Westview Rezoning Meeting

Date: Thursday, February 7, 2013
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Council Chambers, Second Floor, Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30303

Details: The Zoning Review Board will vote on two re-zonings affecting the Westview neighborhood:

Z-12-16-An Ordinance by Councilmembers Cleta Winslow and C. T. Martin to rezone certain properties within the Cascade Avenue Corridor in NPU-S and NPU-T from the C-1 (Community Business), and C-1-C (Community Business-Conditional), Districts to the NC-14 (Cascade Avenue Beecher Street Neighborhood Commercial) District; and for other purposes.

Z-12-17-An Ordinance by Councilmembers Cleta Winslow and C. T. Martin to rezone certain properties within the Cascade Avenue Corridor in NPU-T from the R-4 (Single-Family Residential), C-1 (Community Business), and the C-1-C (Community Business–Conditional) Districts to the MRC-1-C (Mixed Residential Commercial-Conditional) and MRC-2-C (Mixed Residential Commercial-Conditional) Districts; and for other purposes.

Westview Zoning Ordinances

Councilmember’s Cleta Winslow and CT Martin have introduced two zoning ordinances impacting the Westview neighborhood.

Westview Zoning OrdinancesOrdinance Z-12-16 focuses on an area at the intersection of Cascade Avenue and Beecher Street in the southeastern corner of Westview, as well as adjacent neighborhoods. The ordinance reads: “An Ordinance to rezone certain properties within the Cascade Avenue corridor in NPU-S and NPU-T from C-1 (Community Business) and C-1-C (Community Business-Conditional) districts to the NC-14 Cascade Avenue-Beecher Street Neighborhood Commercial District, and for other purposes.”

In 2000 the City of Atlanta introduced the new “Neighborhood Commercial (NC)” zoning in an effort to steer zoning regulations away from automobile-focused development to a more balanced and inclusive building solution that would welcome pedestrian traffic. The goal of the NC zoning is to provide a friendly and inviting commercial atmosphere that focuses on and is supported by the surrounding residential neighborhoods.
Westview Zoning OrdinancesOrdinance Z-12-17 focuses on an area at the intersection of Cascade Avenue and Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard on the eastern edge of Westview, as well as adjacent neighborhoods. The ordinance reads: “An Ordinance to rezone certain properties within the Cascade corridor in NPU-T from the R-4 (Single-Family Residential), C-1 (Community Business), and the C-1-C (Community Business-Conditional) districts to the MRC-1-C (Mixed Residential Commercial-Conditional) and MRC-2-C (Mixed residential Commercial-Conditional) districts, and for other purposes.”

The Mixed Residential-Commercial (MRC) zoning was equally instated to steer away from automobile only driven development. MRC zoning encourages development that provides commercial use for street-level traffic in conjunction with higher density residential use such as condominiums or apartments above the commercial space. Its additional purpose is to focus buildings back towards the street for pedestrian traffic, while hiding automobile parking in the rear and eliminating giant parking lots with big building setbacks.

The introduction of the legislations to turn the Cascade-Beecher area into a neighborhood commercial district and the Cascade-Ralph David Abernathy area into a mixed residential-commercial district is intended to build a framework that will support the City of Atlanta’s new vision of all-encompassing community development.

A public information session took place on Wednesday, July 25th, 2012. The ordinances are scheduled to appear on the agenda of NPU-T for a vote at the Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 meeting. If residents deem changes necessary they are encouraged to defer the vote and supply requested changes for a vote at the September NPU-T meeting.

Download PDFs of the full ordinances: Z-12-16 & Z-12-17

Supportive Housing Ordinance

On March 26th, 2009 the Zoning Review Board voted to approve the Supportive Housing Ordinance (Z-08-48). The ordinance basically grants supportive housing operators the ability to operate without a special use permit, and therefore abolishing the vote by the NPU required to open a facility. This ordinance will grant the operators the ability to still operate with special uses – such as higher occupancy rates.

The NPUs have not been engaged in the process, and at the hearing not one resident or homeowner spoke in favor of the ordinance. The proponents were all developers and people who stand to gain financially by easing up the rules.

The ordinance will grant all the power to the Mayor’s office through a certification process. The certification requirements they were presenting at the hearing were less than a page long. It will without a doubt be exploited.

Please take a moment and fill out the form on www.npuvoice.org to contact your councilmember. They need to hear from you on this matter! And please pass this on to anyone else you know that lives in the City of Atlanta.

Also, please note that everybody is in favor of having some type of supportive housing. This isn’t a battle against the homeless. It is a battle to make sure the NPUs and you continue to have a voice.