Council approves item calling on City-supported developers to take vouchers
The Atlanta City Council approved legislation Monday calling on City-supported developers to accept applicants participating in the Housing Choice Voucher program to order to increase affordable housing options in Atlanta (22-R-4617). The resolution requests a provision be included in the funding agreement for any residential housing development receiving financial incentives from the City of Atlanta to allow vouchers as a source of income unless the project otherwise received subsidies from Atlanta Housing. The legislation also requests that Invest Atlanta, Atlanta BeltLine Inc., the Fulton County Development Authority, and MARTA adopt similar provisions.
The Council also approved legislation authorizing an agreement with oaksATL Community Development Inc. using HOME Investment Partnership Program grant funds in an amount not to exceed approximately $420,000 for a mixed-used new construction project on Lindsay Street NW (22-R-4681) and an agreement with 111 Moreland LLC using HOME Investment Partnership Program grant funds in an amount not to exceed $1 million for demolition and new construction activities on Moreland Avenue SE for affordable housing and related development (22-R-4682).
Other items approved include:
• A resolution waiving and releasing the outstanding lien in the amount of approximately $86,000 on approximately 3.65 acres of real property on Forrest Park Road for the purpose of transferring property to the City of Atlanta to be dedicated for a public park (22-R-4598).
• A resolution requesting that the Department of Human Resources and the mayor’s senior advisor develop a strategy to market affordable housing projects to all qualifying City employees (22-R-4607).
• A resolution authorizing the City of Atlanta to donate a total amount not to exceed $5 million to the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students to support early childhood education initiatives and authorizing entry into any necessary agreement to effectuate the donation (22-R-4592).
• An ordinance to amend Chapter 22 of the City’s Code of Ordinances to extend the permissible age of a taxi or rideshare vehicle from seven years to 10 years for two years expiring on December 31, 2024 (22-O-1828).
• An ordinance to waive the competitive source selection requirements of the Procurement Code and authorize the mayor or his designee to execute a cost agreement for event production services with Live Nation Entertainment Inc. for the 2022–2023 Peach Drop Festival in an amount not to exceed $500,000 (22-O-1834).
• A resolution urging the Georgia General Assembly to amend state law to increase the penalties for parking offenses related to persons with disabilities to a maximum fine of $5,000 and to expand local law enforcement’s authority to tow vehicles that impede or block access to parking for persons with disabilities (22-R-4589).
• An ordinance authorizing the Department of Parks and Recreation to utilize the City of Atlanta Tree Trust Fund as the source of funding for management activities for property designated as forested land on Fairburn Road for the protection, management, and regeneration of trees and other forest resources in an amount not to exceed approximately $1.08 million (22-O-1814).
• An ordinance authorizing the acquisition from the Conservation Fund of approximately 178 acres of real property on Fairburn Road for the protection, maintenance, and regeneration of trees and other forest resources and to authorize the allocation of approximately $1.9 million from the Tree Trust Fund for due diligence, closing costs, signage, demolition, site security, fencing, and other development costs of the site (22-O-1815).
• An ordinance to rename Frankie Allen Park to Historic Bagley Park and name the athletic fields as The Frankie Allen Fields (22-O-1836).
• A resolution to donate American Rescue Plan Act funds totaling $85,000 to the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Inc., or W.A.W.A., to support the organization’s further development of the Outdoor Activity Center as a public food forest, which will directly combat the food insecurity impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic (22-R-4606).
• A resolution to accept and adopt the 2022 Fulton County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan revised by the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency based on the hazard mitigation assistance planning guidelines provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure mitigation and preparedness from natural hazards (22-R-4590).
• A resolution authorizing a $60,000 donation of American Rescue Plan Act funds to Community Farmers Market Inc. to support the organization’s further expansion of its Fresh MARTA Markets, which will directly combat the food insecurity effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (22-R-4594).
The Council also presented a proclamation in recognition of Dr. Dennis Kimbro.
Items were also introduced to be considered in committee, including:
• A resolution to declare the City of Atlanta as a “human rights city” and to urge government officials at all levels of government to more fully and effectively implement policies that serve to protect the human rights of all citizens.
• A resolution requesting the departments of City Planning, Finance and Law develop policy recommendations to allow for elderly Atlanta residents who qualify for the senior homestead exemptions to be exempt from tree removal fees pursuant to the City of Atlanta’s tree protection ordinance.
• An ordinance authorizing the acceptance of grant award funds and an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2023 Intergovernmental Grant Fund budget by adding to anticipations and appropriations from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE, grant in an amount not to exceed $900,000 for the funding of a planning study for “The Stitch,” a proposed three-quarter mile platform spanning the I-75/I-85 Downtown Atlanta Connector between Ted Turner Drive and Piedmont Avenue.
• An ordinance to temporarily suspend Sections 20–1008(c) and 20–1008(d) of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances only as they may be applied to short-term licensees or short-term rental operators that have not obtained a license, such that there shall be no authority to take administrative action or to impose any administrative penalties against short-term licensees or short-term rental operators that have not obtained a license and to declare that the suspension of those sections will only be in effect through March 5, 2023 and thereafter the suspension will automatically end, and beginning March 6, 2023, will have no legal force or effect.
• A resolution authorizing the execution of a special procurement agreement with Granicus LLC for software services to enforce the requirements for short term rentals for a term of one year with one one-year renewal option in an amount not to exceed $249,780.
• A resolution authorizing the City of Atlanta to donate Housing Trust Funds to the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta in a total amount not to exceed $600,000 to support the community foundation in furtherance of its mission of facilitating the actions necessary to support the relocation of the residents of Forest Cove, including utility cost assistance.
• A resolution amending 22-R-4256 authorizing the mayor or his designee, to issue a task order for a contract with Rubio and Sons Interiors Inc. for the construction of the Center for Diversion services to add additional funding in an amount not to exceed $512,345 on behalf of the Department of Enterprise Asset Management.
• An ordinance to amend the City’s Code of Ordinance to establish the mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience and to authorize the chief financial officer to create the appropriate department organizations and to anticipate and appropriate the necessary funding in connection with the office’s creation.
• A resolution authorizing the execution of a special procurement agreement with City Forest Credits on behalf of the City of Atlanta for a term of 40 years in an amount not to exceed $392,500 for the Lake Charlotte Nature Preserve Carbon Credit Program.
• An ordinance to authorize the mayor of his designee to execute an intergovernmental agreement with Invest Atlanta for a term of five years with one renewal option for an additional five-year term to effectuate the City of Atlanta’s support of Invest Atlanta grant programs to assist faith-based organizations seeking to develop their land for affordable housing in an amount not to exceed $4.5 million.
