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http://atlanta.curbed.com/archives/2015/03/25/beltline-committee-could-raise-bar-on-development-design.php

Beltline Committee Could Raise Bar on Development Design
Wednesday, March 25, 2015, by Josh Green

Fans of Atlanta's faux-Italian-villa-ization could have reason to be concerned. The Beltline is vowing to up the design ante for developments built within a half-mile of the multi-use trail and possible transit corridor, officials said this week. The Atlanta City Council has green-lighted a new Design Review Committee to be managed by the Beltline, which will aim to "achieve the highest design standards for all projects" in the Beltline planning area. The chain of command will start with this new committee, and they'll make recommendations to the city's Office of Planning, helping to ensure that projects meet the Beltine Overlay and master plans established back in 2007, officials said. And it sounds like future transit could be at the forefront of this committee's minds.

Regarding 'thoughtful, transit-oriented development' >>
The master plans address land use within a half-mile of the Beltline corridor. They're meant to create "a framework of thoughtful, transit-oriented development that supports future population growth and transit ridership," officials said, adding: "The DRC will help guide development according to those plans."

Consisting of eight members, the DRC will include three Beltline officials and one from the city with expertise in design, project management and community engagement. Other committee members — two independent architects, an independent city planning professional and a member of the TAD advisory committee with design experience — won't have ties to city government.

If you fit that billing, they want your 2 cents. Unless you're Urbanistor.

Beltline officials are seeking volunteers to fill three of the committee's independent positions. The right candidates will be willing to devote a few hours per month to reviewing permit applications and attending a meeting. Board members will be expected to serve two-year terms. Our future grandchildren will counting on you.




this is a step in the right direction. the glass residential towers were cool at first but 3 and 4 skyhouses later its turning the city into a completely bland cityscape, all the buildings should NOT look the same. not to mention all the same 4 story apartment complexes that have popped up all over city (around 4th ward park, midtown, edgewood shopping district one coming).

the biggest let down was the leonard on memorial drive! what an an eyesore, it a box of a building u would expect to find in office park somewhere in cobb! as someone who lived on that stretch of memorial drive for years and always wanted the empty lots i walked by daily to be developed, what they put up is just really really bad. place doesnt even have real balconies, just julliette.

prototype

stand ur ground, believe in urself,
believe in love, prepare urself for love, remove the negativity from ur life, and accept the love u kno u deserve

http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/72859/file-17429290-jpg/images/steel-buildings.jpg


maybe they appreciate irony *shrug*

honestly, it sounds pretty cool, I hope they don't get too crazy w/ the requirements.

than market fundamentals. architectural diversity is great, but design is costly, and determining the viability of unique projects can be seen as unnecessarily burdensome for some developers. they end up building cookie-cutter Skyhouses and Amlis because they're both relatively cheap to construct and able to generate premium rents, and so as long as their investors see a large rate of return, we'll continue to be mired in banality. so yes, regulation and restriction are the right policy choices. my only concern is that this committee appears redundant--why not simply empower the AUDC with greater regulatory authority with regards to the Beltline TAD overlay? i think having two completely separate oversight bodies maintaining very similar missions will both disincentivize collaboration and silo agendas, especially if, say, a variance falls where jurisdictions overlap (like the east side of Grant Park).

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"A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled, and less than that no man shall have." - TR

its seems toothless from what i see coming up all over town. i new before I even posted this that money was the motivation but if atlanta wants to (continue to) be a world class city, the city govt needs to take some kind of control of whats built here. this may just be my emotional response and i know the city doesnt want to turn any money/development away, but personally id be more willing to pay a higher rent in a really unique/cool building as opposed to one that is bland and all glass looking almost exactly like the one across the street from it. I'm sure im not alone

i mean the new falcons stadium is a nod to the unique, something new, attention grabbing so there should be more of that in housing choices

but again thats just how I 'feel' about it, i know there are real economic factors at play

prototype

stand ur ground, believe in urself,
believe in love, prepare urself for love, remove the negativity from ur life, and accept the love u kno u deserve

design where we'll just get a bunch of cooler looking bldgs that still look exactly the same in some way.

You have a great point about the redundancy though, I haven't been paying close attention to the beltline since I left the city. But creating areas for tension to exist is never a good thing.