The mayor wants a more equitable Atlanta (living, zoning)

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by bu2

Atlanta still has the NPUs. That slows everything down tremendously, adding to the costs.

The NPU's are a great system and way for the citizens to have control of what is being built in their neighborhood.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by bu2

Supply and demand. If more land is available to develop, land prices go down so housing costs go down. That's why housing prices are so much cheaper in the suburbs. There is almost unlimited land when you get far out.

Cheaper land and housing, but at what costs to the homeowner (fuel, insurance, maintenance, replacement) and to the public (air pollution, runoff, loss of farmland.)

[Ant131531]

Originally Posted by bu2

Atlanta still has the NPUs. That slows everything down tremendously, adding to the costs.

NPUs are honestly needed or we're going to have a city we are going to regret in 30 years. If developers really want to build here, they'll find a way. With over 11,000 apartments currently under construction in the city itself and over 12,000 or so in the pipeline, that's clearly not stopping them. No point in overbuilding Atlanta by getting rid of development committees and NPUs resulting in awful designs like exposed parking decks and awful street presence.

Right now, Atlanta's apartment market is so hot that developers can spend a little extra money designing apartments to be better. They're leaving their footprint on the city for decades to come.

[magnetar]

NPUs couldn't stop any of the inappropriate development we've complained about over the past year (Fuqua Beltline Kroger, anyone), so the statement that they're slowing things down "tremendously," and the implication that they stifle good development, are pretty hard to believe.

There's a fight going on in my neighborhood now with a residential development planned for the Beltline where it crosses Fulton Terrace. The developer wants to build medium density, five or six stories. The neighbors are fighting it. But they're also complaining that none of the units are affordable. These are diametrically opposed positions, and all of the energy is being spent to fight density while ignoring the fact that decreasing the development's density would also increase each unit's price.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by magnetar

NPUs couldn't stop any of the inappropriate development we've complained about over the past year (Fuqua Beltline Kroger, anyone), so the statement that they're slowing things down "tremendously," and the implication that they stifle good development, are pretty hard to believe.

There's a fight going on in my neighborhood now with a residential development planned for the Beltline where it crosses Fulton Terrace. The developer wants to build medium density, five or six stories. The neighbors are fighting it. But they're also complaining that none of the units are affordable. These are diametrically opposed positions, and all of the energy is being spent to fight density while ignoring the fact that decreasing the development's density would also increase each unit's price.

People hate change.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by magnetar

NPUs couldn't stop any of the inappropriate development we've complained about over the past year (Fuqua Beltline Kroger, anyone), so the statement that they're slowing things down "tremendously," and the implication that they stifle good development, are pretty hard to believe.

The NPU fought the Fuqua Kroger at Lindbergh because it was too low density and not urban enough. (The city's CDP called for high density residential and TOD).

However, the city approved it anyway.

[jero23]

Originally Posted by bu2

Atlanta still has the NPUs. That slows everything down tremendously, adding to the costs.

NPUs serve the same purpose the 50-11 other municipalities mayor & city councils, they allow neighborhood/community level input on the developments. We can say the same thing about the city councils of Sandy Springs, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, etc. when it comes to these major projects around Perimeter Center.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The NPU's are a great system and way for the citizens to have control of what is being built in their neighborhood.

It adds citizen input which is good. But there is a big price. Think it contributes to the rampant Nimbyism here in addition to the added bureaucracy.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by jero23

NPUs serve the same purpose the 50-11 other municipalities mayor & city councils, they allow neighborhood/community level input on the developments. We can say the same thing about the city councils of Sandy Springs, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, etc. when it comes to these major projects around Perimeter Center.

About the time Mayor Reed took over there was an article in the AJC saying that a business permit that took an average of 5 weeks in Cobb County took 42 weeks in Atlanta. How much was incompetence and how much was the extra layer of bureaucracy with the NPUs is hard to say.

I was involved with a small school in a church building where previous schools had existed. At some point someone had failed to dot an I or cross a t, and ONE neighbor complained and it took a year and $15,000 to get the permit to continue the school even though everyone in the neighborhood but that one person was delighted the school was there. That cost was 100% due to the NPU process.

There is no doubt that having the NPUs discourage small business and other small enterprises by driving up the cost. The cost and time involved in the process favor those with deep pockets or those with connections. I noticed when I moved here that businesses were overwhelmingly chains in the city (even if a local chain).

The fights on these projects that get "approved anyway" drive up the cost of those projects. You have higher apartment rents and higher commercial property lease costs.

You can argue that the citizen input is worth it. That's fine. But there is definitely a tradeoff.

[jero23]

Originally Posted by bu2

About the time Mayor Reed took over there was an article in the AJC saying that a business permit that took an average of 5 weeks in Cobb County took 42 weeks in Atlanta. How much was incompetence and how much was the extra layer of bureaucracy with the NPUs is hard to say.

I was involved with a small school in a church building where previous schools had existed. At some point someone had failed to dot an I or cross a t, and ONE neighbor complained and it took a year and $15,000 to get the permit to continue the school even though everyone in the neighborhood but that one person was delighted the school was there. That cost was 100% due to the NPU process.

There is no doubt that having the NPUs discourage small business and other small enterprises by driving up the cost. The cost and time involved in the process favor those with deep pockets or those with connections. I noticed when I moved here that businesses were overwhelmingly chains in the city (even if a local chain).

The fights on these projects that get "approved anyway" drive up the cost of those projects. You have higher apartment rents and higher commercial property lease costs.

You can argue that the citizen input is worth it. That's fine. But there is definitely a tradeoff.

I've seen the same thing occur in suburban municipalities with the city councils. The trade off is if the neighbors are involved then it will get stalled and if it gets stall then the cost will go up for the projects. It's the same thing, different jurisdictions.