Across Midtown, new ordinance aims to boost street-level vibrancy Josh Green Fri, 08/02/2024 - 13:21 If you’ve found yourself in Midtown lately staring up disheartened at a towering new parking podium wall, or wandering a people-free sidewalk in a retail corridor—well, there’s hope those blank spots in the urban fabric could be a thing of the past.
Following a year of planning and behind-the-scenes work, a new ordinance has officially gone into effect that’s designed to make the street-level experience across the quickly growing subdistrict more engaging, livable, interactive, tech-savvy, accessible, and vibrant.
The Atlanta City Council in June passed a revised version of what’s known as Midtown’s Special Public Interest zoning ordinance, or SPI-16, that’s geared toward enhancing the public domain at street level.
As Midtown Alliance officials relay, the new rules have been a collaborative effort between that agency, the Midtown Neighbors Association, and the city’s Office of Zoning and Development.
The updates to SPI-16 were born from recent changes in tech, insight collected from more than 50 large developments either finished or under-construction since the last zoning updates in 2017, and recommendations from Midtown Alliance’s 2023 Public Life Action Plan, according to Midtown Alliance.
In an effort to better engage Midtown residents and visitors, the SPI-16 zoning helps dictate how future development will look and function in Midtown, impacting urban design, space usage, transportation, and accessibility.
In terms of building design, the ordinance mandates that parking deck facades will need to be architecturally compatible with the rest of the building as a means of better blending in. (Flagrant examples of non-blending can be found at newer projects across Atlanta.)
How the parking deck is masked above retail space at the topped-out Society Midtown tower along Peachtree Street. Courtesy of PMG
According to Midtown Alliance, parking decks will be required at street level to have “intervening ‘active uses’ facing public streets sized at least 20 [feet] deep and at least 36 [feet] in height,” which would help eliminate blank walls at the feet of new high-rises.
As a remedy for ghostly sidewalks, the ordinance will require new restaurants to provide outdoor dining options along most streets in Midtown. And those patio spaces will now be allowed to encroach up to two feet into the sidewalks—and up to three feet on main drag Peachtree Street. (Paris, here we come!)
In an effort to further liven things up, live musical performances will be permitted on streets between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
On the accessibility front, the ordinance will require push-button activators for any building entries that are accessible from public sidewalks.
Buildings will also be required to provide one fast-charging, electric-vehicle parking space for every 20 standard parking spaces, or 5 percent of spaces overall. Those will count toward existing max parking-count caps.
And for Midtown’s growing pet population, new buildings will be able to lease to veterinary uses—so long as they’re soundproofed, according to Midtown Alliance.
Karl Smith-Davids, Midtown Alliance’s urban design senior project manager who led the zoning revisions, predicts the changes will produce exponentially more al fresco dining options across the neighborhood—and generally more life on many streets.
...
Follow us on social media:
Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram
• Midtown news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)
Tags
Midtown Alliance Midtown Neighbors Association Office of Zoning and Development Atlanta City Council Atlanta Development Atlanta Retail SPI-16 Midtown Special Public Interest Zoning Parking Podiums Midtown Development Midtown restaurants
Subtitle Less ugly parking podiums and mandatory outdoor dining for new restaurants—how’s that sound?
Neighborhood Midtown
Background Image
Image
Before/After Images
Sponsored Post Off