I would like to thank everyone who came to the Clifton Corridor Public Open House meeting on October 25th to show support! With your involvement, we will have much needed representation moving forward in our efforts to conserve Briarcliff Animal Clinic in MARTA’s plans to build a station on our property. If you missed the meeting, and are unaware of what is being proposed, the following link provides details of the plan to connect the Lindbergh and Avondale MARTA stations through the Sage Hill/Emory area:

http://www.itsmarta.com/Clifton-Corr.aspx

Briarcliff Animal Clinic is dear to the community, and with the support of our clients we have a better chance of making this situation right for our hospital. I urge everyone in support of Briarcliff Animal Clinic to complete a brief public survey to give MARTA our feedback in writing.  The survey can be found online at the following link:

http://www.itsmarta.com/clifton-corridor-comment2.aspx

This survey asks for your input regarding the type of rail to be installed and yourcomments.  It is due by November 8th.

Our feelings about the Clifton Corridor project are that we could not function as a veterinary clinic with the noise and hazards of construction and the greatly increased car and bus traffic once the station is complete.  It is crucial that we provide a safe and calm environment for our clients and patients.  Research shows that often pets do not receive the medical care they need because of the stress involved in getting to and from the vet.  This issue would be greatly exacerbated by having to park in a shared deck at a MARTA station and having to cross a street busy with cars and buses.  The loss of our property would make any future expansion of services impossible, further inhibiting our ability to serve our clients.

If you agree shared parking is not a possibility for Briarcliff Animal Clinic, please write in the comment section, “Regarding the proposed Sage Hill Marta Station, shared parking is not feasible for Briarcliff Animal Clinic.  The noise and congestion will upset the patients and make visits to the vet difficult and unsafe.” Of course, you may use your own words or express any other concerns you may have; we just want to make sure MARTA understands the nature of our business and the unique challenges of serving patrons who arrive on six legs!

To be clear, Briarcliff Animal Clinic is not against the Clifton Corridor project; it is a positive solution to the transportation problems in the area.  However, the current project plans would prevent us from being able to effectively serve our community.  We hope that all businesses affected by this project will be treated fairly, so that everyone in the community will benefit.

The MARTA survey is currently our best tool for making our needs known. It can be submitted online, or printed and mailed or faxed to:

Leah Vaughan
Sycamore Consulting
195 Arizona Avenue, Unit LW 4
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
FAX (404) 377-9091

Thank you again,

Peter J. Muller III, DVM

Briarcliff Animal Clinic

Hi everyone!

We just want to follow up about tomorrow’s meeting regarding the Clifton Corridor extension of MARTA at the Silver Bell Pavilion at the Emory Conference Center Hotel from 5:30PM until 8:30PM with the presentation at 6PM.

In the last week, we have been able to talk with several key people involved in developing the plan that is being presented. We want our friends and neighbors to know our thoughts:

• We are not opposed to a MARTA station somewhere in the Sage Hill/Emory area.
• We question why the station is being proposed in the parking lot of Briarcliff Animal Clinic when there are more suitable undeveloped tracts of land in the immediate area.
• Though the current proposal calls for offering us parking spaces in a MARTA deck, we cannot see this as feasible. The intersection of Zonolite and Briarcliff will become a major thoroughfare for both car and bus traffic entering and exiting the station. Clients with pets would not be able to safely navigate the crossing. Recent research shows difficulty getting a pet to and from a veterinarian’s office is a leading cause of pets not getting the care they need. A cumbersome parking and entrance situation only exacerbates this issue. Our ability to grow and thrive would be severely hampered by the difficulty our clients would face in attempting to park, enter and exit our hospital.
• In addition, any future expansion of our hospital or services would be impossible. Our plans for a state of the art boarding facility cannot be pursued nor can we explore any other expansion options if all our available land is owned by MARTA. It is not reasonable to assume a business that has grown with the neighborhood for 53 years would now be asked to stagnate and stop evolving to meet the needs of our clients and their pets.
• If the MARTA station cannot be moved, we have come to a clear conclusion: Briarcliff Animal Clinic will need to be moved.
• Interestingly, a suitable piece of property about two miles from our current location was available three years ago. We considered the possibility and decided against it, as we saw no real reason to move. Had we had any idea of the work being planned, we would have likely made a different decision!
• We are major stakeholders in the plans being publically vetted, but we were not informed and have had no input. Moving forward, we want to be at the table.

We want to be cooperative and work toward a solution that allows both MARTA and Braircliff Animal Clinic to grow, thrive and serve our community. We ask for your support at Tuesday’s meeting.

Dr. Peter Muller III, ABVP

In the last 48 hours we have learned that the proposed design of the Clifton Corridor extension of MARTA will put Briarcliff Animal Clinic out of business!  If you do not want this to happen, please sign our petition on change.org.

The plan proposed by the Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative puts a MARTA station on the corner of Briarcliff Rd and Zonolite Rd.  This would seize almost all of our hospital parking, leaving only a few spaces at our front door.  There would be no parking for our veterinarians, support staff, and not nearly enough parking for our clients.

Enclosed is a representation of MARTA’s plan.  Note that there is minimally developed land on the other side of the train tracks from Briarcliff Animal Clinic, where a station could be built without such a negative impact to the area.

The FINAL Public Open House is being held on Tuesday, October 25th from 5:30pm until 8:30pm in the Silver Bell Pavilion at the Emory Conference Center Hotel.  There will be a brief formal presentation of the plans at 6:00pm.  This is the last chance you will have to make your opinion known.  It is our understanding that the final plan will be approved in November.  Time is running out, and this is extremely important to our community.

Briarcliff Animal Clinic has served the Emory area since 1958.  If you would like to see us remain in the neighborhood, please come to this meeting and express your views.  We need your help!  Please come if you have any reason for opposing the MARTA Station in that particular location.  Please sign our petition on change.org.

Thank you,

Peter Muller III, DVM and the staff of Briarcliff Animal Clinic

x