Post Date: 09/18/2017 7:55 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Council Communications

Atlanta City Hall

55 Trinity Ave. SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

CONTACT:

Dexter M. Chambers

Council Communications Director

dchambers@atlantaga.gov - Email

(404) 330-6309-Direct / (404) 392-0159-Cell

September 18, 2017

Development Moratorium Signals End to “Manhattan Density and Alpharetta Parking” in Buckhead

ATLANTA – Councilmembers Yolanda Adrean and Howard Shook, who collectively represent Buckhead, introduced legislation at today’s meeting of the Atlanta City Council aimed at reducing the number of parking spaces developers can build as part of their projects.

The legislation would create the ‘Buckhead Parking Overlay District’. Within its boundary, which captures Peachtree Road and high-density environs between I-85 and the city limit, the maximum number of parking spaces per category (retail, office, lodging, and residential) will be reduced to those allowed in downtown Atlanta.

“Current zoning allows “suburban-style” parking allowances which are out of date,” said Councilmember Adrean. “It is time to address the preponderance of development impacting our neighborhoods with car centric destinations . Neighborhood representatives grimly understand that development rights cannot be taken away, but that doesn’t apply to the number of parking spaces that directly contribute to our congestion problem.”

An Executive Order signed by Mayor Kasim Reed, and extended by city council, places an immediate moratorium prohibiting developers from applying for new projects while the Parking Overlay legislation undergoes public review unless applicants conform to the proposed new parking ratios.

The reductions were prompted by an analysis of development patterns and projections in Buckhead’s high-density commercial core--and the current and anticipated burdens on its rapidly diminishing road capacity—that Adrean and Shook urged the Reed Administration to undertake. It corroborates the widely shared public perception that what’s left of Buckhead’s road capacity is evaporating, with an increasing impact on commerce, delivery of critical services, and overall quality of life.

“As the recently built apartment buildings begin filling with new residents, Buckhead’s traffic congestion has morphed from a nuisance to a threat to our health, safety, and welfare,” said Shook. “Our legislation is an attempt to stop trying to fit a fifth quart in a gallon jar.’”

Adrean and Shook also introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at reducing the congestion that results when travel lanes are blocked by illegally parked delivery trucks, and work-related lane closure permits issued during peak morning and afternoon traffic periods.

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