Council approves tree canopy legislation
The Atlanta City Council approved legislation Monday to establish a goal of achieving and maintaining 50 percent average tree canopy cover in Atlanta and requesting a study be conducted every five years to evaluate the effectiveness of the City’s Tree Protection Ordinance in meeting that goal (23-R-3338). The goal will serve as a target to guide the development of tree-related initiatives and to monitor the success of those policies and programs.
The Council also gave the second of two required approvals for legislation to amend the City’s Charter and Code of Ordinances to change the Office of the Inspector General by removing the ethics officer and ethics division to reestablish a separate Ethics Office (22-O-1823). Two adoptions are required as a charter amendment.
Other items approved during the meeting include:
• A resolution requesting MARTA adopt Disadvantaged Business Enterprise practices in its procurement and contracting processes for the More MARTA program to promote economic opportunities for small businesses, particularly those owned by women and minorities (23-R-3325). The More MARTA program is part of a half-penny sales tax approved in 2016 for transit enhancements and expansion.
• A resolution to establish that 25 percent of all net revenue generated from the operation of the Public Safety Training Center be allocated to support workforce housing, sustainability, infrastructure, and youth development programs in Atlanta (23-R-3326). The legislation also establishes a public oversight committee to ensure the funds are used effectively and directs the City to report annually on the progress being made.
• A resolution to request that the Municipal Court’s chief judge, the Court’s administrator, and the City’s solicitor coordinate with the City’s Department of Law to establish and develop a process by which people charged with non-violent offenses in the Municipal Court may efficiently seek the restriction of these records of these offenses in accordance with state law (23-R-3327).
• A resolution urging the Georgia General Assembly to pass a clean slate law that would provide individuals with certain non-violent criminal records the opportunity to have their records expunged or sealed (23-R-3328).
• An ordinance to extend the due date by which the Council must adopt the preliminary plan for discretionary accounts for the “Moving Atlanta Forward” infrastructure initiative to June 30, 2023 (23-O-1173).
• An ordinance to amend the Fiscal Year 2023 Water and Wastewater Renewal and Extension Fund Budget in the amount of $7 million to add funds to facilitate the Lakewood Park Project (23-O-1148). The project includes the design and construction of stormwater infrastructure in Lakewood Park to remove a dam, stabilize a roadway, and alleviate flooding in the area.
• A resolution requesting the installation of signage in the public right-of-way along both sides of Edgewood Avenue SE — from Jackson Street NE to Boulevard NE — and Chamberlain Street SE — from Jackson Street NE to Boulevard SE — to include language indicating that “right-of-way vending is not permitted” in this area of the Sweet Auburn neighborhood (23-R-3339).
• A resolution to authorize a special procurement agreement totaling approximately $673,000 for Atlanta Department of Transportation capital projects to include new crosswalks, stop bars, and sidewalk and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramp construction at North Highland Avenue and Macon Drive and the Old Hapeville/Bromack intersection (23-R-3392).
• A resolution authorizing the City of Atlanta to donate $100,000 to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change to support Nonviolence 365 training for up to 400 Atlanta youth (23-R-3330).
Proclamations and recognitions were presented in honor of Municipal Clerk Foris Webb III, Myrna White, Crime Victims’ Rights Week, Earth Day 2023, and Diversity Month.
Items were introduced for consideration in committee, including:
• A resolution requesting the Municipal Court of Atlanta explore the permissibility and subsequent development of processes that would facilitate online payment of fines imposed for low-level marijuana citations.
• A resolution urging the representatives of Georgia state government to mandate body-worn cameras for all responding Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Georgia patrol officers.
• An ordinance to provide that all eligible employees of the Atlanta Fire Rescue department be entitled to all of those workers’ compensation benefits, no more or no less, as provided under State Law at Title 34, Chapter 9 of the Official Code of Georgia, the Georgia Workers’ Compensation Act, and that all such employees who suffer an injury by an accident within the period of employment at a place where the employee may reasonably be in the performance of their duties and while they are fulfilling those duties or engaged in something incidental thereto, will be entitled to all of those workers’ compensation benefits, no more or no less, as those provided in accordance with the act.
• An ordinance to ratify the mayor’s April 2023 executive order imposing a moratorium on the acceptance of any new rezoning applications, building permit applications, land disturbance permit applications, special use permit applications, special administrative permit applications, subdivision applications, replatting applications or lot consolidation applications for parcels that are part of the current Atlanta Medical Center footprint.
• An ordinance to require that all City departments responsible for administering a state or federal grant awarded to the City of Atlanta will prepare a 90-day accounting report for grants where at least 10 percent of the awarded funds are undisbursed and to include a plan of action for disbursing the funds prior to the expiration of the grant award period.
• An ordinance to rezone property zoned C-1-C (Community Business District Conditional), C-2 (Commercial Service District) and C-3 (Commercial Residential District) to MRC-3 (Mixed Residential Commercial) to encourage transit-oriented development and provide increased ridership and create a mixed-use, mixed income development in proximity to the Hamilton E. Holmes MARTA transit station.
