After a Dec. 5 Atlanta City Council decision, the downtown almost-Panther territory streets may have restrictions on who and when can walk on them. A move that may land them in the middle of a lawsuit.
In the meeting, council members decided in a 10-4 vote to allow WRS Real Estate to privately own previously public streets Lower and Upper Alabama Street, Upper and Lower Pryor Street and Plaza Way, as part of the company’s plan to redevelop Underground Atlanta.
Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong, who voted against the privatization, said that she could not support the sale because it evaded the Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) process, which limited the amount of community involvement in the deal.
“I did not support the street abandonment associated with the pending sale of Underground Atlanta, because the legislation authorized waiving the NPU process,” Archibong said. “Although the recommendation from the NPU would have been advisory in nature, I strongly believe in the value and benefit of having community input. The proposed legislation completely bypassed the community and the NPU. For that reason, I could not support the legislation.”
Atlanta advocacy group Thread ATL said they support the redevelopment, but oppose the nature in which the deal took place. Co-founder Darin Givens said that the privatization of the streets happened without the knowledge of the citizens.
“We’re not opposed to the sale and redevelopment of the property — in fact we think it’s a good idea,” Givens said. “The fact that the neighborhood has been kept in the dark regarding details makes people only more suspicious of a deal that already warrants skepticism, due to this developer’s main experience being the construction of suburban big-box strip malls.”
Kyle Kessler, community program manager of the Atlanta Center for Civic Innovation (CCI), also supports the redevelopment and said he feels that it is a step in the right direction for the city of Atlanta, but criticized the lack of community involvement. He said the community getting involved is imperative for the development’s long term success.
“We believe that the redevelopment of Underground will be most successful when the surrounding community is allowed to affect it. There are nearby residents, small businesses, office workers, artists, students, property owners, and other stakeholders who have vision, knowledge, skills, and other resources that are vital to Underground’s long-term success,” Kessler said.
Kessler said that at a panel held last month citizens posed questions that the stakeholders did not have answers for. Though they seemed interested in all the public had to say, Kessler feels that the input of the community could affect the possible solutions to these dilemmas.
“At our event last month questions were posed by some of these community stakeholders and other concerned citizens to the developer including about who the project’s designed for, who would be allowed on the privatized streets, will there be affordable housing, what history will be preserved, how will the development supporting alternative means of transportation, and what happens to the existing businesses,” Kessler said. “Although the developer is interested in these questions, it is clear they don’t yet have the answers and will need input from and involvement with the community to find good solutions.”
Federal law violations
Thread ATL plans to take legal action on the issue because Givens believes that the approval of privatization of public streets without the input of the city citizens is a direct violation of federal law, Title 36.
“[The] Atlanta City Council has approved this giveaway of several blocks of public streets to private buyers without public input which is required by the federal government,” Givens said. “Just prior to the vote last week, councilman Kwanza Hall said that they checked with the city attorneys and decided that they weren’t violating law with the giveaway of these blocks of street. We disagree. The federal requirements are very plainly stated.”
Federal law Title 36 outlines that the sale of a redevelopment area that may be used for residential, recreational,commercial,industrial, or other public use must have a urban redevelopment plan that is approved by a local governing body, such as the NPU, in order for the sale to be made official.
According to Title 36, “A municipality or county may sell, lease, or otherwise transfer real property in an urban redevelopment area or any interest therein acquired by it and may enter into contracts with respect thereto, for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, or other uses or for public use. Such sale, lease, other transfer, or retention and any agreement relating thereto may be made only after the approval of the urban redevelopment plan by the local governing body.”
“The purchasers or lessees and their successors and assigns shall be obligated to devote such real property only to the uses specified in the urban redevelopment plan and may be obligated to comply with such other requirements as the municipality or county may determine to be in the public interest, including the obligation to begin within a reasonable time any improvements on the real property required by the urban redevelopment plan.”
Givens believes that the privatization of these streets obstructs the citizens right to public space, which contradicts Mayor Kasim Reed’s goal to increase mobility in Atlanta through transit.
“This Underground Atlanta property is the eastern gateway to Five Points MARTA Station which is, according to MARTA’s statistics, the largest and most heavily used station in the system. Easy walkability for all people, not just whomever the private security allows, should be paramount here,” Givens told The Signal. “ Furthermore, streets and sidewalks are our largest public space. Where everyone has the right to be. We’re losing public space and the freedom it affords with this deal.”
According Saporta Report, WRS CEO, T. Scott Smith, has publicly announced that the company’s agenda is not to restrict access to the pedestrians, instead they plan to create more of community.
“We are not going to close the streets to pedestrian or bike traffic. We would like to stop vehicle traffic so that we can join the four corners and make a community feel to the development. At no time would the streets be closed to thru walking traffic or bicycles,” Smith said.
Kessler said that the privatization hinders the citizens’ freedom of speech that is usually protected when on public property, because the owner is allowed to create rules and regulations that if broken can lead to arrests.
“A privatized street is private property and the owner of that property is allowed to put rules and policies in place that are more restrictive than those on public property. On public property your freedom of speech and right to peacefully assemble are protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution,” Kessler said. “On private property you may be prevented from exercising either of those. If you don’t follow the rules and are asked to leave, you could be arrested for trespassing if you don’t comply.”
Thread ATL has made it clear that they do not want to prevent the development of Underground, instead that wish to have a definitive plan on what is happening and when it will be happening, as is there right according to the federal law, according to Givens.
“What we want to see is a definitive plan and a public process for the redevelopment of this area that affects so many businesses, residents and organizations within this Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU-M) and within the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association area,” Givens said.
Kessler said that after multiple attempts to reach out to both the City of Atlanta and WRS Real Estate they were unsuccessful in creating a community dialogue.
“Since the city first announced that a deal had been reached with WRS, CCI has tried to engage both the City and WRS in community dialogue with limited success. We are concerned about the city’s decision to privatize the street without the typical public notification and input associated with abandonment,” Kessler said.
Downtown Atlanta resident Matthew Garbett said that without a definitive plan the city is left to assume the worse, which would be that WRS plans to gain the property of a private agenda.
“Without any plans, assuming that WRS is not taking responsibility for the $40 million street repair of Pryor, and assuming that WRS’s plans do not include construction of new buildings on the right of way, I am left with the inevitable conclusion that the motivation is entirely to satisfy the developer’s desire to control access to the property,” Garbett said. “This is a thinly veiled anti-loitering law, except enforcement is private and anyone is instantly potentially trespassing while walking through the area.”
Garbett said he considers this an issue for all citizens of Atlanta, as it affects their right to walk where is most convenient after exiting public transit.
“This should concern all Atlantans. Our Downtown streets should not be private property. The rights of citizens who use them, who walk them after exiting the Five Points MARTA Station, is not up to the discretion of a private landlord who can vacate anyone who does not look like they belong because they are now, legally, trespassing,” said Garbett.
