Neighborhood Planning Units

[Newnan_Eric]

In general I think the NPU's are a good check against the local government and the developers, but they can get a little loony.

Check this article out from that fishwrapper The Story:

NPU-W urges city formalize policy on TADs

This strikes me as shutting the barn door after the horses have gotten out.

[teshadoh]

Eric - you have great knowledge of the NPU's. Actually I wish another UP forummer would post more often - he was chair of the NPU in Midtown. But the NPU's frustrate me yet they also keep us neighbors informed. But they too often act like mini-fiefdoms & are constantly voicing their opinion on non-neighborhood items like protesting the Piedmont Park parking deck.

[ryanmckibben]

Alright, you knew I would weigh in on this one. I have a few of things to say.

First, I agree that their are plenty of people that love to meddle in issues that really do not directly effect them, although we usually rely on the opinions of immediate neighbors when deciding wether to support or oppose a minor zoning varience. Additionally, you must understand that the city is not asking for any type of recomendation from the NPU's (of which their are 24) on the creation of a TAD to fund the Beltline. We are extremely frustrated that a decision as momentous as this one does not warrent the city asking for the opinion of it's citizens.

Second, the NPU system was created specifically to deal with issues such as the parking deck that the botanical gardens wants to build in Piedmont Park. How can you say this is NOT neighborhood related. This will dramatically effect Midtown, Ansley, Va-Hi, and Morningside. Most importantly it will effect the crown jewel of Atlanta'a park system. My personal opinion is that the garage may not be a bad idea, but the road that would cut through the park from Monroe Dr. is a horrible idea. It would effectively cut the park in half, once the expansion is complete. If you like we can get into a discussion on this later.

Third, The Story is not a "fishwrapper". My very good friend, Sarah, writes for them and I am fairly well aquainted with the editor, John Schaffner. They run a paper that does a great job covering news that is important to the Neighborhoods but that would never be covered by mainstream print media. And they do it on a shoestring budget while working insane hours. Cut them some slack.

[teshadoh]

Without going further into detail ryan - what I meant when I suggested neighborhoods meddle into non-neighborhood issues, is when my own NPU votes to dissaprove of the Piedmont Park parking deck. At times the NPU is used as a platform for issues that are outside of the neighborhood & even regional or national news items. In that sense they do get sidetracked...

BUT - I am still a supporter of the NPU system & I consider it Maynard Jackson's greatest legacy.

Lastly, I read The Story every Thursday on line & is the best source for neighborhood news & developments. But at times several news items are biased in order to further John Schaffner's personal idieology - ESPECIALLY regarding the sewer project. Additionally, it isn't too uncommon for factual errors to pop up (especially when they were reporting that receptionists at Clean Water Atlanta were making $150k a year), but b/c of the paper's budget I usually let it slide.

Thanks for posting ryan, I hoped you would drop by...

[Newnan_Eric]

A few things:

It was probably unfair to call The Story a fish-wrapper. However, like my hometown paper The Newnan Times-Herald, they need to do a better job of editing. In this day and age, there is no excuse to publish a newspaper with spelling and grammatical errors. I have seen these in both papers. The writing quality in both is a bit substandard for my taste, but since they operate on shoestring budgets I

[Andrea]

In my opinion the NPU's have probably become the most signficant way for Atlanta neighborhoods to directly participate in the development of the city.

I also agree with Ryan that The Story is a great resource. The more grassroots reporting and commentary we can get the better!