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PosJtion Paper• bity Of Atlatlla Acquisition of Land by Southern Railway in the Modei Cities Area of Atlanta I. Introduction A. Purpose This statement reflects the concerns of the following operating agencies with reg&rd to expansion plans of Southern Railway: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Model Cities Program Atlanta Parks Department Atlanta Planning Department Atlanta Housing Authority Atlanta Public Works Department It is limited to these major areas: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. II. Land Use and Housing Transportation Relocation of Families Pittman Park Acquisition Inconsistency with Major Planning Efforts Conclusions Areas of Concern A. Land Use & Housing 1. Result. Industrial land use will increase through the enlarged yard facilities while residenti al and park acreage will decline. 2. Effect. Under present plans the resulting increase in heavy industrial activity threatens the stability of the remaining residential neighborhood. Residential property values will decline since living close to a railro ad stor age ~ . �-2yard is ~ndesirabte. With9ut proper pianning there will be an increase in the structural deterioration oi homes adjadent to the yard. B. Transportation 1. Result. Railroad activity will increase above existing levels and the proposed yard limits will dead end various local streets. 2. Effect . (a) Dead-End Streets The expansion, as proposed, will cut-off seven streets in the Pittsburgh Neighborhood . These streets and the number of structures which will be located on the resulting dead-end streets are ~ 1) Windsor Street 0 structures 2 ) Garibaldi Street - 12 structures 3) Gardner Street 1 structure 4) Ira Street 4 structures 5) Rockwell Str eet 0 structures 6) Smith Str eet 16 str uctur es 7) Ber ckele S treet 6 st r uctures - - - 39 str uctur es On these same seven streets , a s pres ently e xisting , there are 1 1 s tructure s o n the dead-end p o rtion s o f t h e streets . I t will have to b e determined if a ny o f the propose d dead-end s t reet s are of sufficient length t o necessitate a turn around. If one is needed 0 then additional properties may have to b e acquired to provide the turn around. The expansion of Southern Railway 0 as proposed 0 includes portions of several streets. To �-3implement this plan, it will be necessary for the City to abandon parts of these streets. A public hearing will have to be held to determine if these streets should be abandoned. (b) McDanield Street Crossing The principal connector between the Pittsburgh and Mechanicsville Neighborhoods is McDaniel Street . This street presently crosses the Southern Railway tracks at-grade. When trains are coming to or leaving the storage yards , McDaniel Street is often blocked for relatively long periods of time . To eliminate these long delays, a proposal has been made to construct an underpass under McDaniel Street. Total cost of this project as estimated by Public Works Department is $1 , 050,000o This does not include ri ght-of-way damage or relocating water lines . To accomplish this project , three or four tracks will have to be killed during construction. This will be difficult since increased train traffic past McDaniel Street will occur if the existing storage yard is expanded . No date for constr uc tion of this underpas s has been set . I f this p r oject is not i mplemented , the incr eased t r ain t r affic f r om the p r oposed storage yar d will fu r ther i n c r ease the lon g delays at t he at - g r a d e c r ossing. ( c ) Fortress Avenue Cr oss i n g Fortress Avenue also conne c ts the P ittsburgh and Mechanic s vill e Nei ghborhoodso Since this s tre e t do e s not l e ad to any major streets and since it crosses the Southern Railway tracks at-grade, Fortress Avenue is not heavily used. Also, trains are parked at times across Fortress Avenue discouraging use of the str eet . �-4- The increased train traffic resulting from expanded yard facilities will all but eliminate the use of Fortress Avenue. There are no plans at this time to improve Fortress Avenue. c. D. Relocation 1. Result. The proposed land acquisition will affect about 100 families. 2. Effect. These people must move without being paid the allowances received by urban renewal displacees: moving expenses and differential paymentso They will not be eligible for temporary housing presently being provided by the Atlanta Hqusing Authority. And their exodus will further contribute to the city's current deficiency in standard housing units for people of such low income. Consequently, the forced movement of such a large number of people by an agency with public responsibility does not reflect recent trends to finance and provide direct housing assistance to such groups , nor does it reflect t h e present trend of business to become involved in the human problems it creates. P ittman Park Acqui s ition 1. Re sult. A portion of Pittman Par k mus t be a c qui r ed f o r r a i l r oad use while adjacent r esident i al and indus t r ial p r oper ty wi ll be acquir ed and add ed t o t h e r emaining par k site . The gymn asium , swimming po ol , and tenn is court s wil l have t o b e d emolished a nd recon s truc t e d: f i nancing is b e ing provi d e d by Southern Railway . 2. Effe ct. Pittman P ark comes close st t o b e ing the most ideal recre ation and p a rk facility in the entire Atlc.nta system. It has b e en bless e d with a fairly complete list of physical facilities, as well as a real outstanding staff. Pittman Park lies within what is referred to as a Neighborhood Service Area Number 20 8 as defined by the A.tlanta �-5Parks and Recreation 1983 Plan. Due to the fact that the Parks Department does not wish to relocate large numbers of people adjacent to the park, they have abandoned any thought of having a full-fledged community park in this neighborhood ~ A community park consists of not less than twenty-five acres · and obviously many, many people would be dislocatedo Thusf they have proposed to convert Pittman into an "expanded neighborhood park" by adding about three acres . The Planning Department has recommended that they acquire the brickyard to bring up the acreage total but their owp design staff opposes this particular direction of expansion. The Park's position, specifically, with Southern Railway System is that , if the park must be bothered , there must be ful l and rapid replacement of all facilities interfered with and these facilities must be bigg er and better and more modern than the e x isting facilities. Eqm, lly ·important, the project must not violate the supe.;: ior philosophy of Model Cities. E. Inc~nsistency with Major Planning Efforts 1, f esul~~ The expansion o f industrial uses in this area ls not cons i stent with existing city p lans fo r the area including the f ol l owing: a. 1983 P a r ks and Recr eati o n Plan b . NDP ?lan f o r Mo d el Cities 0-. 1983 Land Use Pla n f o r Atlanta c1. Mo de l Cities Land Use P l an a nd Five Year Comprehe nsive P lano 2. Eff~. All city plans are interrelate d, some more s o than others. Th e Pitt man Park s e rvice area and plans for recre ation program e xpansion is contingent upon the preserva tion o f Pittsburgh as a resiiential community. Business areas, schools. park, and rehabilitation areas are proposed because of tL~ relationship of these land uses to surrounding uses. The inclusion of an industrial use in this ctea - without proper consideration and control will nullify the past years of work that the city �-6- has committed to this neighborhood - not to mention the cost of this work and the involvement of residents working to better their own environment. For example , the Housing Authority's concern is to determine whether or not the Southern Railway expansion plans are consistent with the Neighborhood Development Program plans prepared by each of the six Model Cities neighborhood resident committees and their planning consultants in conjunction with the staff of the City Planning Department, the Model Cities staff and the Atlanta Housing Authority . Federal and local funds are being provided to carry out these plans which are approved by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Atlanta and the Federal Government. Contractural agreements preclud~ the City from taking any actions such as rezoning or closing of streets which are contrary to the plans approved by the City , the Federal Government and the Housing Authority . I II. Alternative Considerations On the basis of an analysis of proposed plans, two major conclusions have been formulated. A. Selection of Another Site. The foregoing concerns can be minimiz ed if the r a i lroad e xpanded nor th a nd east - into the existing i ndustr ial area o f Mecha nicsv i lle - instead o f south and west into a p ark a n d establ i shed r e sidentia l n eighborhood . Th i s dir ect ion will elimi nate a large , unsi ghtly a nd rat infes ted junkyard a nd also r e l o c ate only a h a ndful o f famili es as opposed to t h e 1 00 p r esent l y a ffected. Bo Involvement of Ra i l road with Age nci e s Re sponsible for _Planning a The ut i lizing o f any site for Railroad expansion can b e found only if the railroad and city agencies develop a closer working relationship than has e x isted to this pointo �