On an eleven to two vote on September 28th, the Atlanta City Council adopted Plan A with amendments as recommended by the Community Development/Human Services Committee just days earlier.
As reported by What Now Atlanta, the City Council met during a special meeting to adopt the first update to the City’s Comprehensive Development Plan since 2016. To maintain a Qualified Local Government status, communities like Atlanta are required to review and amend CDPs every five years or risk the loss of financial resources, including grants and loans.
The amended legislation, introduced by Councilmember Matt Westmoreland, included revised growth and conservation area definitions, as well as language eliminating the need for consistency between zoning changes and the comprehensive plan (pages 37, 49) and removing a needs and opportunities section discussing housing density and variety (page 96-97).
As documented in City materials and reiterated during the public hearing, those individuals and neighborhoods opposed to prior drafts welcomed the amendments proposed by the Community Development/Human Services Committee because they addressed concerns that the original draft conflicted with the 2016 CDP.
Proponents of Plan A, as initially drafted, voiced their concerns over the proposed amendments, which eliminated housing density and variety strategies. Public comments received during the Council Meeting included a concern that Atlanta should not become a “City for just the rich,” and those strategies presented in prior drafts would curb the affordable housing crisis occurring in the growing Atlanta area.
During the Council Meeting, Westmoreland further explained the immediate need to adopt Plan A because of time constraints but emphasized the adoption of the Plan comes with a recommendation by CDHSC that the City Council commits to continue Comprehensive Development Plan discussions.
