Meeting Minutes MSAA Master Plan Commitee

Thursday, Feb 20/2003 25 Puritan Mill 5PM
LCI Recommendations – Eric Meyer – Eric has recommended the following when applying for an LCI grant:

Theme – Knitting Together the Pieces
Marietta Street relates to the Downtown, Bolton Road, Midtown and Jones/Simpson/Alexander LCIs plus the Northside Drive Corridor Studies and other efforts (i.e. Home Park and Northwest Connectivity Study). Our study would evaluate the best approach for Marietta Street to integrate with all of these studies.
Stakeholders
City of Atlanta - The City of Atlanta must be the sponsor for this LCI application. Seek out the support of our Council members, planner and NPUs. We should start now.
Atlanta Regional Commission - The ARC staff is very approachable. We should seek out their advice when crafting our application.
 Funding
Beg, borrow and steal. Ask anyone and everyone to financially help cover the 20% match needed for the study. Most applications receive between $60,000 and $90,000. With this type of study he recommends asking for only $40,000 in federal funds with $10,000 required for the match. Once the study done and we can get in the queue for transportation implementation funds. 
Application Tips
1. The land use staff oversees the study applications, so don’t overdo the discussion on transportation.
2. Address each of the RDP policy statements, especially mixed-income housing and historic resources.
3. Mention interest in changing zoning codes to reflect adopted LCI plans.
 4. Include good maps. It’s a pet peeve of most application reviewers.
5. Include good photos of study area with map that shows where the photos were taken.
6. Include Census data. Arc will gladly supply this information.
7. Include information on quantity of existing housing and commercial properties.
  8. Include transportation facts like traffic counts (GDOT), MARTA ridership, etc.
Transportation Implementation Funds
Possible transportation improvement for the corridor includes sidewalks, crosswalks, bicycle lanes, signal improvements, bus shelters, etc. Eric provided a map and project summaries for transportation projects in our area.
Bus rapid transit is a popular concept right now. Retasking the lanes on Marietta Street from four to two lanes for cars and two lanes for buses should be considered. Or, Northside Drive may be better suited for this role. A brochure on this topic was also provided. 
Eric also offered to provide some old applications for us to use as guidelines.

 Home Park Implementation Task Force – Bob Cain/group – At the 2/19 HPITF meeting it was decided to combine the Artery Master Plan Committee with the HPITF into one entity and possibly call it The Upper West Side Task Force. By forging our efforts we could take advantage of any economies of scale and provide a more seamless transition between the two neighborhoods. Meetings would be changed from Thursdays to Wednesdays at 5:00 and still meet at Puritan Mill. The first meeting of each month would focus on land use issues and topics specific to the ARTery boundaries. The second meeting of the each month would function as a Task Force meeting.   

 Next Meeting – Wednesday March 12, 2003 – 5 p.m. Urban Realty Partners, Puritan Mill, located at 950 Lowery Blvd NW.