Public notice: Consolidated Plan reallocations in response to COVID (Nov 2 Meeting)


From the City, two notices.

First: 

The Atlanta City Council will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, November 2, 2020 at 1:00 pm remotely on Ordinance 20-O-1662, an amendment to the 2019 Annual Action Plan by transferring to and from appropriations in the amount of $14,668,625 for the purpose of allocating COVID-19 Cares Act Funding for CDBG-CV and ESG-CV for inclusion in the 2019 Annual Action Plan of the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan. Following the hearing, the City Council will issue a final vote.

The public may access the meeting by the following Conference Bridge: Toll Free Access: (877) 579-6743, Conference ID: 8315991256. Citizens and other interested parties are invited to provide comments at (404) 330-6068. Public comment will be accepted between the hours of 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm on the day before the scheduled meeting and messages should not exceed three (3) minutes.

Link to the full notice (PDF) is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LLvW7lujaSV-E6sci_fmDaUhXbKdxryV/view 

Second:

The Atlanta City Council will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, November 2, 2020 at 1:00 pm remotely on Ordinance 20-O-1664, an amendment to the 2019 Annual Action Plan by transferring to and from appropriations in the amount of $147,660 for the purpose of reallocating COVID-19 Cares Act Funding for HOPWA-CV for inclusion in the 2019 Annual Action Plan of the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan. Following the hearing, the City Council will issue a final vote. 

The public may access the meeting by the following Conference Bridge: Toll Free Access: (877) 579-6743, Conference ID: 8315991256. Citizens and other interested parties are invited to provide comments at (404) 330-6068. Public comment will be accepted between the hours of 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm on the day before the scheduled meeting and messages should not exceed three (3) minutes.

Link to the full notice (PDF) is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LLvW7lujaSV-E6sci_fmDaUhXbKdxryV/view

Upshot: the City Council is grabbing funding from various sources and updating the City's Action Plan to get more COVID funding into various programs; the programs are listed in the linked documents. 

Power outage information

 


Friends, it's a mess.
Georgia Power says that they'll have power restored by the end of Sunday.  That's a long time to go without power. Check on your neighbors, and if you need help, reach out to your neighborhood association or the NPU.

The list of neighborhood orgs can be found at http://www.npu-s.org/p/neighborhoods.html. For updates on the power situation, go to https://outagemap.georgiapower.com/

Called NPU-S Bylaws Meeting POSTPONED

Apologies for the late notice, but due to ongoing widespread power outages within NPU-S, tonight's called bylaws meeting will be postponed until a later date.

Please contact chair@npu-s.org with any questions or concerns.

NPU-S Calendar of Events: October 26 - November 1

Coming up this week on the NPU-S calendar:
NPU-S Events:
  • Monday, October 26 - Trees Atlanta Brownfield Meeting - 6pm, Zoom. The DCP Office of Zoning and Development is working with Trees Atlanta on a grant to cleanup 825 Warner Ave SW. The parcel is in the Oakland City neighborhood in NPU-S and it is very close to the Adair Park neighborhood in NPU-V and the Capitol View neighborhood in NPU-X. Attached is a fact sheet about the cleanup and a meeting notice for an October 26th meeting we are having to present information about the grant and cleanup. Join online https://zoom.us/j/5138774717, Meeting ID: 513 877 4717. Join the call +1-646-558-8656, Meeting ID: 5138774717#
  • Tuesday, October 27 - Oakland City Community Organization (OCCO) meeting - 6:30pm, Zoom. Join Zoom Meeting Online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85441618449. Dial-in Numbers: +1 253 215 8782 US or +1 301 715 8592 US, Meeting ID: 854 4161 8449. Monthly on the fourth Tuesday.
  • POSTPONED - Called Meeting: NPU-S Voting Bylaws - 6:30pm, Google Meet. This is a called meeting under Article IX, Section 1 of the NPU-S Bylaws. There is a discrepancy between NPU-S's two-year officer terms and City of Atlanta ordinance mandating annual elections. This meeting is being held to change the bylaws to bring them into compliance with the City of Atlanta's requirements. Join by phone (US) +1 515-599-7285‬ PIN: ‪480 291 570‬#, or at the Google Meet link, https://meet.google.com/rbh-ptwd-efj.
External Events:
  • Tuesday, October 27 - MARTA Fresh Market - West End Station, 3 - 7pm.
  • Friday, October 30 - MARTA Fresh Market - Five Points - 3 - 8pm.
If you have any local events that you'd like to see on the NPU-S calendar, please send email to events@npu-s.org. Please be sure to include the date, time, and location of your event!

Future Places Project

 From the Atlanta Department of City Planning:

Future Places Project

Today, the Office of Design - Historic Preservation Studio kicked off the Future Places Project in conjunction with Historic Preservation Week! This project ensures that Atlanta retains its "historic identity as the city moves forward".

Please check out the Future Place Project website, atlfutureplaces.com, to learn more about what we are doing and how you can become involved. Our history is our future!

Called meeting on NPU-S election bylaws, Thursday Oct 29, 6:30pm

(UPDATE: Rescheduled to Thu 11/5 due to Zeta blackouts)

The Problem:

Late last month, after our September NPU meeting, NPU-S received a message from the City about our bylaws. For nearly a decade, we have had two-year terms for our elected officers, which means that we have held elections every other year instead of every year. Turns out, this violates City ordinance: 

(https://library.municode.com/ga/atlanta/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIIICOORANDECO_PT6BUPL_CH3PL_ARTBNEPL_S6-3017EL):

Sec. 6-3017. - Elections.

(a) Elections shall take place during October or November of every calendar year. If an election(s) has not been held by November 30. Said election(s) shall be conducted by the bureau of planning during the month of December. 

(Code 1977, § 6-3017; Ord. No. 1995-68, § 1, 10-24-95; Ord. No. 1999-81, § 1, 11-10-99)

Although this has not created any problems for us, the current director of the NPU programs has been doing a lot of work to make sure that all the NPUs are operating by the book, and given the chaos that some of our own neighboring NPUs have gone through, particularly with elections, this effort is entirely understandable.

Possible Solutions:

After a discussion with the director, there are two possible solutions that we've identified.

One solution would be retention elections. Basically, in November, we hold an election saying "do we want these officers to continue in their role for the remainder of the term?" Any officer who receives a majority disapproval would be removed from office and replaced in a snap election held the next month.

The other solution would be to one-year officer terms with annual elections. This would require more extensive changes to the bylaws, but it's certainly possible. 

The Path Forward:

These are not the only possible solutions, but they're the simplest solutions we can think of. However, whichever solution we choose, we need to change our bylaws to be able to hold a vote at our November meeting.

Therefore, as announced at our October meeting, and in keeping with NPU-S Bylaws Article IX, Section 2, we are holding a Special Called Meeting to amend our bylaws to comply with the City's requirement for an annual election.

This meeting will be held:

  • Thursday, October 29, at 6:30 pm
  • Via Google Meet at https://bit.ly/NPUS-Room-A
    • Or you can join by phone (US) +1 515-599-7285‬ PIN: ‪480 291 570‬#
All NPU-S residents over 18 are eligible to vote on bylaws.

NPU-S covers the neighborhoods of Bush Mountain, Cascade Avenue, Oakland City, Venetian Hills, and Ft. Mac. If you are uncertain of your NPU, or if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to reach out to the Chair, Nick Hess, at chair@npu-s.org or (404) 890 0089.




Community Food Giveaway - Thursday, Oct. 22 from 8 a.m. to noon

District 4 Council member Cleta Winslow is co-sponsoring a community food giveaway event with Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ and World Visions from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday, Oct. 22 at the church, located at 1137 Avon Avenue SW. The boxes contain fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as milk and cheese. The event is first come, first served and 1,000 boxes will be distributed.

Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ and World Visions, 1137 Avon Avenue SW 


Section 8 Application Window Open October 21st-22nd

The Housing Authority of Fulton County (HAFC) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waiting list is
opening soon. 

Must be a Fulton County resident to apply.  

Applications will be accepted from October 21, 2020 at 12:01 am, until October 22, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET.

This is a short window to apply, so mark your calendars to be sure you get your applications in. Online application can be found in the link below:  

https://affordablehousingonline.com/housing-authority/Georgia/Housing-Authority-of-Fulton-County/GA264

Requests for reasonable accommodations can be made by calling 404-588-4950.

 

Community Discussion, Pt 2: Short Term Rental Policy

Last Saturday, a group of 15 NPU-S residents gathered via videoconference to discuss our thoughts on Atlanta's proposed legislation addressing Short Term Rentals (Airbnb, VRBO, etc).

The ordinance, Z-20-69, defines Short Term Rentals (STRs) as 

a rental of a residential dwelling unit or accessory building for periods of less than 31 consecutive days.

and proceeds to ban them from single-family residential zones (R1, R2, R2A, R2B, R3, R3A, R4, R4A, R4B, R5, PDH). 

After a period going over the legislation itself and discussing how other cities manage STRs, there was a lively discussion going over the pros and cons of STRs in our neighborhood. This ultimately led to a vote (10 aye, 3 nay, 2 abstain) declaring that NPU-S feels that regulated system of STR management was preferable to an outright ban.

This second meeting is to determine what sort of regulation we'd want to see to make STRs acceptable to the community. 

This meeting is primarily for residents of NPU-S, but it is open to the public. We invite you to come share your thoughts on this important topic.

A copy of the proposed ordinance is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ioWD6FckXNs3XxF7CJY5YNYlbaDtW0qr/view.

NPU-S Calendar of Events: October 19 - 25

Coming up this week on the NPU-S calendar:
NPU-S Events:
  • Tuesday, October 20 - Beecher-Donnelly Community Association Meeting - 7pm.
  • Thursday, October 22 - Cascade Ave Neighborhood Organization (CANO) meeting - 7pm, Zoom. Join Zoom Meeting Online: https://zoom.us/j/97987226201. Dial-in Number: +1 646-558-8656, Meeting ID: 979 8722 6201, Access Code: 97987226201#. Monthly on the fourth Thursday.
External Events:
  • Tuesday, October 20 - MARTA Fresh Market - West End Station, 3 - 7pm.
  • Wednesday, October 21 - NPU-I, 7pm, Zoom. To join the remote meeting, click here. Dial-In: 301-715-8592, access code, 92613332610#. Meeting ID: 926 1333 2610   Passcode: 905252. NPU I is comprised of the neighborhoods of:
    • Audobon Forest
    • Audobon Forest West
    • Beecher Hills
    • Cascade Heights
    • Chalet Woods
    • Collier Heights
    • East Ardley Road
    • Florida Heights
    • Green Acres Valley
    • Green Forest Acres
    • Harland Terrace
    • Horseshoe Community
    • Ivan Hill
    • Magnum Manor
    • Peyton Forest
    • West Manor
    • Westhaven
  • Friday, October 23 - MARTA Fresh Market - Five Points - 3 - 8pm.
If you have any local events that you'd like to see on the NPU-S calendar, please send email to events@npu-s.org. Please be sure to include the date, time, and location of your event!

Delay of face-to-face instruction in Atlanta Public Schools

 From Aretta Baldon, Atlanta Board of Education, District 2:

Today, our superintendent, Dr. Lisa Herring, announced that Atlanta Public Schools will delay its return to face-to-face instruction due to an unfavorable trend in COVID-19 cases in our community and in consultation with public health officials and healthcare experts. That means the district will postpone all reopening plans for in-person learning until January 2021.

Dr. Herring shared this decision in her blog and her weekly address The Week (https://talkupaps.wordpress.com/), both of which provide more details about the decision and ongoing plans for Atlanta Public Schools.

In addition, Dr. Herring will proceed with our practice of monthly health data checkpoints and present the next update at the November 2 Board meeting. The superintendent and her team will also continue to explore ways to support our most vulnerable learners, particularly our low-incidence special needs population and our youngest students, including their potential return to some in-person services prior to January 2021.

The difficulties and uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic require us as a school community to be prepared for different teaching and learning scenarios. I assure you that the APS mission to give EVERY child a quality education has not changed. APS and our schools need your support and engagement now more than ever.

As Dr. Herring herself says to the community in her blog and video, we all look forward to the day when we can welcome all of our students back into our buildings safely, embrace them, and teach them face to face.

Thanks for your ongoing support. Please message me with any questions or further concerns.

Ms. Baldon can be reached via email at Aretta.Baldon@atlanta.k12.ga.us.

SurveyATL.org: Participation beyond elections, from the Center for Civic Innovation

From the Center for Civic Innovation:

When people are engaged, cities make better decisions. Take this survey on community engagement in Atlanta.

SurveyATL.org

Today, we’re launching a citywide survey to better understand how Atlanta residents engage in their community now and how they want to engage in the future. We will use this information to guide short- and long-term recommendations on how we can all strengthen civic participation in our city.

Please take the survey and share it with your neighbors and networks at SurveyATL.org

For the survey to be truly reflective of Atlanta, we need your help in getting it in front of as many different people as possible. Take the survey here: SurveyATL.org

We believe that community engagement is at the center of solving inequality in Atlanta. Much of our inequality was intentionally designed so it will require intentional design to correct it. Community engagement isn't just a checkbox — it’s an ongoing, trust-building process that brings the needs and voices of residents into decision-making processes.

With so much attention on the national election, it's important to remember that civic participation is more than voting. Voting is critical, but our voices are equally important in neighborhood, school board, city council, and PTA meetings. Regular participation makes the outcomes better and more reflective of what people actually need.

This effort is a part of our ongoing work to strengthen neighborhood power in Atlanta through our NPU Initiative. You can learn more about that work and also find which Neighborhood Planning Unit you live in at civicatlanta.org/npu-initiative.

Citywide Virtual Neighborhood Watch Training - Virtual, November 7, 9:30am

From the City of Atlanta Police Department Crime Prevention Unit:

First Virtual Citywide Neighborhood Watch Training
Saturday, November 7th, 9:30am to 11:30am

Sign up by emailing MLAnderson@atlantaga.gov and JWord@atlantaga.gov

Join the Zoom call at https://bit.ly/35Uo1SX

Community Discussion: Airbnbs and the City. Sat 10/17 1pm

The City Council is currently considering legislation effectively banning all Airbnbs from our neighborhoods. The ordinance, Z-20-69, defines Short Term Rentals (STRs) as 

a rental of a residential dwelling unit or accessory building for periods of less than 31 consecutive days.

and proceeds to ban them from single-family residential zones (R1, R2, R2A, R2B, R3, R3A, R4, R4A, R4B, R5, PDH). 

Currently, there is no definition in city code that covers STRs, and so technically an Airbnb in a residential area is an improperly zoned, unlicensed hotel. This legislation thus takes notice of Airbnbs and applies a remedy. But is it overkill?

NPU-S has had a love-hate relationship with Airbnbs. While several have been nuisances to our community, there are people who feel that they're a way for homeowners to make extra income. 

Although this legislation is being brought up for review and comment at Thursday's NPU-S meeting, there's likely not going to be enough time at that meeting to thoroughly explore our opinions on the topic. So we're holding a separate meeting on Saturday the 17th at 1pm via Google Meet to gather facts and feelings about how we'd like to regulate STRs.

This meeting is primarily for residents of NPU-S, but it is open to the public. We invite you to come share your thoughts on this important topic.

A copy of the proposed ordinance is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ioWD6FckXNs3XxF7CJY5YNYlbaDtW0qr/view.

NPU-S General Meeting Thursday, Oct 15, 7pm


The NPU-S General Meeting will be held this Thursday, October 15th, at 7pm.

As usual, our meeting is being held over Google Meet. Attendees should register beforehand! If you do not register then we cannot count your attendance or verify your identity on voting matters.

To register, either  register online at http://bit.ly/NPUS-Meeting-Register, or call (770) 744-5311 and leave a message with a way for us to reach you.

Agenda, minutes, and supporting documents can be found on http://bit.ly/NPUS-Meeting-Docs

To attend the meeting:

  • By videoconference, go to https://meet.google.com/rbh-ptwd-efj
  • By phone, call (515) 599-7285 and enter‬ PIN: ‪480 291 570‬#

We have one vote this month,  a application for the Zoning Review Board:

Z-20-67 Applicant seeks to rezone the 1.8 acre property from the RG-3-C/BL (General [multi-family] residential, maximum floor area ratio of .696 conditional/BeltLine Overlay) zoning designation to the RG-3-C/BL (General [multi-family] residential, maximum floor area ratio of .696 conditional/BeltLine Overlay) zoning designation for the construction of an affordable townhome development. SURVEY, SITE PLAN

This is the Tucker Avenue affordable townhome development, which was originally approved in 2018. They've had to adjust their construction plans and techniques and, as a a result, must submit the new plans to the ZRB.

There are also two items for review and comment - V-20-116 (Appeal), an appeal of a Special Use permit, and Z-20-69, an ordinance that we'll vote on in November concerning Short-Term Rentals - in other words, AirBnBs and their like.  Z-20-69 is likely to be highly contentious, so while we'll cover it in our meeting on Thursday, we're also planning on holding a special called session of the NPU solely to discuss the topic and to come up with a policy position for the NPU.

We also will have a presentation from the Office of Zoning and Development about the "Brownfield Revolving Loan Subgrant to Trees Atlanta" (825 Warner Avenue).

As always, there will be representatives from the police, code enforcement, public works, and other City departments call in to give reports, and discuss NPU and community programs for our constituents. Come on out!


NPU-S Calendar of Events: October 5 - 11

Coming up this week on the NPU-S calendar:
NPU-S Events:
External Events:
  • Tuesday, October 6 - MARTA Fresh Market - West End Station, 3 - 7pm.
  • Wednesday, October 7 - NPU-R - Free Conference Call. Online: https://www.freeconferencecall.com/wall/annsonita, Meeting ID: annsonita; Or dial (712) 770-4598, Access code: 469781#. NPU R is comprised of the neighborhoods of
    • Adams Park
    • Campbellton Road
    • Fort Valley
    • Greenbriar
    • Laurens Valley
    • Pamond Park
    • Southwest
  • Friday, October 9 - MARTA Fresh Market - Five Points - 3 - 8pm.
If you have any local events that you'd like to see on the NPU-S calendar, please send email to events@npu-s.org. Please be sure to include the date, time, and location of your event!