Atlanta’s new Draft Zoning Code (“Zoning 2.0”) is ready to go, and has been for months now. It’s the product of an inclusive, rigorous, and open process, led by the Department of City Planning, that lasted 2 years and included many public hearings and opportunities for citizen input, as well as input from elected officials. It’s been generally quite positively received by the neighborhoods and the business community. Yet it still hasn’t become law. What’s going on?
Surprisingly, what appears to be going on is a behind-the-scenes, last-minute effort to torpedo it, led by, of all people, the office of Mayor Andre Dickens! (Notably by his newly appointed “Chief Housing Officer”, Amanda Rhein.) The effort is focused on attacking single-family residential zoning, in spite of the fact that Mr. Dickens was twice elected with a clear promise to protect single-family neighborhoods! (By contrast, Ms. Rhein said on the record in 2023 that Atlanta should “eliminate single-family zoning.”) His promise came in the wake of a similar sneak attack by the previous administration, which failed because of strong opposition from neighborhoods all over the city – all parts of town, and all demographics.
This time, after the DCP had already completed its work, the mayor’s office hired an out-of-town lawyer, a professor in Washington DC named Sara Bronin, to critique the draft. No surprise, the hired critic produced criticisms. The surprise is in the sweeping nature of her criticisms and recommendations; and, even more, in the push for them by the mayor’s office.
Among Prof. Bronin’s recommendations:
- Reduce the minimum lot size in all neighborhoods to no more than 2000 square feet (one-twentieth of an acre), or, preferably, eliminate it altogether (p.31 and p. 35 of her report, “Evaluating ATL Zoning 2.0”)
- Eliminate Neighborhood Planning Units (NPU’s), which have been the key institution for community input into Atlanta’s land-use decision-making since they were created by Mayor Maynard Jackson (p. 31)
- “Effectively” (her word) eliminate single-family zoning (p.32)
- Allow Accessory Dwelling Units “by right” everywhere, and automatically approve at least one ADU on every single-family lot.(p.32)
- Enable any religious institution, “by right”, to allow a developer to build multi-family housing on any parcel it owns. (p.33)
- Allow “by right” multi-family developments up to 6 stories tall, and “by right” commercial development, anywhere within half a mile of a transit stop (p.35)
“By right” means no approval is necessary, and you can’t object.
None of these ideas came out of the many public hearings held by the DCP. They are dreamed up by ivory tower “urbanist” theoreticians and professors, who believe in the virtue of high density everywhere, as a matter of faith, and damn the consequences. Today they dress it up (falsely) as a way to solve the housing affordability problem. In earlier years, it was pitched as a way to support mass transit, or cultural amenities, or whatever the talking point of the day was. They are always for it. It’s the theoreticians against the neighborhoods.
In the real world, it seems obvious that Prof. Bronin’s recommendations would invite a feeding frenzy among developers as they scramble to build up to 20 housing units per acre on your neighbors’ property, and ADU’s everywhere; and to put 6-story apartment and condo buildings everywhere in your neighborhood if it’s near MARTA; and to besiege religious congregations to allow them to build apartments and condos on any parcel the congregation owns. All these things they could do “by right.”
I’m not opposed to high-density. Atlanta has high-density areas. They can be very attractive. People can choose to live there. But low-density neighborhoods can be attractive too, and people who live there should not be coerced by government into seeing their neighborhoods transformed into high density areas. I’m also for affordable housing, and Atlanta has plenty of places where it can be built. This is not about affordable housing, this is about forced density.
Neighborhoods are where families live and love, where our children grow up, where our memories are made, where people put down roots for the long term. For most people, their home is their largest investment. Three-quarters of Atlanta’s cherished tree canopy is in single-family neighborhoods; it stands at 45.5% coverage and dropping, with the most important reason being multi-family development. Neighborhoods are the heart and soul of this city. That is why public policy here, as most places, has generally favored neighborhood protection. It still should.
The matter seems set to come into public light at an Oct. 15 City Council Zoning Committee work session on Zoning 2.0. The mayor’s representatives will apparently ask the Council to adopt amendments drawn from the Bronin report. They have not yet revealed exactly what they will ask for. Perhaps they will come to their senses. Perhaps not. Stay tuned.
Bob Irvin is a resident of Atlanta, and a former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives.
