ATLANTA — The debate over what Atlanta will look like in years to come and who will green-light projects is heating up.
Atlanta City Council recently approve legislation allowing the council to weigh in on changes to neighborhood planning board districts. The move is a departure from how the process has been for decades.
"A city council member should always be on the front end of negotiations when it’s about what happens in the community," said Atlanta Councilmember Marci Collier-Overstreet, describing a proposal to make changes to several neighborhood planning districts also known as NPUs.
"I was informed about the need to change the southwest portion of our NPUs after it was vetted and that’s never good," added Overstreet.
So what are NPUs?
They are neighborhood boards that help decide zoning and permitting changes. For years, they’ve been allowed to make changes to the boundaries independently but the new city council legislation proposed by Overstreet changes that. The move also prevents the city planning department, from moving forward with a proposal called Neighborhood Strong, which aimed to consolidate NPUs in southwest Atlanta.
Leah LaRue, with city planning, explained the proposal in a Planning Advisory Board meeting by saying.
"I still get phone calls from folks wanting to know how this Kroger ended up on the corner when we already have three grocery stores. 'We don’t need another Kroger, we don’t need another this or that or why is this high rise going up,'" LaRue said, describing her interaction with the community.
She defended the proposal saying the consolidation of NPUs in southwest Atlanta would increase community engagement, which is necessary since more zoning and permitting requests are being made in that area.
"The NPUs in (the) southwest are moving slowly from having, many of them zero applications each month, meaning no rezoning variances, alcohol licenses, or special events," LaRue said, "to now having 5, 6, 7, 8 applications each month."
LaRue added many residents don’t know about zoning and development changes until it is too late for feedback. She went on to say the plan to consolidate the four southwest Atlanta NPUs into three will ensure residents' input.
"This plan positions us to have three very very strong solid NPUs along the Campbellton Road corridor," she said.
And while Overstreet supports the effort to evaluate and update the NPU system where needed, she says the city council was not involved in the process and she believes they should be.
"I want to make sure that everyone has the proper eyes on any big changes in the City of Atlanta," said Overstreet.
Since Overstreet legislation preventing changes to the NPU system without the council's approval passed, the Neighborhood Strong proposal and all of the city's NPUs are being reevaluated for changes.