BCN Votes Down Motion Against Buckhead Atlanta Name

OliverMcMillan's Buckhead Atlanta name caused a rare split among Buckhead Council of Neighborhood members Thursday night.

Board members refused to approve a motion for the BCN to express its "dislike" of the San Diego company's brand for the former Streets of Buckhead. The motion failed on a vote of 7 in favor, 6 against and 6 abstentions.

The motion went through different versions as board members struggled to craft its wording. Board Secretary Gordon Certain, who most strongly opposes the Buckhead Atanta name,  first offered a motion requesting OliverMcMillan to pick a new name for the development. The final version. suggested by board member Roger Moister, proposed that the board state its "dislike" for the the name.

Certain expressed his belief that the Buckhead Atlanta name wrongly applies the Buckhead name, used for a 28-acre community, to an 8-acre site, usurping a broadly recognized community name for commercial purposes. BCN Chairman Jim King summed up Certain's position as that he "felt it diminished Buckhead."

But board members vehemently expressed their support of OliverMillan's right to use the name. David Ross said that he felt the issue didn't possess the importance of others the BCN considers and that a motion to OliverMcMllan oppsing the name would take away "the oomph of our credibility on other issues."

After the vote, Ross said "there are more important things that his council needs to be concerned with."

Board Vice Chairman Elizabeth Pritchard also opposed the motion, saying, "I have a real problem telling a private property owner what they can or cannot name their property."

The BCN also unanimously re-elected its officers for another year, along with adding a new at-large member, Ann O'Connell of Mount Paran-Northside, to the executive board.

Re-elected were King, of Chastain Park, chairman; Pritchard, of Peachtree Battle Alliance, vice-charman; Certain, of North Buckhead, secretary; Barbara Kennedy of Collier Hills, treasurer; Bob Schneider of Garden Hills, communicatons; and George Mirgorod of Pine Hillls, at-large member.