DOWNTOWN — The Atlanta City Council voted Tuesday to pass legislation to rezone a tract of land in Grant Park that's at the center of a redevelopment controversy.
The legislation, drafted by District 1 Councilwoman Carla Smith, whose portion of the city includes Grant Park, changes zoning at the roughly 20-acre site located at 800 and 860 Glenwood Ave. from industrial to high-density, residential-mixed.
Smith drafted the legislation — which passed 12-3 — following a proposed development for big-box retail at the site.
The planned project, which is being developed by Atlanta-based Fuqua Development LP, includes 197,590 square feet of retail and parking for 1,201 motor vehicles.
But Grant Park residents said the project is not in keeping with development guidelines for the neighborhood, including the community's own master plan the BeltLine Overlay, which pushes for high-density residential development in that sector of the community.
Even so, the city council's approval, isn't binding on Fuqua, which already has a demolition permit.
That explain's the neighborhood's drive to overturn the city's earlier approval of the Fuqua's site development plans.
Grant Park is seeking to reverse that approval by appealing that decision in an Oct. 10 hearing at Atlanta City Hall.
The idea is if the neighborhood, which also has the support of neighboring Ormewood Park, Glenwood Park and other communities, can win a reversal, that would force Fuqua to resubmit its plan and conform it to the new zoning designation.
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