Development Plans Discussed at City Hall

At Atlanta City Hall Monday evening, a meeting was held in City Council’s chambers of The Community Development/Human Resources Committee.  Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd presided over the meeting.  The schedule included discussion for an $800,000 expenditure for the “Oridan at Willis Mill Housing Urban Enterprise Zone,” which will be a low-income housing project located on the southside of Atlanta, near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. 

The meeting also included the expansion of the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) of Atlanta to include the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) and the Short Term Work Program (STWP).  These programs cost a total of $6,059,927,422.  Included in these programs are allocations for transportation, which include a $750,000 streetcar feasibility study for the proposed Atlanta streetcar on Peachtree and Auburn Avenue.  An upcoming vote will be made by the committee and by the City Council to extend the CDP and incorporate the CIP and the STWP in it.

Discussion related to Ft. McPherson, a US Army base located in East Point, was also on the schedule.  A plan for the base to overtake an area golf course is in the works.  A number of citizens from the surrounding area expressed concern about how the base’s expansion will affect them and the possibility for jobs for the residents, in a low-income area.  Fears were also raised about too much influence from the private sector in the development of Ft. McPherson. 

Professor Michael Dobbins of Georgia Tech, a former Commissioner of the Department of Planning, Development, and Conservation for the City of Atlanta, also spoke about the development at Ft. McPherson.  He expressed interest in planning that would be beneficial to the base and the surrounding community.