The resounding defeat of the TSPLOST scuttled a $600 million shot at funding a streetcar line for the Atlanta Beltline, leaving no identified short-term way to pay for the ambitious project's main transportation element.
Beltline boosters viewed the tax as a way to accelerate by at least a decade plans to weave streetcars through the 22 miles of unused rail lines they're turning into parks and trails. With the tax plan's failure, planners now hope to win federal grants and land other revenue to speed the project.
The Beltline, meanwhile, will continue taking shape as a scattering of redevelopments, parks and trails that planners hope to eventually link into a continuous loop.
"It takes us back to our original plan. When it was conceived, TSPLOST wasn't part of our plan. So now we're back to Plan A," said Brian Leary, chief executive of Atlanta Beltline Inc., which oversees the project. "We're a wily and creative bunch. We're going to look behind every tree and every rock" for more money for a transit element to tie things together.
In the absence of a new source of funding, the Beltline will likely be about parks and trails - sans transit - for the next decade at least. The penny sales tax would have paid for about 10 miles of streetcar lines along the east and west flanks of the Beltline. The two sides would have been linked by a perpendicular route running along either North Avenue or 10th Street.
The Beltline streetcar landed a spot on the $6.14 billion TSPLOST project list because supporters argued it would help reduce commutes and keep thousands of cars off the road. Critics said it is basically a city economic development project with little regional impact.
The original plan already has spurred miles of walking trails, new parks and the redevelopment of vacant lots and dilapidated property at points along the 22-mile loop.
It's also spawned fears of rising property taxes and concerns about misspent tax dollars.
Tangible results
Beltline designers were eager to deliver residents tangible results, like parks and trails, before tackling the more controversial and expensive question of lacing the trail with transit and finding a way to link it to MARTA. Some of the recreation areas that are already finished are helping to shape the city's growth.
Take the Historic Old Fourth Ward Park, a $50 million, 17-acre park on the city's east side. Miles of trails and greenspace radiating from the park are set to be completed in the fall, and a new stormwater retention pond in the center of the park collects the runoff that used to routinely swamp the area.
That's crucial for the ring of dense apartment developments that have popped up around the area, as well as the nearby Ponce City Market, the enormous complex that will eventually offer retail and commercial space along the route.
"A lot of people think you can attract business just by cutting taxes. But it's also about having things like parks and streetcars that make companies want to be there," said Matt Bronfman, chief executive of Jamestown Properties, which is developing the market. "Companies care about amenities like the Beltline."
There's also been a development spurt along the northern chunk of the Beltline. Kyle Jenks, a developer with Parkside Partners, has five projects completed along the Beltline and another two in the works. One of those is a medical office tower under construction along the Beltline near Piedmont Hospital that was fully leased months before it's set to be completed.
"The Beltline is here and it's going to stay," he said. "And long-term, I know we need it."
At least 88 projects, from retail outlets to apartment complexes, along the Beltline were completed or are in the works since 2007. More are said to be in development, and investors seem eager to trade on the project's cachet when promoting their deals, regardless of the fate of the transit portion.
"Even if the Beltline doesn't go any further and is just a linear park with a jogging trail and a bike trail, then it's already a fantastic amenity. That alone is enough for us to bet on it," said Tim Schrager, a principal with Perennial Properties, which is building a 227-unit apartment complex on the Beltline's eastern flank.
Uneven development
Still, the Beltline's development has been uneven. Much of it is weighted toward the northside, where an influx of younger, affluent residents are more eager to live in denser developments.
In south Atlanta, some of the new parks and trails along the route are still surrounded by vacant lots, rundown homes and shuttered industrial sites. And on the Westside, a 300-acre park on the Beltline that planners hope will ignite growth is still far from completion.
Critics fear the Beltline will spur development in booming parts of the city while neglecting struggling neighborhoods. They worry that higher property taxes along the route will drive out poorer, largely minority homeowners who live along blighted areas of the line.
"It's very predictable who would be the most vulnerable. It's not rocket science. The elderly, low-income, minorities and renters," said Robert Bullard, an Atlanta native who is dean of Texas Southern University's school of public affairs.
He said pushing those residents to more affordable housing in the inner suburbs only creates a "tremendous mobility barrier at the same time you're creating new transit for the wealthy."
Others argue taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook for the development of a project that will enrich developers. Some of the improvements are fueled by a state law that allows Atlanta to use property taxes generated through special zones, called tax allocation districts, to fund redevelopment costs.
"The Beltline should be the developer's responsibility," said George Pilkington, a veteran transportation engineer. "They need to put the infrastructure in — not taxpayers."
The Beltline has received more than $120 million through the pledge of future increases in property taxes generated by new development in a special district created along the route. And boosters have raised more than $40 million in private donations. Significantly more money would be needed to take on the costly operation of transit routes, which boosters say is crucial to connect the region's major job centers, dense neighborhoods and popular attractions.
In the aftermath of Tuesday's vote, Beltline officials know they'll face more competition for limited transportation dollars. But they point to behind-the-scenes work that includes completing many of the land-use plans and key environmental studies needed to move ahead.
For now, project's tangible developments offer something else that's crucial. Beltline employees often take visitors on tours that stop at the Historic Old Fourth Ward Park, where they're shown the constellation of apartment complexes surrounding the area.
The intended message is simple: The Beltline has buy-in from the business community.
"The private sector didn't take for granted that TSPLOST was going to pass," said Leary. "They were making their decisions and investing based on what was actually happening. And our parks and trails are concrete and steel and granite. It's a real investment. And it's a permanent one."
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