Sally Silver leaving NPU-B board after 14 years, but will continue to help shape Buckhead development

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North Buckhead resident and communityactivist Sally Silver, who also works in the District 7 City Council office ofHoward Shook, announced Tuesday night she is resigning from the board ofNeighborhood Planning Unit-B after 14 years of service.

NPU-B Chair Sally Silver

“After 14 years, I just want to have alife,” Silver told her colleagues during the October meeting of the NPU-B boardshe chairs. She said she will not run for re-election to the board and her termwill end Dec. 31.
That does not mean, however, thatSilver is stepping away from public service. She announced that her new dutiesin Shook’s council office will include evaluating zoning applications andzoning issues which Shook has to deal with in the district.
She also will be representing District7 and Shook as a member of the Development Review Committees for the threeBuckhead Special Public Interest districts, SPI-9, SPI-12 and SPI-15.
She presently represents NPU-B as amember of the SPI-9 and SPI-12 Development Review Committees, but will have toturn that over to someone else at NPU-B when she leaves Dec. 31.

NPU-B board member Bob Stasiowski, left, will replace Silver,
right, on the SPI-9 Development Review Committee.

NPU-B board member Bob Stasiowski, whoalso chairs the NPU’s Public Safety Committee, was approved by the boardTuesday night to replace Silver as the NPU-B representative on the two SPIDevelopment Review Committees.
Silver told the NPU board she wouldstill be attending the meetings—at least most of the time—but as a spectatorand representative of the District 7 City Council office.
While Silver said the reason for hernot running for re-election is that she believes 14 years on the NPU board isenough, some of her colleagues and this reporter wondered if the recent battleover the Fuqua Development proposed Walmart Development in south Buckhead didn’thave a lot to do with the decision.

Sally Silver, left, discuses a zoning application with NPU-B
Zoning Committee Chair Bill Murray at a recent meeting.

Silver had been very vocal in heropposition to the proposed 21-acre big box retail development proposed by FuquaDevelopment during the 18 months it was under consideration by NPU-B. The NPUvoted many times to reject the proposal.
The Fuqua proposed development wasturned down by the full City Council on Monday, largely due to the efforts ofNPU-B and other NPUs across the city who urged council to deny it.  
BuckheadView reported some time agothat several people close to the NPU discussions said Silver was warned to stopspeaking out against the Fuqua plans. The suggestion was that Shook himselftold her to disengage.
With her new role in Shook’s officeand with the SPIs, Silver will be heavily involved in reviewing zoning andplanning issues, but not likely in such as public forum as the NPU meetingshave become.  
Regardless, Silver’s leadership andguidance will be missed at NPU-B her colleagues said, but they are sure herpresence will be felt in the rejection of poor development and approval ofquality development in Buckhead for some time to come.