After two years of community engagement and advocacy, the Atlanta City Council voted Monday in favor of the proposed redevelopment of Amsterdam Walk with an ordinance regarding the zoning of the site.
Following nearly two hours of public comment – much of which concerned the proposed redevelopment of Amsterdam Walk – the city council voted April 21 in favor of rezoning 501 Amsterdam Avenue from single family residential/Beltline overlay and community business district/Beltline overlay to planned development/Beltline overlay by a vote of eight to six.
Portman Holdings, the developer behind the project, said the rezoning allows for a more expansive development. The proposed project currently includes 1,100 rental units and 1,435 parking spaces on an almost 11-acre site off Monroe Drive.
Prior to the vote, community members gave public comments regarding the ordinance, with those in favor arguing that investment and development are crucial to bettering their neighborhood. Those opposed argued the project would worsen already bad traffic on Monroe Drive and urging the council to heed the 77 percent opposing vote from NPU-F.
The Morningside Lenox Park Association Board unanimously approved a statement last week calling on the council to reject the proposed plan.
“What are we going to do about keeping the intersection safe with 4,000 more cars and kids like me walking to Midtown High School to prevent people from getting hurt or dying at the intersection or anywhere else on Monroe,” Henry Kirkpatrick, 12, asked the council.
“Every time I watch families crossing to go to the park, families from our neighborhood, families from other neighborhoods, it frightens me because everyone I know has a story of somebody almost getting hit,” Henry’s mother Erin continued. “…On February 11, my mother was hit by a car as she was crossing Monroe and Amsterdam safely at the crosswalk… I have a lot of stress and anxiety about potential new developments, more cars on the street, more cars speeding through the neighborhoods.”
Charlie Kaften, one of the leading community members against the development, told Rough Draft that the outcome of the vote is disheartening and “regrettable.”
“It’s a shameful decision, the city will live to regret this decision we believe because it goes way beyond Amsterdam Walk,” he said. “What is the message that this vote sends? The message that this vote sends is that the NPU system is dead, it doesn’t matter. Master plans are irrelevant. Community sentiment, community organizing, petitions, emailing campaigns don’t matter.”
Wan, the council member representing the district in which Amsterdam Walk is located, commended the organizing efforts of the neighborhood prior to the vote.
“In the 12 years I’ve served on the council, I’m not sure that I’ve seen this level of activism, discussion, and advocacy,” Wan said. “I want to first of all acknowledge and thank everyone for that.”
Kaften argued, however, that the outcome of the vote will discourage other people from organizing in their communities.
“If you were in another community and you see what happened here, knowing that we have been organizing for a year-and-a-half on this thing, you would just say [doing the same] is pointless,” he said. “The implications are just unbelievable. Why would anybody bother to become an NPU member or attend an NPU meeting? What’s the point?”
Mike Greene, the Senior Vice President of Portman Holdings, told Rough Draft that he believes the community organizers concerns were heard by the council and raised by council members during conversations about the project with Portman Holdings.
“Obviously we’re happy the vote went our way,” Greene said. “I felt like the Better Amsterdam folks did a really remarkable job organizing and showing up and letting people know their voice was there… [The council was] in a tough spot. Our ask, when you consider what’s buildable today, was pretty reasonable. Even if they had voted ‘no,’ it probably would’ve ended up as just another step in the process.”
Greene said he looks forward to getting to work on the project and working with the designers to make the property a valuable addition to the neighborhood.
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