A Long and Winding Road to a Better Zoning Code

by Lola Carlisle

The Virginia-Highland Master Plan was adopted in July of 2014 by Atlanta City Council and is now part of the City of Atlanta’s Comprehensive Development Plan. (You can see a copy of the Master Plan here.)

During that process – which was facilitated by the association’s longtime urban planner, Aaron Fortner of Canvas Planning – one of the residents’ top concerns was the mass and scale of that new construction in the neighborhood. Many citizens argued that that the size (and sometimes the design) of new homes were having a negative impact on the character of the community.

In light of those concerns, the Virginia-Highland Civic Association Planning Committee has been studying other cities’ responses to these challenges.  With our consultants’ help, one concept we examined pretty closely is Residential Overlay Zoning, an approach that adds neighborhood-specific zoning elements to the existing city zoning.

In the midst of that research, the City of Atlanta launched a review of its own zoning code and processes. The general need for a review is obvious.  The current code has been modified many times since its last overhaul in  1982, and a number of new approaches to construction and planning have taken hold since then. Some existing code sections overlap one another and approach new challenges from different perspectives. A more comprehensive – ideally, simpler – code would be welcomed by citizens, builders, architects, enforcement officials, planners, and neighborhoods. An improved and clearer zoning code will also delineate more carefully what is appropriate in historic neighborhoods,  which are currently facing intense development pressure. Virginia-Highland is considered an exemplar of the problem – and possibilities – and this neighborhood will be looked at in this process.

It is a credit to the skill of our own professional team that they are a major part of the effort the city has begun.  Under those circumstances, their recommendation to us was to pause and see where the larger city effort goes. After some discussion, we agree that this is the most practical course, and (we hope) the most rewarding.

Lola Carlisle is a VHCA Board Member and Co-Chair of the Planning Committee