vehicle No. 2 sustained moderate damage to the front bumper. No injuries were reported on scene. Driver No. 1 was issued a citation for failure to obey a traffic control device.”

There was a murder on South Candler at Midway Road in June and in September there was a fatal accident on Midway Road at South Candler caused a driver who was allegedly intoxicated.

A Sept. 25 accident happened in the 700 block of South Candler Street and was caused by a red car slamming into a postal truck that was stopped to deliver mail. The truck was shoved over the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Children were walking home from school at the time.

A hit and run driver caused another accident on Oct. 1 on South Candler Street near East College Avenue. A driver was traveling southbound on South Candler Street from East College when a gray vehicle entered the roadway from a private parking lot, turning left onto the road. The gray vehicle struck the other vehicle in the front corner of the driver’s side, pushing that vehicle onto the curb. The gray vehicle did not stop and continued traveling on South Candler.

The Calm Candler group has requested that the city and the Georgia Department of Transportation do more to improve safety on the road, which is a state route. The city says it has taken several steps to make the road safer. To learn more about this issue, click here.

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