NPU-B celebrates those who helped defeat proposed Lindbergh area 'big box' Walmart development

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There was a chorus ofpraises being sung in the meeting room on the third floor of the Cathedral ofSt. Philip Tuesday night—praises for a community effort that stopped a proposedbig box Walmart development in south Buckhead off Piedmont Road in theLindbergh area.

NPU-B board member Abbie Shepherd

“This is a celebration,”declared Abbie Shepherd, a board member of Neighborhood Planning Unit-B, whichwas holding its October meeting. And, several members of the board pointed towhy the celebration was fitting.
On Monday, the AtlantaCity Council shelved a proposal by Fuqua Development to build 200,000 squarefeet of retail (including a 150,000-square-foot Walmart big box store) and morethan 200 residential units on 21 acres just east of Piedmont Road in theLindbergh Center area of south Buckhead.
It was the second timethe proposed land use changes to the city’s 2011 Comprehensive Development Planand companion paper for zoning changes from residential to mixed-use commercialdesignations for the property had been before the full City Council.
The two papers also had twicepreviously been before both the Community Development/Human Resources andZoning Committees of City Council and on both occasions been sent on to thefull council with “no recommendation.”
The zoning paper couldnot be considered until the land use ordinance was passed by council. Bycouncil rules, the land use ordinance needed eight yes votes to pass. It wasdenied by a vote of seven yeas and six nays. Then the land use ordinance and zoningpapers were voted 11-2 and 10-2 to be “filed,” which essentially means theywere dismissed.
(For the BuckheadViewstory on the City Council action, go here.)

Atlanta city planner
Jessica Lavandier

The “file” period lasts for the next 24 months as stated in the city’szoning ordinance, said Jessica Lavandier, principal planner for the city'sBureau of Planning. 

“It can be reduced to 12 months,” Lavandiersaid. “Someone else can come and submit something different and maybe thatcould be accepted. Any other application that comes forward will have to comeall the way through the process,” meaning starting with NPU-B again.  

It was the NPU-B board,Development & Transportation and Zoning committees that had struggled with the proposed land use and zoningchanges requested by the developer and urged for a more urban plan for almost 18months, voting down one proposal after another.
But, after the city’sZoning Review Board voted to approve the zoning request to change the 21-acreparcel from a residential to commercial designation—ignoring the NPU’s denialsand the objections of Buckhead residents neighborhood groups—it became evidentthis was going to be a tough fight.

NPU-B chair Sally Silver

But Atlanta residents fought back and finally got their way on Monday, demandingthat City Council uphold the city’s 2011 Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) andcomply with the development rules laid out in the city’s Special PublicInterest district 15 (SPI-15) documents adopted about a dozen years ago and reaffirmed since.
The SPI-15 documents lay the groundwork to preserve the area—and specificallythe tract of land between Morosgo and Lindbergh drives and Piedmont Road andAdina Drive—for residential and pedestrian-friendly transit-orienteddevelopment (TOD). 

“We never vote to deny something unless we havea legal basis to stand on,” NPU-B chair Sally Silver said Tuesday at itsmonthly meeting, temporarily being held at Cathedral of St. Philip in Buckhead.
“This is the first time ever for other NPU’s to stand up and lock armswith us. … It’s about all of us, and everything we believe in and care aboutthis city.” Silver added.

NPU-B Development & Transportation
Committee chair Andrea Bennett

What Silver was referring to was an resolution passed by the AtlantaPlanning Advisory Board (APAB), which represents all of the city’s 25 NPUs, bywhich all of the city’s NPUs urged City Council not to change the CDP andSPI-15 by approving the proposed Lindbergh developers requests for land use andzoning changes.

Andrea Bennett, NPU-B Development & TransportationCommittee chair, said it was important to realize it was not just Buckheadresidents who opposed the developer’s requests, but people throughout Atlanta. 

“When you have the professionals, NPUs all overthe city, and hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals saying we don’t want tothrow it [the law] out," Bennett said, “The question is what will the citycouncil do? And I am pleased this time that they stood by this. … It was soincredible the city stood its ground and did not just cave in to requestedchanges.” 
Bennett was the one who started the chorus ofpraises at Tuesday night’s meeting, pointing to the months of work and timespent attending meetings at city hall by people like Shepherd and Silver andother NPU-B board members Bill Bozarth and Michael Isaacs, as well as NPU-Fchair Jane Rawlings and officers of NPUs Z and N across town from Buckhead.
The most important thing that came out of this,Bennett said, “Is that the city officials will uphold long-term planning.”
Declaring “we were incredibly lucky,” Silverannounced she wants to call a special meeting of the NPU-B Executive Committee torecap this situation “and go over the laws and how to handle these projects.”She pointed out that Buckhead “is getting ready to crank up a lot ofdevelopment. We need to be prepared.”