NPU-D Meeting
Minutes
February
27, 2007
Meeting called to order by the Chair, Jim
Martin at 7:30 pm
http://www.atlantaga.gov/government/planning/npu_agendas.aspx.
Chair’s Opening Remarks: Jim announced that NPU-D secretary Karl Goodhew would not be at the meeting. He announced that
there would be an off-agenda presentation by Eric Ranney,
the chair of NPU-C, about issues related to the Perry/Bolton TAD and the Moores Mill shopping center redevelopment. He reminded the
group about the Parks and green space conference on 3/19. He announced the
Agape center community festival on 4/27, the Beltline quarterly review meetings
on 2/28 and 4/13 and the upcoming Beltline quadrant planning meetings.
Meeting Minutes: Jim asked everyone to review the minutes from last month’s meeting. A
motion was made to approve the minutes, and they were approved by a voice vote.
City Staff Reports
Police
– Officer Appleberry reported that things in zone 2 had
been pretty quiet recently. He reminded people not to leave things in view in
cars. He was asked about staffing levels in zone 2. He reported that a few
officers had recently been added to the zone, but he was not aware of the
current number of unfilled positions. He also did not know specifically what
the residents of zone 2 could do to improve the situation.
Fire –
No report. Felicia Moore said that the firemen had gone on a call just before
the start of the meeting.
Public Works – No report.
Code Enforcement – Jesse Evans reported that the old bank building at 2061 Marietta Pkwy had been demolished and that the owner of the
burned-out house at 1985 Spink St was being taken to court. He said that he had issued 26 notices in the
past month. He said that he was in the process of locating the owners of
several abandoned properties. Jesse was asked about properties at 2144 Adams
and 1905 LaDawn. Jesse said that he had issued a
notice regarding the property on LaDawn, and that he
would have to check on the status of the property on Adams. Lee Coker asked about “job boxes”. Jesse said that they were required
for any work exceeding $2,500 in value and that they had to be displayed
outside although contractors did not always leave them out in order to avoid
vandalism or theft. Jim asked about the burned-out, open, and vacant property
at 1921 Anne St, which had been discussed in January. Jesse promised
to check on this.
Watershed Management – Sharon Matthews, Tim Mullins, and Bahman Firoozi were present to
answer questions about the sewage odor problems and the pipe-banging problems
that were discussed in January. Karyn Hudson said
that the odor had been improving, but that the previous Thursday had been an
unusually bad day. Sharon asked that everyone report odor problems to
404-350-4902. Tim explained that the problem was related to the fact that the
lid had been removed from the 250 digester while there was still sludge in the
bottom of the tank that could not be pumped out because of grit and sand. They
are now trying to implement additional odor control measures until that
material can be removed. Ed Freeman asked when the lid had been removed. Tim
said that it was being done in sections over the last two weeks and that only
two pie-slice-shaped sections remained. Tammy asked why the existing lid could
not have been repaired instead of removed. Tim began to explain the nature of
these repairs, but Jim interrupted the discussion because these issues had been
addressed at previous meetings and the information was contained in the minutes
from those meetings. Preston asked whether similar sandy sludge problems might
exist in the other digesters including those without broken lids, and if this
might impair their function. Tim explained that the sandy sludge was a result
of the fact that the broken digesters were not functioning properly and had
been taken off line. Preston then extracted a promise from Tim that there would
be no future broken-lid or sludge-related problems with the plant now that the
city engineers were again running its operations.
Bahman Firoozi led the discussion of the pipe banging problem. He
explained that it was not really a “water hammer” because it did not result
from a surge in the mains, but was instead due to air entrapment in the lines
that resulted from a car running into a fire hydrant some time ago. The problem
was dealt with by opening fire hydrants to bleed the main at locations around
the accident site. He said that homeowners might need to bleed the service
lines to their houses by running water from their faucets for 10 to 15 minutes.
He asked people to report ongoing banging problems to 404-658-7220. He said
that they had only had one complaint in the last week and he thought that the
problem had been fixed.
DA’s
Office – No report.
Mayor’s Office of Constituent Services – No report.
Councilwoman Felicia Moore – Felicia announced an ACERT (Atlanta Citizens Emergency
Response Team) planning meeting on March 22nd. The meeting is an information
session to discuss setting up training sessions in individual neighborhoods.
Felicia updated the group on the Perry/Bolton TAD. She explained that the Fulton County commission had voted to attach conditions to the TAD, in additional to
a problematic 40% affordability component, which the city found unacceptable.
Although the TAD is five years old, there has still not been a bond issue. The
city has set aside its increment of the tax dollars, but there is no increment
from the county or from the school board (whose contribution is contingent on
the county contribution). Currently Felicia is trying to identify other funds
for the needed projects in the neighborhood such as the new fire house. Keith Sharp
asked about the new conditions other than 40% affordability. Felicia explained
the nature of the 40% condition and that the county had attached an onerous
“audit provision” and demanded repayment of funds if the condition is not met.
She explained that the county is also requiring the 40% affordability component
in all new developments within the boundaries of the TAD not just those that
seek TAD funding. Felicia explained that there was no way that this condition
could be enforced and that the burden of enforcement would be placed on the
city through the audit provision. Jim asked if the net result of all this would
be to discourage new developments within the TAD rather than encouraging them
as the TAD was intended to do. Felicia said that this was a possible outcome.
Lee asked if all this was an indication that Fulton County did not really want this TAD. Felicia said that it was more likely to
be a backlash for the city’s lack of enforcement of affordability conditions in
the past. Keith asked if there was any precedent for a 40% affordability
component. Felicia said that she thought that there was not, but that the
county might make similar demands elsewhere for future bond issuances. Jim
asked if there was any connection between this issue and the affordable housing
ordinance. Felicia said that there was not. Jim asked if the lifetime of the
TAD was gradually expiring while this issue was being argued. Felicia said that
she thought that it wasn’t, but she was not sure of this.
Commissioner Emma Darnell’s Office – No report.
Representative Sheila Jones’ Office – No report.
Bolton Academy – Marilyn Taylor, principle of Bolton Academy, announced a student art show on Tuesday March 27th at 6:00. She discussed a community meeting that the school
had hosted in Dupont Commons. She discussed collaborative efforts between the
school and the Friends of Collins Park and between the school and the Top Dog Sports facility. Keith asked if
the school was an IB (International Baccalaureate) school. Marilyn said that
they were currently a candidate for this certification.
Parks
– Debby Kelly and Diane Harnell Cohen announced the
opportunity-bond-funded ball field renovation projects. She said that the Underwood Hills Park ball field would get new sod and would be closed for
several months to allow for this. She said that the Parks Office and the
Recreation Office would be merging and would centralize their reservations
handling. To reserve event facilities people should call Gail Doherty at
404-817-6757. Debby also announced Camp
Best Friends registration day on Saturday March 3rd. Jim asked
about the grading in Underwood Hills Park and reported disturbance in the stream buffer. Diane
promised to check on this. Danny Moore asked about whether the elevated manhole
in the ball field would be repaired as part of this effort. Diane said that she
would check on this. Diane asked those present to report all parks related
problems and concerns to her by email at dharnellcohen@atlantaga.gov.
Lee Coker updated the group on the activities
of the Friends of Collins Park. He
announced the park cleanup project on Saturday March 10th from 9:00 to 12:00. He encouraged everyone to use the Spink St entrance rather than the
Collins St entrance in order to minimize traffic on the residential cul-de-sac.
More information is available at http://www.collinspark.org. With regard to
Collins Park
and elsewhere, Diane asked everyone to be on the lookout for illegal dumping
and to report it.
Presentation: Ray Mock, The Chastain Park
Conservancy – Ray explained that
his group is currently involved in formulating a master plan for Chastain Park,
which is the largest park in the city. He described the facilities that are
available in the park and the improvements that the conservancy has already put
in place. He explained that the park is a regional park and that they would
like input from everyone in Atlanta.
He encouraged everyone to take an online survey about the park that is
available at www.chastainparkconservancy.org.
Planner’s Report – Karl Smith-Davids
told the group about the upcoming Beltline meetings, the Park Pride event at
the Botanical Gardens on March 13th, and the Atlanta Workforce
Development Agency’s free tax preparation service. He presented the new NPU-D
neighborhood boundary map for the group to review before it is declared to be
the final draft. He said that the boundaries should be addressed by the City
Council in the next month and would probably be official before the March NPU-D
meeting.
Presentation: Eric Ranney,
Chair NPU-C – Eric described the
problems that the plan to redevelop the old Moores
Mill shopping center faced because of the dispute between the city and the
county over affordability requirements inside the TAD. He explained that the
project is currently in limbo because of this. He said that the developer could
not make the project work with significantly more than 20% affordability, and
that there was no support in the community for a more stringent affordability
requirement. He said that the NPU-C task force had negotiated a reasonable set
of zoning conditions for the site and that the developer intended to ask the
ZRB to approve the application, but for the City Council Zoning Committee to
hold it until the TAD situation is resolved. Eric also talked about the project
to extend Moores
Mill Rd to Marietta Blvd. In order to move this project forward the project
concept plan report was already approved. Environmental and historic
preservation reports must also be completed, and those are currently underway.
Next, right-of-way must be acquired. Edens and Avant have agreed to donate a portion of this and would
like to have the road extension project completed before the new Moores Mill development opens in 2008. There is currently
$1.8 million in the city budget for this project. Lee Coker asked what sort of
lobbying effort was being put together to push the road extension forward. Eric
said that they were trying to keep the NPU-C task force together to push for it,
but that there was a general sense of disillusionment in that group because of
all the effort that had been expended on rezoning only to find that TAD
restrictions would be a show stopper regardless of zoning. Preston Mason asked
about the specific zoning conditions for the Moores
Mill project. Eric said that there would be 345 residential units, a four-story
building height facing Coronet Way and a five-story façade facing Marietta Blvd. The zoning will also be conditioned on a site plan
and a variety of lesser features.
Zoning
Z-06-55
1921 Anne St: The applicants, Chris and Jamie Cochran seek to rezone the
property from I-1 (light industrial) to MR-4A (eight-story multi-family
residential). Jim introduced the topic as being one that was deferred at the
last two NPU-D meetings for a residential development with a 1.48 FAR on a 37,000
sq ft lot. Jamie Cochran described the location at the end of an unimproved
right-of-way adjoining a multiuse trail. She described the history of proposals
that they had considered for the site. She described buildings containing 39
residential units that would be 52 feet tall and 42 feet above grade with 74
spaces of primarily underground parking. She proposed improving the entire dead
end Anne St right-of-way
to serve the project. She described many potential benefits that the
development might offer to the neighborhood. She explained that they had met
with the Bolton neighborhood association on February
21st and that the neighborhood had not approved their plan.
-A motion was
made to extend the meeting past 9:00 and approved
by a voice vote.-
Karyn asked about the three-deep tandem parking spaces
shown in the site plan. Jamie said that these would serve the three-bedroom
units. Tierson asked about the lack of any apparent
structural supports for the building above in the plan for the underground
parking deck. Jamie said that there would be columns, but that if the column-blocked
parking spaces were eliminated, the project would still be well above the
required minimum number of parking spaces. She could not say how many that
would be. Preston Mason asked what limits the zoning would place on building
height and whether another zoning category would be more appropriate for the
site plans. Karl explained that nothing below the requested designation would
allow for the proposed FAR and that a building height could only be capped below
80 feet with a zoning condition unless the requested density was reduced to
MR-2 which caries a 35-foot limit. Cindy pointed out that, in her experience as
a realtor, tandem parking spaces are an undesirable feature of a condominium.
Jamie said that these would appeal to the particular class of condominium buyer
that the project was designed for. James Arpad asked
if the city would approve the parking plan. Karl said that he thought that the
city would approve the two-deep tandem spaces, but might have reservations
about the three-deep spaces. Tammy Floyd complained that the site plans had
been changed since the neighborhood meeting the week before and that the plans
that were being presented to the NPU were not physically realistic. She said
that it was unfair to ask the NPU to make a decision based on it. Jamie said
that she believed it was reasonable to present an inaccurate plan because she
had attached appropriate caveats to her description of the plan and had
conceded that it would need to be changed. Rodney Kline complained that the
parking problems would also create safety issues. He pointed out that fire
trucks could already have trouble getting down Dunseath
between parked cars. Lee Coker asked about the buffer and transitional height
along the trail. Karl said that the underlying zoning of that section of the
trail is I-1 and that there is no transitional height plane requirement. He
said that the buffer does apply, but that a walkway like the one shown in the
site plan could be constructed in the buffer. Karyn
Hudson made a motion to deny the rezoning application, based on several factors,
which she listed in a document provided to the City Planner and to the Chair.
These focused on parking, traffic, incompatibility with the surrounding
neighborhood, failure to properly address the street and the path trail, and
failure to provide a transition between residential uses to the west and industrial
and/or commercial uses to the east. The motion was seconded and passed by a
vote of 28 to deny the rezoning, 1 not to deny, and 2 abstentions.
Z-07-07 2612
& 2622 Peyton Road N. W. (requires
CDP Amendment), The applicant, Alliance Real Estate Ventures, LLC/ Rod Batiste, seeks
to rezone from R-4A (Single-Family Residential) to MR-2 ( 2-3 story
Multi-Family Residential) and to amend the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) land use designation from “Single Family Residential” to “Low-Density
Residential”. The application was presented by Rod Batiste. He explained that
this would be for the addition of five single-family (three-bedroom, two-bath)
residences to the Burtz
St
development that would be consistent with the adjoining portions of the
development that had already been rezoned. Keith Sharp made a motion to approve
the rezoning conditioned on the site plan as presented. The motion was seconded
and approved by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed. Keith Sharp made a motion
to approve the CDP amendment as stated in the agenda. It was seconded and
approved by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed.
Z-07-08 1901-1913 Hollywood Rd. N. W. (requires CDP Amendment), The applicant, Burtz St. Development LLC/
Rod Batiste, seeks to rezone from R-4A (Single-Family
Residential) to L/W (Live Work) and to amend the Comprehensive
Development Plan (CDP) land use designation from “Single Family Residential” to
“Low-Density Commercial”. The application was presented by Rod Batiste. He
described a row of nine attached brownstone-style dwellings with a single primary
entrance off of Burtz
St to rear
entry garages and parking. These dwellings will be across the street from the
residential portion of the Burtz
St
development. Storm water will be detained in a small pond on site. The project
will have a 20 foot green buffer on the side of the adjoining single-family
residential. Jim asked why the CDP amendment request was not for “mixed use”.
Karl said that the requested designation was the least general category that
would accommodate the planned development and limit the density to a minimum.
Keith Sharp asked what the CDP recommendation for the parcels on the other side
of Hollywood Rd was. Rod said that it was “medium density
commercial” and that their zoning was MRC-2. Preston Mason expressed the
opinion that the site plan did not include enough parking for its commercial
clients. Rod answered that there could be additional on-street parking. He also
said that there would be additional spaces available under the decks at the
rear of the units. Tierson explained that the
Riverside Neighborhood Association approved of the development and had faith
that Rod would provide for sufficient parking beyond what is required by the
zoning category. Tierson made a motion to approve the
rezoning contingent on a condition requiring additional parking spaces. There
was considerable discussion of how this condition should be stated (total
spaces, spaces per unit, or configuration of spaces). Rod suggested that the
condition be that there be on-street parking on Hollywood Rd in front of the development pending an approval by
the Department of Public Works. Tierson accepted this
phrasing and amended his motion accordingly. The motion was seconded and
approved by a vote of 18 in favor and 0 opposed. Tierson
made a motion to approve the CDP amendment as stated in the agenda. This was
seconded and approved by a vote of 19 in favor and 0 opposed.
Subdivision
Review: SD-07-03 2171 Spink Street, The applicant, Keith Roseberry, seeks to subdivide 22,928.26 into three
lots. The application was presented by Mr Roseberry, who explained that
he would like to reconfigure three existing R-4A lots into three new conformal
lots in order to build on the property.
Ordinance
Review: Z-06-144/06-O-2697 Text Amendment
(requires NPU vote), An Ordinance by Council Member Carla Smith to amend
chapter 28 of part 16 of the Atlanta City Land Development code to provide for
density increases in exchange for affordable workforce housing; to define
certain terms; to provide limitations and requirement; and for other purposes.
Jim explained that this ordinance would provide a 20% density bonus across a
broad range of zoning categories in exchange for 10% of new development being
built as affordable workforce housing. Tierson
expressed the opinion that a 20% increase would not knock new development way
out of scale. Karyn expressed concern that many new
developments were already pushing the limits of what neighborhoods consider to
be acceptable density. Several people expressed concern over the enforcement of
the affordability requirement and about the fact that the specific
circumstances of a development are not considered in determining the density
bonus. Eva made a motion to disapprove the ordinance. The motion was seconded
and approved by a vote of 16 to disapprove and 3 not to disapprove.
Meeting adjourned at 10:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
James Martin, NPU-D Chair
404-351-6949, james.martin@me.gatech.edu