[LCN Newscast] Citizen involvement day

[newscast@lists.lakeclaire.org]

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Citizen Involvement Day Set for March 25
Single Day Offers Four Forums on Critical Issues Facing Atlanta Region

(ATLANTA – March 16, 2006) Atlantans concerned with the region’s 
livability can explore critical transportation and development issues 
in a single day – Saturday, March 25 – during four public forums within 
walking distance of each other in downtown Atlanta.

Citizens can choose from one or more of four events; 1) a “future 
forum” will feature a sneak preview of growth trends in the region; 2) 
a group of professional organizations will host a public reporting 
forum for citizens to comment on infill housing and redevelopment 
issues in their neighborhoods; 3) the BeltLine will unveil its toolkit 
for community input and 4) transportation questions will be addressed 
during a town hall meeting.

Event Details

ENVISION6 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Atlanta Regional Commission, atlantaregional.com
Loudermilk Center
40 Courtland St., NE, Atlanta, GA 30303

INFILL HOUSING 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
American Institute of Architects, aiaatlanta.org
Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center
395 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308

BELTLINE 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Atlanta Development Authority, atlantada.com
Atlanta City Hall. 2nd floor
New City Council Chambers
55 Trinity Ave., Atlanta, GA 30303

TRANSPORTATION TOWN HALL 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
U.S. Rep. John Lewis, www.house.gov/johnlewis
Atlanta City Hall, 3rd floor
Old City Council Chambers Auditorium
55 Trinity Ave., Atlanta, GA 30303

As the region builds toward a population of six million by 2030, the 
Atlanta Regional Commission will discuss that future growth during a 
public workshop for Envision6, an integrated regional land use and 
transportation planning initiative. It’s the first opportunity in the 
Envision6 process for the public to discuss growth in metro Atlanta, 
review current planning scenarios for managing future growth and 
provide regional planners with advice on the location and type of 
future development.

“We want citizen stakeholders to tell our planners what sort of 
development they want, and where they want it, as the region prepares 
for the addition of more than two million people and 1.7 million more 
jobs by 2030,” said Tom Weyandt, ARC’s comprehensive planning director. 
“Their feedback is critical to envisioning how we accommodate growth 
while maintaining our quality of life.”

Community input is the theme for the day as a diverse group of 
professional organizations hosts a public reporting forum for infill 
housing and redevelopment in the City of Atlanta. The forum will be an 
opportunity for each of Atlanta’s 236 neighborhoods to voice concerns 
about their specific issues. Neighborhood representatives are 
encouraged to organize through their Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) 
chairperson.

The information collected by the panel will be published and become the 
frame of reference for the panel’s work to address infill housing, 
redevelopment and improvements to Atlanta’s zoning ordinance. For this 
reason, it is crucial that each of Atlanta’s 24 NPUs be represented at 
the forum. The panel includes architects, builders, remodelers, 
planners, preservationists, professors, realtors and at-large members. 
Interested parties may collect or submit information at aiaatlanta.org

“As Atlanta grows, the pressures to redevelop intown properties with 
more density and with larger homes to meet current market demands will 
only increase. The City must revise its residential zoning ordinances 
to address this redevelopment, and who better to help than the 
professionals that use and work with these ordinances on a daily 
basis,” said Cooper Pierce, chairperson for the American Institute of 
Architects Atlanta Chapter’s Infill Redevelopment Committee. “We want 
to identify and understand the problems and challenges of the various 
neighborhoods around the City before trying to make any recommendations 
to revise the zoning, and the community input is the beginning.”

The Citizen Involvement Day continues with the launch of a framework 
inviting public participation that will help define the workplan for 
the BeltLine, a 22-mile loop of transit, greenspace, housing and 
development that will connect more than 45 neighborhoods in the urban 
core of the City of Atlanta. The Atlanta Development Authority, the 
City’s agent to implement the project, will distribute the Community 
Engagement Framework (CEF) toolkit that is the centerpiece of the 
initial stages of gathering community input. ADA representatives will 
also be on hand to answer questions and gather suggestions.

“Our goal with this initiative is to provide a means for residents and 
interested groups to keep abreast of the complex BeltLine project, and 
to create a meaningful way to provide input into the project’s 
direction,” said Greg Giornelli, president of the Atlanta Development 
Authority. “Maintaining community involvement and education with the 
BeltLine will be key to the long-term viability of the project over the 
next 25 years. The CEF will give all city residents and interested 
groups an equal opportunity to participate and provide input.”

Also on March 25, U.S. Rep. John Lewis will host a Transportation Town 
Hall Meeting to hear concerns and answer questions about public transit 
in metro Atlanta, the BeltLine and traffic congestion from constituents 
in the 5th District. The event includes a panel discussion and 
question-and-answer session with representatives from ARC, City of 
Atlanta’s planning bureau, Center for Quality Growth & Regional 
Development at Georgia Tech, Georgia Department of Transportation and 
MARTA.

“Atlantans are in love with the automobile,” said Rep. John Lewis. “But 
as the environmental costs of traffic congestion, frustrating commutes, 
and polluted air begin to diminish our quality of life, we are 
beginning to discuss some of the options that can free us from those 
problems. Change can require sacrifice, but it should be sacrifice that 
the community as a whole is willing to make. That is why I am hosting 
this town meeting, so that residents of metro Atlanta have ample 
opportunity to hear from the experts and share their concerns about 
current issues and potential transportation impacts.”

Envision6
Contact: Matt Hennie, Atlanta Regional Commission
Phone: 404.463.3194
E-mail: mhennie@atlantaregional.com

Infill Housing
Contact: Susan Ellis, American Institute of Architects
Phone: 404.222.0099
E-mail: sellis@aiaga.org

Beltline
Contact: Sonya Moste, Atlanta Development Authority
Phone: 404.614.8281 or 770-235-3159
E-mail: smoste@atlantada.com

Transportation
Contact: Rachelle O’Neil        
Phone: 404-659-0116
E-mail: rachelle.o’neil@mail.house.gov