Why We Must Deliver the Full Vision of the BeltLine
by Nathan Clubb, District 1 Candidate
The Atlanta BeltLine was envisioned as a catalyst to make Atlanta more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. There included affordable housing, parks, and most critically, light rail transit to connect all 45 neighborhoods along the route. Large sections of the BeltLine trail were paved, a few beautiful new park spaces created, along with a handful of affordable units. Yet, we are a long way from achieving the full vision of the BeltLine. It is crucial that we accelerate delivery of affordable housing and transit before our opportunity slips away.
Baby Abigail Clubb, pondering the More MARTA timeline
Along the southeast segment, which lies in the City Council seat I am running for, District 1, we are experiencing rapid growth and new apartments. Unfortunately, besides the Atlanta Housing development in Chosewood Park, little of it is affordable. Furthermore, many of the apartment complexes are Texas donut-style five story developments wrapped around an oversized parking deck. This is a poor use of valuable land along the BeltLine and induces increased vehicular usage in our neighborhoods, rather than taking advantage of the coming transit. Why? Because the developers do not believe rail will be coming anytime soon, so they are building for today and tomorrow rather than for 40 years from now. We are at risk of having a concrete necklace instead of an emerald necklace. This is why I went to the very first BeltLine Rail Now Meeting at the Georgia Beer Garden; why I went to Transportation Committee meetings to push for funding for rail on the south segment; why I attended multiple More MARTA prioritization meetings to push for the south segment.
So what can we do about it? First of all, push MARTA to prioritize the southwest and southeast segments, which serve some of the communities with the lowest household incomes and lowest car ownership rates in the City. This is where development is headed or has already arrived and where we can have the most impact in terms of equity, good land use, and creating affordable housing. These segments would be well positioned for federal funding for some of those very same reasons.
We also need to ensure MARTA is pursuing funding mechanisms to accelerate delivery of light rail. For example, in the intergovernmental agreement between the City of Atlanta and MARTA, MARTA is to pursue public-private partnerships and other opportunities to obtain the funding needed to deliver on the More MARTA projects. This could include partnering with Emory and other entities on the Clifton Corridor, as well as pursuing a full public-private partnership to deliver the BeltLine southeast and southwest segments. The city of Denver successfully employed a similar approach to fund their light rail expansion.
We need to pursue additional funding mechanisms. This includes pursuing a federal TIFIA low-interest loan to accelerate construction by bringing in needed funds now that would be backed by future sales tax dollars. We should also consider special assessment taxes along the BeltLine because the public investment has greatly increased the property values for many large developers. This would have to be done thoughtfully to not cause hardship to small businesses and affordable housing. We also need to pursue FTA New Starts grants, and we can increase the likelihood of receiving these grants by aligning BeltLine housing policies with FTA’s measure of affordability (which is housing affordable to those making 60% or less of area median income (AMI).
Finally, we need a City Council and Mayor who will step up, seek changes to the intergovernmental agreement with MARTA to ensure our elected leadership has a greater say in the prioritization and execution of More MARTA projects. This includes ensuring Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. is an equal partner on projects involving the BeltLine. We need leaders who will ask the hard questions, ensure there is proper oversight and push for additional and creative ways to finance and accelerate the delivery of BeltLine rail. I want my daughter to live in an Atlanta where BeltLine rail is more than lines on a map but a primary form of transportation for the community.
Nathan Clubb is a candidate for Atlanta City Council District 1. Nathan served as neighborhood association president of SAND for three years, and has been active in his NPU's land use and zoning and transportation committees. In his day job, he leads a performance audit team for the Georgia Department of Audits.