Fresh Loaf

Beltline officials have proposed allowing future developers to build up to eight stories at 10th Street and Monroe Drive. (Looking northeast from Grady High School)

Some intown residents who’ve never been ones to shy away from city and developer battles say they’re none too pleased with the proposed vision of the Beltline near Piedmont Park.

According to preliminary plans for the Beltline’s segment that stretches from Ansley Park to City Hall East, future developers would be allowed to build up to eight stories at the congested corner of 10th Street and Monroe Drive.

That’s a far cry from the twin Towers of Babel that Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason wanted to build on the same spot in 2006. But the reduction in size — and the fact that no specific development project’s been proposed — hasn’t stopped some residents from voicing concerns over what they say is an inappropriate vision for one of intown Atlanta’s most popular neighborhoods.

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The Atlanta City Council Finance and Executive Committee yesterday gave Beltline officials the green light to issue up to $267 million in bonds to fund the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit.

At a citizen advisory committee meeting on Tuesday at the East Atlanta library, Richard Lutch of Atlanta Beltline Inc. told members that project officials will issue bonds in the $145 million-$165 million range in October, a good chunk of which will go to refinance last year’s bond issuance.

Exactly how other cash raised from the issuance will be used for trails, parks and other Beltline features is still undecided. But officials have a basic idea.

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Sure, you’ve heard about the Beltline and how it’ll boast sleek streetcars, new parks and winding multi-use trails circling Atlanta’s urban core. Critics say it will never get off the ground and supporters say it’ll change the city forever. But it’s a tough bugger to grasp if if you’ve never seen the areas the $2.8 billion project will impact.

Beltline volunteer and all-around good guy Angel Poventud agreed to lead CL’s Tara-Lynne Pixley and Benjamin Vanhorn on a tour of key spots along the proposed 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit.

To read about where the project stands now, check out “The Beltline’s tipping point.”

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Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that the Atlanta Development Authority has declined to hang on to the $6 million of Atlanta Public Schools funding generated from the Beltline tax allocation district.

Remember that whole deal? There was a lot of head scratching about whether the school board was in danger of violating its charter with such an arrangement. The “pay-us-back-over-10-years” thing sure as hell sounded like a loan, something cash-strapped APS isn’t allowed to do.

Well:

…on Wednesday, authority officials said potential legal complications surrounding receipt of the funds prompted them to decide not to take the money. Instead, the authority will focus on moving forward by the end of this year with a bond issue to support the Beltline project.

No word on exactly what those potential legal complications were. But it’s likely that the lawyering and research needed to iron out the kinks would’ve stressed more man hours and brain cells than the $6 million was worth.

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1. Mayor’s rebuttal of Atlanta crime rankings misleading and incomplete (How’s that for a thorough headline! No wonder this post was so popular.)

2. Suspected Holocaust museum shooter identified as Holocaust denier James Von Brunn (Octogenarian authored idiotic prose, including the book, Kill The Best Gentiles!)

3. Ga. drought ‘is over,’ water restrictions eased (Environmentalists hope residents will continue conserving water. Unfortunately, Georgians have very short memories.)

4. Atlanta schools, ADA strike deal over TAD funds (Atlanta Development Authority will return $18 million to the cash-strapped school system.)

5. Buckhead coalition pushing for end to Ga. 400 toll (Two-decade-old promise vowed to shut down the cash-cow toll booth in 2011.)

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After several months of negotiations, the Atlanta Public Schools board yesterday approved a deal with the Atlanta Development Authority that will return $18 million to the cash-strapped school system.

At issue was $18 million the ADA had already collected from the Beltline and Perry/Bolton tax allocation districts, or TADs. TADs are complex — and controversial — redevelopment tools which use property tax increases to pay for roads, sewers and other infrastructure fixes in traditionally blighted areas. (Atlantic Station and downtown’s Ivan Allen Plaza are examples of TADs.) In February 2008, the Georgia Supreme Court banned school boards from participating in the projects. In November 2008, Georgia voters approved a state Constitutional amendment that would allow school boards to participate. In April, state lawmakers passed — and Gov. Sonny Perdue signed — a bill that fine-tuned TADs and allowed schools the option not to participate in the projects.

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No matter how green its parks, sleek its streetcars and well-maintained its bike trails, should the planned Beltline become a playground solely for the well-heeled, it will have failed at one of its core objectives.

From its beginnings, one of the most important initiatives of the $2.8 billion Beltline project has been to ensure that people of all incomes have an opportunity to live near or along the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit. And even more importantly, to prevent Atlanta from repeating the past mistake of sweeping out longstanding communities for the cause of revitalization.

With last November’s referendum to allow school systems to legally participate in redevelopment projects — and the Atlanta Public Schools’ recent decision to once again opt into the Beltline’s tax allocation district — the largest public works endeavor of its kind in the country is now moving closer to becoming a reality.

According to Beltline legislation, 15 percent of the taxpayer dollars used to fund the project — about $240 million — must be set aside for affordable housing. The goal: 5,600 affordable units distributed throughout Atlanta over the 25-year lifespan of the project’s TAD, its main funding source. The first round of that funding, totaling $8.3 million, is currently under way.

“Arguably, that’s the largest single pot of money for affordable housing in the city of Atlanta,” says Bruce Gunter, president and CEO of affordable-housing developer Progressive Redevelopment Inc., who’s pushed for mixed-income communities and work force housing for more than 20 years. “I remember when you couldn’t get diddly for affordable housing.”

But the program had the misfortune to kick off in the middle of the big real estate meltdown. And the advisory board tasked with helping guide the program was recently told of an unforeseen ethical snafu.
In December, Gunter, then chair of the Beltline Affordable Housing Advisory Board, asked Ginny Looney, the city’s ethics officer, whether he and his fellow board members would be allowed to apply for the affordable housing incentive funds.

Continue reading “Beltline’s affordable housing program starts up despite shakeup, economy”

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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The new bill clamps down on what local government officials can consider a “blighted” area.

From Dave Williams at the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Only neighborhoods truly in need of taxpayer-funded redevelopment would qualify as tax allocation districts under legislation signed this week by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The legislation, designed to accompany a constitutional amendment ratified by Georgia voters last fall, tightens the definitions of “blighted” and “deteriorated” areas under the state’s TAD law.

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Under the new law, only neighborhoods marked by substandard buildings, high vacancy rates and high poverty and unemployment could qualify as TADs. That way, only properties too unattractive to lure private investment could be redeveloped with TAD money.

School boards — which chip in the largest chunk of funding if they participate in a TAD — still have a choice as to whether they want to participate in the projects.

The tough economy has forced some cash-strapped school systems to renegotiate — or even rethink — their roles in TADs. Atlanta Public Schools and Atlanta Development Authority officials are in talks to split nearly $18 million that had already been generated from the Beltline TAD prior to a 2008 state Supreme Court ruling that said TADs were unconstitutional. (The school board says it still supports the Beltline, just that it wants to begin kicking in money this year.) Gainesville City Schools recently voted to opt out of a TAD in which it initially planned to participate.

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Jim Walls at Atlanta Unfiltered reports:

Atlanta school officials took action Monday to keep some or all of an $18 million pot collected for the city’s BeltLine project.

The Board of Education voted to change the effective date of its decision to allow school tax money to be spent on the BeltLine. The board first OK’d the funding in 2005. Under a complicated resolution that you really don’t want to read, the board said its decision will take effect this year instead.

In the meantime, the board plans to renegotiate the split for the $18 million that’s already in the bank.

School officials emphasized they still back the BeltLine. “We voted to support the beltline in December of 2005, and that support level is still there,” board Chair LaChandra Butler Burks said.

APS staff sent CL a copy of Monday’s resolution. Take a look at it here.

And why should any of this matter? Walls sums it up very nicely.

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It’s been known around City Hall for a week or so that Councilman Ceasar Mitchell would switch from the mayor’s race to that for Council president. Yesterday, he made it official by filing the necessary paperwork.

The move seemed likely as far back as the beginning of the year, if only because Mitchell hadn’t raised nearly as much money as the two mayoral front-runners, Councilwoman Mary Norwood and state Sen. Kasim Reed, or even Jesse Spikes, a well-connected attorney with little name recognition. When City Council President Lisa Borders jumped back into the race last week, Mitchell’s change-up probably became inevitable.

As of now, the president’s race is a two-way contest between Mitchell and Councilwoman Clair Muller, but it likely won’t remain that way. State Sen. Vincent Fort is an oft-rumored possibility, and there may be others as well. (more…)

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Jim Walls at Atlanta Unfiltered reports:

Atlanta Public Schools are fighting changes to a bill that would let local boards earmark school tax money for Tax Allocation Districts to pay for non-school improvements.

A Senate committee last week amended the bill to say a board’s approval in years past would be sufficient. No new vote would be needed.

But school board chair LaChandra Butler Burks, in a letter to Sen. Horacena Tate, says the change would cost APS $18 million. The letter did not explain how that estimate was calculated.

The APS letter asked Tate to fight to remove the retroactive language, and to vote against the bill if the language could not be deleted.

Walls has Burks’ letter to Tate posted. No telling if the controversial bill, House Bill 63, has hit the Senate floor yet.

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If you thought the debate over whether school boards should participate in redevelopment projects ended with a Constitutional referendum on the November ballot, you were sorely mistaken.

Last Thursday, a state Senate finance committee quietly amended House Bill 63, a piece of legislation meant to iron out details about tax allocation districts, or TADs. TADs use bonds, which are later paid off by increased property tax values in the redeveloped area, to pay for roads, bridges, sewers and schools. They were the go-to option for redevelopment projects in Georgia — think Atlantic Station — until last year’s state Supreme Court ruling that said their use of school taxes was unconstitutional. In November, voters approved an amendment that would allow school systems to participate in TADs.

The Senate committee added an amendment to the bill, which has already unanimously passed the House, which would allow Atlanta Public Schools to circumvent a vote and automatically opt back into the Beltline, the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit proposed to circle Atlanta’s urban core. If so, the school system would contribute an estimated $850 million in school tax dollars to the project over the next 20 years, as it agreed to do in 2005. (Atlanta Unfiltered’s Jim Walls, the first blogger to jump on the story, has the language posted.)

The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation, which fought the Beltline TAD, lashed out at the amendment, calling it an “outrageous abuse of the Atlanta taxpayers.” and casting Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle as the author of the language.

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Consider, for instance, recent negotiations to purchase the northeast quadrant of the Beltline, a 22-mile loop of transit and trails that will one day circle the city.

That deal — and the history of the controversial plot of land — has resulted in the city parting ways with two developers and paying millions of dollars that critics say was squandered.

Mike Dobbins, a Georgia Tech professor and Atlanta’s former planning commissioner, says the city rushed to pay Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason and his son Keith $65 million for land that could have been had for much, much less.

“Buying out Mason was a flawed proposition,” Dobbins says. “I mean, name me anyone who wouldn’t love to make a 300 percent profit in three years on a $25 million investment. It’s crazy.”

Says Keith Mason: “I’m pleased with the outcome.”

Read the rest of this story.

(Photo by Jim Stawniak)

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Mike Dobbins, a former City of Atlanta planning commissioner who now teaches at Georgia Tech, urges voters say ‘no’ to Amendment 2.  If approved, the amendment would allow school systems to participate in tax allocation districts. CL recently endorsed Amendment 2 — click here to see why.

There has been a lot of misinformation spread about TADs and what the constitutional referendum is about. Its supporters have been using tax-generated funding to lobby, and I would say mislead, the public to try to get us to vote for it. TADs allow local governmental jurisdictions to sell bonds to pay for public infrastructure in designated areas where disinvestment and blight bring down the neighborhood and discourage private investment. The bonds are supposed to be paid back from the tax value increases generated by development supported by the improved infrastructure. Many advocates imply that without a yes vote TADs won’t be available to local governments to induce prospective developers’ investment.

But TADs are still available. It’s just that the school portion of anticipated tax value increases must be dedicated to school purposes. So voting no on the referendum doesn’t jeopardize TAD programs; it only reduces the amount of proceeds available.

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Sources tell CL that Atlanta City Councilmembers were given notice that a special-called meeting will be held at City Hall tomorrow at 3 p.m. Details are vague, but the event could mean developments are underway for the 22-mile loop of parks, trails, transit.

Why? Well, as we’ve been reporting, the Oct. 31 deadline for Beltline leaders to settle the debt on property purchased from Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason is drawing near. The property — a 66-acre parcel of land and transit right-of-way located near Piedmont Park in the project’s northeast quadrant — generated controversy this summer when Beltline leaders decided to allocate nearly half the TAD bond funding to settle the debt. If it’s not repaid, the Mason property could enter foreclosure.

Because of the virtually shutdown bond market, those TAD bonds have been delayed until the project’s financial wizards could secure the best possible deal. Beltline leaders would most likely have to brief City Council on their progress.

Regardless, we’ll be there and update once we hear word.

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It’s one thing for a public agency to argue in support of a cause, says a honest-government watchdog group. It’s another to contribute cash, however.

Common Cause Georgia yesterday filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission against several public agencies — including the Atlanta Housing Authority, Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District — that allege the groups contributed nearly $125,000 to Georgians for Community Redevelopment, a booster group that is campaigning in favor of Amendment 2 on the General Election Ballot.

A successful passage of Amendment 2 would allow school boards to participate in tax allocation districts, a somewhat controversial redevelopment mechanism that uses future increases in property taxes to pay off bonds sold to build infrastructure in blighted areas. TADs have been used throughout the state since 1985 — most notably at Atlantic Station. In February, however, the state Supreme Court ruled that the use of educational funds — in this case, the school’s portion of property taxes — for redevelopment purposes violated the state Constitution.

“Common Cause Georgia fully acknowledges the right of the development community to lobby for the passage of this constitutional amendment,” Bill Bozarth of Common Cause Georgia said in a statement. “That is free speech, and we take no issue with that. However, we do take issue with doing so in violation of the law. We are filing our complaint with the State Ethics Commission because we believe that Georgians for Community Development – a campaign committee organized for the purpose of gaining voter approval of Constitutional Amendment 2, has accepted contributions from several public agencies which are clearly prohibited by Georgia statute from contributing to this kind of political activity.”

The AJC has more on the story here.

After the jump, the full release from Common Cause and links to the recently filed complaints.

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