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r - 7-1 ,, It1 ~ January 31, 1969 i ,./ ,~ ...,, l)~~: 1:.-,, i..::, z ~ L~ Vi < A meeting of the Planning and Development Committee of the Board of Aldermen was he Id on Friday, January 31, 1969 at 2: 30 P. M. in Committee Room #2, Second Floor, City Hall. w 0.. ~ L

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cc 0 0 rn All committee members were present as follows: Rodney Cook, Chairman Gregory Griggs, Vice Chairman John Flanigen Charlie Leflwich Jack Summers Q. V. Wil I iamson George Cotsakis Other Aldermen present: Everett Millican, · Fifth Ward Sam Masse 11 , Vice · Mayor Other city officials, department heads, representatives of civic organizations, the Atlanta Housing Authority, Model Cities Program, and the press were also present. (___' I Chairman Cook explained the purpose of the meeting is to meet with a group of Congressmen from predominately rural and suburban areas to provide them with an opportunity to see and discuss first hand the problems of our inner cities and to assess the adec.iuacy of current Federal programs in alleviating urban problems. Th is tour is being sponsored by the United States Conference of Mayors and is intended to be educational, rather than investigative. He then recognized and welcomed to the meeting the following people: w <fl <( w a.. ci'j 2:

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0::: 0 0 m Honorabl e_ Wende 11 Wyatt, (R) Oregon Honorable James Mann, (D) South Carolina Honorable James Hastings, (R) New Yoi:k Honorable Pau l McCloskey, (R ) California Honorable William S. Stuc key , (D) G e orgia Mr. Lowe ll Beck, Urban Coal it ion Mr . Eugene J. Murphy, U. S . Confe rence of Mayors _Mrs. Janet Kohn, U . S. Conference of Mayors Chairman Cook gave a brief o pe ning statement on how Atlanta has approached and d~alt with urban problem·s to date; th ere was then a free exchange belween the Congressme n and city officia ls . ~ Following this discussion, Mr . Cook asked the members of the Pla nning and �Minutes Planning and Development Committee January 31, J969 - Page Two Development Committee to retire to Committee Room #! to conduct a business session of the Committee. He asked the Congressmen to keep their seat for a presentation by the DepC1,1rr:ent of finance, after which they would take a tour of the Model Cities area and continue their itinerary for the day. The Committee reconvened in Committee Room #I at 3:30 P. M. and the · following business was considered: STATUS OF URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT AREAS - CLOSE OUT Hov-rard Openshaw, Director of Redevelopment for the Atlanta Housing Authority, presented each committee mer:nber present a written status report of Atlanta's Urban Renewa'I Program as of January 29, 1969. (See copy attached to original of these minutes). Because of the lengthy agenda only the Butler Street, Rawson-Washington, and University Center Projects were discussed at th is meeting. (_ _, The high I ights of the discussion on each project follows: (Secretary's note - the discussion on each project centered around the Status Report and reference should be made thereto.) Butler Street: The Butler Street Project is the closest to completion, awaiting only the construction contract of the middle school and disposition of a small area of land .. The conversion of the school from elementary to middle has caused~ delay in that the architects had to start over. It appears now that the earliest date construction can start will be the middl~ of August. The Chairman then requested that Mr. Openshaw prepar~ a letter .for his signature to Dr. Letson urging that every step possible be taken to expedite this matter. It was pointed out that a Resolution had be~n passed by the Board of Aldermen designating the area around Ebenezer Baptist Church as a historic site (Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial) and the Housing Author ity subsequently removed the property from the market for commercial reuse; whi le this will not prevent the clos~ out of the project, it does need to be resolved before the Housing Authority can complete thei~ work. ~ Chairman Cook also asked Mr . Openshaw to draft a letter to Mr . Bax ter of l �Minutes Planning and Development Committee January 31, 1969 - Page Three the Department of Housing and Urban Development urging rapid approval on Parcel C-5 and to send him a carbon copy with a note reminding him to personally call Mr. Baxter about the matter. Chairman Cook continued to ask questions and make these requests because of his concern, and the Committee as a whole shared his concern, about the · mounting cost to the city, through interest charges, resulting from delays in closing out the urban renewal projects. Rawson-Washington: The Chairman asked Mr. Openshaw to report what the proje.c t situation would be (relative to the 95% disposition requirement) if any two of the three parcels (Ebenezer Project, park arid school) were disposed of; specifically, could the project be closed out under the condition that the community facilities buildings 14% non-cash credit would be lost. He also asked Mr. Persells to verify with HUD whether or not the credit wou Id, in fact, be lost, since he was not positive about the requirement. · Jay Fountain of the Finance Department was asked to explore the possibility of the city carrying out its commitment in this project through the use of 1 63 Bond Funds. Mr. Cook requested that Mr. Openshaw write Mr. Baxter of HUD requesting that amendment #9 (reference status report) be carried out as quickly as possible. Relative to amendment #9, the question arose as to the disposition of the land in the blocks bounded by Georgia Avenue, Capitol Avenue, Bass and Washington Streets. It was pointed out that the city's Land Use Plan and previous project plans called for some type of commercial reuse for the area . However, a conflict exists with this proposal and the Model Cities proposal, which call.s for the development of temporary office facilities and a Housing Center .~n the sites. Mr . Cook asked who has control of the Rawson - Washington Pro1ect and commented he didn't see how we could plan an area if along the way half the area gets usurped . " · · · 11 Mr . Gladin e mphasi z ed that th is problem is stalemated on the basis of fwo a lderman ic decisions and needs to be resolved . It was noted that the Model Cities people expe ct to occupy their new offices by March I~ . Mr. Cook stated the Model Cities people had wel I re ach some so rt of agreement �Minutes Planning an_d De velopm e nt Committee January 31, 1969 - Page Four "'" w (jj ~ or compromise and he· ente rtain e d a motio n to notify th e m that the entire area south of Georgia Avenue wou Id be conside red for commercial reuse . w 0.. ~ Mr. Openshaw stated he felt we owed them th is kind of di rection; further, he didn't think anything should happen to urban renewal projec t land without the approval of the Housing Authority, Planning Department and this committee. It was the. consensus of the committee that Mr. Gladin notify the Director of Model Cities Program that the entire area in question will be considered for commercial reuse and request that they conside r another location. It was also felt there needed to be further clarification on the line of autfit)rity -· .in this matter. University Center: The committee unanimously approved the Housing Authority proceeding with an amendment deleting from the University Project seven (7) Fulton County owned lots on the south side of Hunter Street, as recommended by the Housing Authority. The elimination of the grade separation at Northside Drive and Hunter Street will require a plan change to permit disposition of the property; commitments by Central Methodist Church and the Celotex Corporation to acquire and develop the land will be required. In discussing close out of the Project, Mr . Persells stated to keep in mind the expansion discussions with Atlanta University.

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BEDFORD-PINE HOUS .ING PROJECT w IJ) < w Q_ ~ 2

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~ 0 0 m After a brief discussion, the committee unanimously approved. the preliminary Bedford-Pine Housing Project Site Plan, as revise d January 31, 1969 . Mr . Cook asked Mr . Persells if the number of units now propose-cl would ta ke· : c are of the people in the a rea who want to remain there , to which Mr . Pe rsells repl ied affi rmati vely, stating there w ould be a total of 66 additio nal units . Mr. Openshaw stated the re vised plan is th e best one to date a nd the arch i te cts ha v e i nd ic a te d they can liv e w ith it. • . • J • In response to q ue st io n ing by Mr . Coo k, Mr . Perse ll s a lso sta ted the revised plan had bee n before the Be dford - Pine Committee a nd approved by them .

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r �<( w Cl Minutes Planning and Development Committee January 31, 1969 - Page Five Being a member of the Model Cities Executive Board, Mr. Griggs left the meeting to attend the Model Cities Tour with the visiting Congressmen. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Cook e x cused himself from the meeting to keep a previous appointment.

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JOINT RESOLUTION BY PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE COMMITTEES SUPPORTING CAPITA L IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM Mr. Gladin .presented this ~esolution, explaining it will give more status to priority items. ~ ~·· \, Mr. Flanigen stated he felt the Resolution should specifically spell out that the Planning Department would have the responsibility for implementing the program . · t ( ~z

Mr. Gladin explained that the Finance Department will ultimately establish the procedures for scheduling of these programs consistent with the Capital Improvements Program; that the intent of this particular Resolution is that the expenditures be based on the program, rather than upon the independent actions of the various committees. IJ.J (/) ~ w Mr. Flanigen reiterated he felt the Planning Department should have this responsibility. There was no further comment. 0.. ~ 2:

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Cr: 0 0 m Upon motion by Mr . Wi II iamson, seconded by Mr. Cotsakis and unanimous vote, this Resolution was adopted.

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DEVELOPMENT OF NEW HOUSING CODE COMPLIANCE PROGRAM Mr . Gladin presented each Committee member present with a copy of a letter (dated January 10, 1969) to Mayor ·Ivan Allen from himself and Bill Wofford outlining the procedures for the development of a new Housing Code Compliance Program. Appended to this was a cover letter (dated January 24 , 1969) from Earl Landers , Administrative Assistant to the Mayor , stating that Mayor Allen is a greeable to procee ding w ith the development of the new progra m a s outl ine d in sa id le tter and Mr . Gladin requested the Comm ittee ' s support . �