City of Atlanta CDP

20 Land Use

Introduction

This Land Use Element represents the Land Use Plan for the City of Atlanta. It includes the Land Use Policies that are contained within this document, as well as the set of twenty-four Land Use Maps (one for each Neighborhood Planning Unit), that is maintained in the Bureau of Planning Office. The Land Use Plan is a guide to the physical growth and development of the City for the next fifteen years, beginning in 2004.

The goals of the City’s Land Use Plan are to ensure that the land resources of the City accommodate economic development, natural and historic resources, community facilities, and housing; and to protect and promote the quality of life of the residents of Atlanta’s communities.

A close correlation exists between the Land Use Plan and the City’s zoning maps. Four times a year, amendments are made to the Land Use Plan so that zoning changes correspond with the Land Use Plan. These amendments are made in order to comply with the landmark case of Moore vs. Maloney, in which a federal court ruled in 1985 that zoning changes must be consistent with the CDP Land Use Plan. Prior to the court ruling, the land use plan was amended annually to correspond to zoning changes.

The amendments are commonly referred to as “CDP Amendments”, and require the submission of a formal CDP Amendment application and hearing, in a similar fashion to an application for a zoning change to a property. The quarterly CDP hearings are conducted in the Atlanta City Hall Council Chambers by the Community Development/Human Resources Committee (CD/HR Committee).

ThisLand Use Plan has been prepared in order to achieve the City’s development goals. These goals were first expressed by the City’s first zoning ordinance in 1922. Development goals for the City of Atlanta were then expressed by the Population, Growth, and Distribution Report of 1953; by Planning Atlanta, which was published in 1970; by the 1973 Urban Framework Plan and by a series of annual CDP updates beginning in 1975.

The Land Use Element includes sections on Inventory and Assessment, Current Land Use Policies, and Proposed Land Use Policies, Land Use Activities Currently Underway.

Current Conditions

The City of Atlanta contains a land area of approximately 132 square miles, which represents 84,480 acres. Metropolitan Atlanta, which encompasses a defined twenty-county area, continues to grow and expand at a rapid pace, faster than the City. Nevertheless, the City of Atlanta retains its position as the hub of the entire region.

A prominent feature of Atlanta’s development pattern is the star-shaped form of commercial and industrial land use radiating outward from the central core. This growth pattern follows natural ridge formations and is further reinforced by the transportation network of major streets, freeways, railroads, and the MARTA transit system. The transportation network reflects the topography, particularly Atlanta’s natural ridge formations, which bound ten streamway watershed basins.

Notable physical characteristics within the City of Atlanta are the rolling, hilly topography, numerous streams, and an extensive tree canopy. Atlanta has developed naturally, into an “organic” land use pattern.

Ten topics comprise the ensuing discussion of current land use conditions. They are:

1. Watershed Framework
2. Neighborhood-Centered Land Use
3. Nodal Development
4. Land Use Inventory
5. Land Use Mixtures
6. Land Use Transitions
7. Land Use Designations
8. Zoning Districts
9. Relationships Between Land Use Designations and Zoning Classifications
10. The Land Use Intensity System of the Zoning Regulations

Watershed Framework

Atlanta’s roadway network and resulting development patterns are directly shaped by its watershed topography.

Atlanta is the meeting point for ten streamway watershed basins that are thousands of acres in size and which supply two distinctly separate river basins--the Chattahoochee River and the Ocmulgee River.

At the northern and western sides of the City, the Chattahoochee River is supplied by seven streamway basins: Long Island, Nancy Creek, Peachtree Creek, Proctor Creek, Sandy Creek, Utoy Creek, and Camp Creek. In the southeastern section of the City, three streamway basins supply the Ocmulgee River: Sugar Creek, Intrenchment Creek, and the South River.

Ridgelines and plateaus bound each streamway watershed basin. The basins, which are cradled by the higher topographical features, are actually floodplain valleys where the headwaters of several tributary creeks originate in springs. These springwaters flow into a principal creek, which ultimately flows through a streamway corridor and floodplain to supply each of the rivers. A more detailed description of Atlanta’s watersheds is provided within 11 ‘Natural Resources’

Neighborhood-Centered Land Use

A useful framework for thinking about land development may be provided by defining areas of increasing size and development intensity, which form concentric rings. In theory, these can be described by the following definitions for ‘neighborhood’, ‘community’, and ‘city’:

• Neighborhood - Encompasses an area that has a one-fourth mile radius and a population of 2,000 to 5,000 persons.
• Community - Encompasses an area that contains two or more neighborhoods and has a combined population of 15,000 to 30,000 persons.
• City - Encompasses all communities that are contained within the jurisdiction.

An idealized concept of neighborhood-centered land use defines a ‘neighborhood’ as a land area whose geographical boundaries are located within a radius of one-fourth to one-half of a mile from an elementary school. According to this concept, the elementary school is the focus of civic activity at the neighborhood level, and is within walking distance for children and their families who live in the surrounding residences. This concept has diversified to include convenience commercial establishments as the functional foci of neighborhoods. In part, this is due to the increasing size of elementary schools, which often serve children from several neighborhoods that are located within the required radius.

In Atlanta, elementary schools and convenience commercial land uses sometimes are shared by several neighborhoods, and located at such distances that require access by motorized transportation. However, experience has shown that one-fourth to one-half of a mile is the distance that people will generally walk to a destination. This has become a nationally recognized, established standard for the development of pedestrian-oriented land uses that serve neighborhood clusters.

In Atlanta, communities (as were defined above) are loosely formed of several neighborhoods that are oriented to the same institutional or commercial centers, or to transit stations. The West End MARTA station and commercial core is an example of a community focus point, or node, which serves the West End, Westview, Harris Chile, Ashview Heights, and Mozley Park neighborhoods, among others. However, most land development in Atlanta has occurred along highway and roadway transportation corridors that poorly define communities. Atlanta’s familiarity with suburban-style, low-density, single-family detached residential neighborhoods has influenced a preference for, and perpetuation of, this land use pattern. In addition, vehicular mobility enables citizens to travel beyond communities for particular services, commerce, and recreational experiences.

Nodal Development

The Urban Framework Plan, which was adopted by the City of Atlanta in 1973, proposed a series of high-density, mixed-use development nodes. The concept of ‘nodal development’ is transportation-oriented and seeks to centralize development into a concentric, rather than linear, land use pattern. These nodes mostly coincide with rapid transit stations, such as the Midtown, West End, Lenox, and Lindbergh MARTA stations, where all forms of access are good and high-density development is appropriate. Other nodes were proposed at certain freeway interchanges, including the Greenbriar Mall area and I-75 at Cleveland Avenue. The concept of ‘nodal development’ can be broadened to include commercial and civic centers as the nodal focus point that would serve a community.

“Nodal development”, in concept, is characterized by the following distribution of land uses round MARTA transit stations:

• Presence of a “core zone” - A core zone exists between 1,000 and 2,000 feet in diameter, which contains a high-intensity mixture of multiple land uses. A ‘transition zone’, which surrounds the core, acts as a buffer strip in which land use intensity and building scale mediate between the core and surrounding areas. A ‘preservation zone’ surrounds the transition zone and allows the preservation of existing residential neighborhoods, industrial areas, or commercial areas that lie outside of the proposed development nodes.

• Formation into “concentric rings” - In concept, nodal development takes the form of ‘concentric rings.’ However, in some instances, the form can be skewed due to the presence of natural physical barriers or because of a City policy of protecting single-family neighborhoods from the adverse impact of high-density development. The Lenox and Lindbergh Center MARTA station areas are two examples of this type of variation. In theory, where community nodes exist, the rings of nodal development overlap the boundaries of neighborhoods and neighborhood clusters.

• Existence of relevant preservation policies - The ‘nodal development’ concept is complemented by the existence of preservation policies for neighborhoods and urban conservation areas. The policy of nodal development that was established by the Urban Framework Plan has shown results especially in the Midtown and Lenox areas. A corollary of the nodal development policy is to discourage strip commercial development.

Land Use Inventory

A land use inventory was conducted for the City of Atlanta in order to meet the State of Georgia’s mandate that each jurisdiction that seeks State certification conduct one.

The City’s land use categories are grouped into eight major categories: These include the following: 1) Residential; 2) Commercial; 3) Industrial; 4) Transportation, Communications, and Utilities (TCU); 5) Institutional; 6) Recreational Open Space; 7) Vacant Land; and 8) Rivers, Lakes, and Streams. No agricultural or mining uses currently exist within the City of Atlanta.

Map 20.1 ‘Existing Land Use in the City of Atlanta in 1999’ provides a very general illustration of existing land use within the City of Atlanta as of 1999 (as provided by the Atlanta Regional Commission). The land use inventory for the City of Atlanta separates land uses into categories for the purpose of data collection only; the City of Atlanta encourages vital mixtures of land uses (see section ‘Land Use Mixtures’, below). Table 20.1 ‘Acreages and Percentages of Total City Land Area – By Major Land Use Categories’ portrays the approximate acreage and percentage of the City’s total land area that was devoted to each of the eight land use categories in 1999.

Source: Atlanta Regional Commission, 1999

Residential Land Use

Residential land use consists of large areas of residential development that are grouped into well-defined neighborhoods. These comprised over half of the City’s land area (54 percent) in 1999. This was particularly evident in the northern and southwestern quadrants, where single-family housing accounted for most of the residential use. This was by far the largest land use category, and the relative amount was significantly greater than was that of most cities that are of comparable size.

As is indicated above, the largest residential areas have been developed for low-density, single-family detached homes. Another significant characteristic was that many single-family neighborhoods were successfully maintained next to relatively high-density development. This coexistence could be attributed, in part, to City policies regarding neighborhood preservation (see ‘Promotion of Neighborhood Conservation’, below).

Commercial Land Use

The City’s commercial areas comprised approximately 10 percent of the City’s total land area in 1999. Commercial areas were located in the central core (Downtown) and along major arterials, such as Peachtree Road, Piedmont Road, Cheshire Bridge Road, Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Bankhead Highway, Ponce de Leon Avenue, Campbellton Road, and Jonesboro Road.

Control of strip commercial development was first emphasized in the Planning Atlanta study of 1970, and it has continued to be reinforced in subsequent studies and comprehensive development plans to the present day. All aspects of the City’s development are better served when streets are relieved of the traffic congestion, confusion, and multiple turning movements that are present in most commercial strips. The nodal development concept, when it is reinforced by appropriate zoning, is intended to discourage the growth of commercial strips. The largest areas of commercial/office land uses were present in Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead.

Industrial Land Use

About 8 percent of the City’s land area in 1999 was committed to light and heavy industrial uses. The industrial areas were mainly concentrated in the northwestern part of the City, between the Chattahoochee River and Fulton Industrial Boulevard, and along the Southern Railway and Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which extended through the northeastern corridor. On the southside, industries were located along the Central of Georgia Railway, the Atlanta and West Point Railroad, Southern Railway, Zip Industrial Boulevard, and South River Industrial Boulevard.

A recent trend in older industrial areas is to transform existing buildings into residential or mixed-use loft developments. Newer industries are concentrated in industrial parks, such as the Atlanta Industrial Park in the northwest and the Southside Industrial Park in the southeast.

Institutional Land Use

Approximately 6 percent of the City’s land area in 1999 was committed to institutional uses. Examples of these uses are churches, government facilities, colleges, hospitals and medical offices, and cemeteries.

Transportation/Communications/Utilities (TCU)

This land use includes roads and utility easements (open land that are devoted to electrical and telecommunications equipment), as well as transportation-related facilities, including the Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport and MARTA stations and related facilities. About 19 percent (19%) of the City’s total area in 1992 was committed to transportation, communications, and utilities. The City’s role as a regional hub has contributed greatly to an increase in the proportion of land use that is devoted for these purposes since 1970. This increase is also attributed to the amount of land that is occupied by the MARTA rail system, the Georgia 400 rights-of way, and streets that are installed in new subdivisions.

Open Space/Parks

Approximately 4 percent of the City’s land area in 1999 was committed to open space uses such as recreation facilities, parks, golf courses, and floodplains.

Vacant Land

Vacant land in 1999 constituted almost 12 percent of the City’s total land area. This category was defined as Forest Land in the ARC survey.

Rivers, Lakes, and Streams

Water bodies comprise one percent (1%) of the City’s total land area.

Agricultural Land Use

Only one-tenth of the land was being used for agricultural purposes in the City in 1999.

Land Use Mixtures

Mixtures of multi-family residential, commercial, office, and institutional land uses can result in a more efficient use of land and greater social vitality. “Land use efficiency” refers to the reduction of the distance that people travel by automobile to frequent destinations – such as the grocery store, the post office, or the laundry or dry cleaner. When these land uses are dispersed and mixed with apartments, condominiums, or offices, people tend to walk for errands, or to make shorter vehicular trips, resulting in a reduction of traffic generation. The City encourages a compatible mix of commercial, residential and office uses. This could occur vertically, when different land uses are in the basement, first story, or second story of a building. Alternatively, the mixture could occur horizontally, when different land uses are located within walking distance (which is defined as being within one-fourth to one-half of a mile) of each other.

Land Use Transitions

Where land use classifications exist which permit types of development that have incompatible characteristics, such as incompatible height, density, scale, appearance, or character, they may be separated by another land use classification which permits types of development that has intermediate characteristics, and which may act as a transitional land use area. Such transitional land uses might include residential development with variations in unit densities and building scale.

Land Use Designations

The City of Atlanta has assigned a “land use designation” for each parcel of land. This has occurred over a period of time through official City policy in consideration of several factors; including existing land use conditions, projected land use and real estate trends, citizen input, petitions by developers, and professional recommendations. The land use designation for a particular parcel of land represents the City’s official policy for the recommended future development of that parcel. It may or may not coincide with the actual use of that parcel as it has been developed. The City considers these land use designations when reviewing rezoning requests.

The land use designations are portrayed on the land use maps for each of the twenty-four neighborhood planning units (NPUs).

Twelve land use designations are recognized and portrayed on the City’s land use maps. They are: 1) Open Space; 2) Single-Family Residential; 3) Low-Density Residential; 4) Medium-Density Residential; 5) High-Density Residential; 6) Very-High-Density Residential; 7) Low-Density Commercial; 8) High-Density Commercial; 9) Industrial; 10) Office/Institutional; 11) Office/Institutional/Residential; and 12) Mixed-Use Development.

Zoning Districts

The City of Atlanta Zoning Ordinance of 1982, as amended, identifies specific allowable zoning districts within the City, as are listed in Table 20-2. Each parcel of land in the City currently lies within a specific zoning district, as is shown on the Zoning Maps that are maintained by the Bureau of Planning. When a parcel of land lies within a particular zoning district, it is said to be “zoned” according to that zoning district. The City’s zoning districts include fifteen different types of residential zoning districts, an office and institutional zoning district, six commercial zoning districts, two industrial zoning districts, fourteen special public interest districts (SPIs), four types of planned development zoning districts, eight types of landmark districts, and four types of historic districts.

“Historic district zones” may be established as “overlay zones” for the purpose of recognizing official historic zones and requiring that special standards be applied to any development-related activity which is proposed for an existing historic structure or for vacant land which lies within an official historic area. Such properties thus receive special protection due to their historic statuses. The Urban Design Commission engages in a formal review of any development-related proposals for properties that are located within these historic district zones.

Similarly, some SPI districts are overlay zones that add to, rather than supplant, the underlying zoning of property. SPI districts are established for areas of the City that have unique, significant characteristics and thus merit regulation on an individual basis.

Relationships Between Land Use Designations And Zoning Regulations

Each land use designation is more generalized than any individual zoning district and is considered to be compatible with several zoning districts. As a result, many more zoning classifications exist than do land use designations. This is because zoning is a more specific means of regulating property than a land use designation. The land use maps and policies guide the land use pattern of the city in a general fashion, while the zoning districts impose specific controls and permissions on property.

Residential development in Atlanta is regulated through a Land Use Intensity System (LUI System), which was incorporated into the zoning ordinance in 1989. The LUI System incorporates floor area ratios (FARs) to control the bulk of multi-family residential development in relation to gross lot size.

The “unit density” of some low- and medium density residential development is regulated by minimum and maximum of dwelling units per acre. These controls are imposed on property, if considered appropriate, when the CDP land use map designation of the property is changed.

Table 20.3 ‘ Land Use Classification System’ depicts the correspondence of the City’s land use designations to its zoning districts. The mixed-use land use designation is unusual in that it imposes a specific control on property: it requires that 20 percent (20%) of the total square footage of a development that is proposed for property that has the mixed-use designation be residential. Table 20.3 ‘ Land Use Classification System’ shows the correspondence between land use designations, zoning categories, floor area ratios, and residential units per acre. Table 20.4 ‘Relationships Between Land Use Designations and Zoning Classifications’ further illustrates the correspondence. Some zoning districts, notably the SPI and historic districts, are not included in these tables because the correspondence between these districts and the land use designations is determined on a case-by-case basis, by Bureau of Planning staff.

Changing the Land Use Designation of a Property

A property owner may petition the City of Atlanta to officially change the land use designation on that property. This is called a “CDP amendment” or “CDP land use map amendment”. This usually occurs when a property owner seeks to rezone a property to a zoning classification that is not currently allowed under the existing land use designation of the property. In that situation, the property owner must also request that the land use designation of the property be changed in addition to changing the zoning classification of the property.

For example, the “Single-Family Residential” land use designation allows only the zoning districts of R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5, and PD-H. If a property owner were to seek a zoning classification of C-1, then a request for a “CDP land use map amendment” must also be filed along with the rezoning application, in order to initiate the process of changing the land use map designation of the property to Low-Density Commercial.

While it is most common for a CDP land use amendment to be requested in conjunction with a rezoning application, occasionally a neighborhood group might request it, or it might be sponsored by the City Council itself. Such an application would typically be filed with the Bureau of Planning for the purpose of seeking a change in the land use designations of several adjacent or nearby properties in order to encourage the development of certain types of land use patterns.

CDP land use map amendments are reviewed in a similar fashion to that of zoning cases, and then are heard in public hearings that are conducted by the Community Development/Human Resources Committee of the City Council. These public hearings are held on a quarterly basis. The full City Council make final decisions on the CDP land use map amendments.