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Monday, July 14, 2008
City gives Crum & Forster building a lifeline
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Tech Foundation’s plans to demolish the historic Crum & Forster building in Midtown Atlanta took a big hit.
The city of Atlanta’s Bureau of Buildings has denied the foundation’s application to demolish the 1927 structure at 771 Spring St.
More importantly, the city also sent the foundation a letter expressing its intent to nominate the Crum & Forster building for landmark status. That designation would provide the building greater protection from being demolished
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The foundation had bought the building late last year for possible future expansion of its Tech Square development on the corners of Spring and Fifth streets. The Crum & Forster building, which helped influence the design elements of Tech Square, is located just south of that development.
But the foundation also said it had no immediate plans to develop the site, and that the property would be a vacant landscaped lot for the foreseeable future.
Community leaders and historic preservationist orchestrated a widespread campaign to save the building, including an online petition with about 2,000 names and comments.
In the past few weeks, critics of the foundation’s plans also started appealing to individual members of the foundation’s board as well as lobbying the city to take actions to save the building.
The campaign to save the building seemed to be having some influence with the foundation, which announced last week that it had hired an architectural firm with strong preservation credentials to re-evaluate the foundation’s plans.
The foundation still could file an appeal to the courts to fight the city’s decision to deny the demolition permit and to designate the building as a landmark.
Note to Readers: The date of the public meeting in the following letter is incorrect. The public hearing will be held on July 27 at 4 p.m. at Atlanta’s City Hall.
To read the letter from Atlanta Urban Design Commission to the Georgia Tech Foundation …
July 11, 2008
FIRST CLASS MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Mr. Mark W. Long, Secretary Georgia Tech Foundation Real Estate Holding Corporation 760 Spring St., NW, 4th Floor Atlanta, GA 30308-1028
NOTICE OF INTENT TO NOMINATE
Dear Sir:
This office has been informed that the Special Administrative Permit (SAP-08-24) for the property located at 771 Spring Street, NW, has been denied by the Bureau of Planning.
Due to its historic, cultural and architectural significance, and in accordance with the City of Atlanta’s Historic Preservation Ordinance (see enclosed), Section 16-20.005(b) of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Atlanta, this letter constitutes official Notice of Intent to Nominate the Crum & Forster Building and the real property located at 771 Spring Street, NW, Land Lot 80, in the 14th District (hereafter referred to collectively as the “property” and as shown on the enclosed map, which is incorporated herein by reference). This property is proposed for nomination to the zoning category of Landmark Building/Site (LBS). The property is currently zoned SPI-16 (sub area 1) The Zoning Committee may modify this nomination to another category as provided by Section 16-20.006(b).
You are hereby further advised that the Urban Design Commission of the City of Atlanta will hold a public hearing regarding this proposed nomination on Wednesday, August 23, 2008, beginning at 4 p.m. This hearing will be held in the Atlanta City Council Chambers, Second Floor, City Hall Complex, 55 Trinity Avenue, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia. Also enclosed is a copy of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure that will be used during the hearing. The owner(s), or his or her representative(s), will have a reasonable opportunity to present testimony and other evidence concerning the historical, cultural and architectural significance of the property, or lack thereof. The public will also be allowed a reasonable opportunity to be heard, and may present testimony or other evidence regarding the same considerations.
Please be further advised that, in accordance with Section 16-20.005.C. of the Code of Ordinances, the property herein referenced is protected and controlled by these regulations to the extent provided by that category of protection to which it has been nominated. This protection begins on the above date of this Notice of Intent to Nominate and continues for a maximum of 180 days. During this interim development control period, no alterations of any kind are permitted on this property unless the required Certificates of Appropriateness for such alterations have been secured from the Urban Design Commission of the City of Atlanta.
You are invited to carefully read the enclosed Historic Preservation Ordinance. This Notice of Intent to Nominate is the first step in the process of reviewing the property for possible nomination and designation to one of several categories of historic protection. The Urban Design Commission staff is in the process of preparing a detailed report on this property, which will be available for public review approximately ten days prior to the public hearing referenced above. After the public hearing, the Urban Design Commission will decide whether or not to nominate your property for designation to a category of historic protection. If the Commission nominates
Notice of Intent to Nominate - 771 Spring St., NW July 11, 2008 Page Two
the property, the Zoning Committee of the Atlanta City Council will introduce an ordinance to designate the property to the appropriate category of historic protection. That ordinance will then go through the City’s procedure for all zoning papers, which includes another public hearing before the Zoning Review Board prior to final designation action by the Atlanta City Council.
For further information or questions concerning this matter, please contact the Urban Design Commission at 404-330-6200.
Very truly yours,
Karen Huebner Executive Director
Attachments 1. Atlanta Historic Preservation Ordinance 2. Map of the Property 3. Urban Design Commission Rules of Procedure 4. Economic Incentives Summary
cc: James Shelby, Deputy Commissioner Department of Planning and Community Development & Acting Director Bureau of Code Compliance
Ibrahim Maslamani, Director Bureau of Buildings Ann Heard, Chief Zoning EnforcementPermalink | Comments (51) | Post your comment |
Ways to preserve our natural environment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the years, the state and the region have had several strategies to conserve open space and making metro Atlanta greener.
When Gov. Roy Barnes was in office, the state sought to preserve the land that was most threatened by sprawl and development. That meant that property in and around the Atlanta region was being permanently set aside for green space.
The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, working in concert with governments, foundations and the private sector, also embarked on an ambitious plan to protect the banks of the Chattahoochee River from Helen to Columbus.
In recent years, Gov. Sonny Perdue has emphasized protecting large acreages of land, primarily in outlying parts of the state.
At the same time, the city of Atlanta and TPL have invested in future park land around the Beltline. Also, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett counties have passed significant bond referendums to acquire green space and conserve land.
Plus, other efforts like the PATH Foundation, have been hard at work. PATH has been developing bicycle and pedestrian trails throughout the region, often working in concert with the counties that have passed bond referendums for green space.
Lastly, Paulding County — with help from the state, foundations and voters — has successfully acquired a major wildlife management area for permanent protection.
But the threats remain. Several wildlife management areas, which many believe is in public hands, actually are privately owned. At any time, they could be sold off for development.
Then, in the last few years, timber companies have sold thousands and thousands of acres of forests to development companies. All those tracts potentially could be converted from an attractive natural amenity to subdivisions and strip shopping centers.
And to make matters worse, the state has no source of dedicated funding to acquire and protect land from being developed.
Unlike our neighboring states that have large pots of dedicated funding, such as Florida, we rely on a modest appropriation of funds from the governor to support our state’s green space program. Given that those dollars are allocated on an annual basis, there is no guarantee Georgia will set aside money to preserve our natural environment.
The MillionMile Greenway is one response to the situation. The nonprofit is working to build grassroots efforts throughout the region and the state to develop interconnected greenways.
What should we do to conserve our natural environment?
I would love to hear from you….
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