The September 16 CPNO Meeting was good. There was discussion on the latest Draft of the proposed Candler Park Historic District, questions and Amendments. (FINAL DRAFT AND MAP LINKED BELOW!)

One amendment proposed, to strike a height regulation on other buildings (not houses) in the district passed. This was a relatively minor change, but means that the height of those buildings will be defined by underlying Zoning regs for those properties.

>>> Another amendment to strike the regulation allowing up to 2 Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) per lot did not pass so it remains in the Historic District proposal.

Does this mean your neighbor is going to suddenly have 2 ADUs in their back yard?
Well, we don’t know your neighbor but keep in mind that:

1. While this is an increase of 1 unit per lot all accessory dwellings, whether Apartments or Detached “tiny houses” will still be subject to a lot’s total FAR and Lot Coverage. 
2. ADUs DO NOT equal Airbnbs. Airbnbs are regulated by the City and if there is a problem the City should be contacted. Plenty of people use them as guest suites, places for their kids to live, or to earn extra income or provide affordable intown housing for perfectly responsible grad students, single parents etc.
3. We fully expect Zoning 2.0 (google it to find the plans) will define ADUs as apartments within houses, attached to houses OR detached as we think of them now. This is exactly the kind of historic housing we already have in Candler Park and historically have had more of!
4. Finally, having this regulation in the HD place makes a small density increase possible AND protection of historic buildings to occur simultaneously rather than one without the other.

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GOALS OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICT REGS:

• to prevent the further demolition of historic buildings.
• to not restrict the ability of homeowners to expand their homes as needed.
• to preserve the overall historic identity of CP based on the the time when most of the neighborhood was developed: 1855 to 1945.
• to allow density increases that maintain the historic character of the district.
• to preserve flexibility in the design of new housing.

General Regulations: Certificates ofAppropriateness. (COA)

• No COA required for Ordinary repairs/maintenance, if no permit required, or for demolition of a non-contributing structure. Regs specify that solar panels, materials, accessibility and window replacement are allowed and do not require a COA. Anything not mentioned below also does not require a COA
• If you are applying for an exterior building permit, staff will confirm within a day that No COA is needed which prevents things from sneaking by).
• Staff review (14 days max) required for: Alterations or additions that affect the front of buildings, and ADU structures (Type II COA)
  
• UDC commission review (1-2 months) for: New principal structures and Variance requests only (Type III COA)
• AUDC commission review (1-2 months) for: Demolition of Contributing buildings (Type IV COA)

Development Standards. These are Zoning type Regs that apply to every property

• Front yard setbacks - shall be no smaller than the smallest and no larger than the largest front yard setback on the block face. (aka the Compatibility Rule)
• Side yard setbacks –  may either match existing building OR be acumulative of 14 feet with a min of 4 feet on either side (flexible)
• Rear yard setbacks – 7 feet
• Accessory structure rear and side setbacks – 4 feet
• 50% lot coverage
• Height – compatibility rule or 35 feet whichever is greater – use Historic District height measurement standard –  which states that height of structures is measured on the front facade from the average point of grade to the highest point of the roof.

Design Standards - ONLY apply to the FRONT of Historic-Contributing buildings:

• Alterations and additions to all structures are allowed 
• Alterations and additions that affect the front of Contributing Structures which must be consistent with the design of the existing façade.
  

NO Design Review:

• Additions to the rear of Contributing structures may be in any design
• Non-Contributing buildings are not subject to any design regs.
• New construction may be in any design.​

Missed the Draft 4 Review?
There are other ways to find out more! Watch the Zoom recording, catch up with us at one of the upcoming events/meetings, and check out the annotated Draft 4 on your own time. As always comments/questions can be emailed to [email protected]. 

On August 19 at the CPNO Meeting, we presented an explanation of Draft 3, with illustrations of many of the proposed regulations, explanations and some updates and changes the committee is considering. After the first Draft 3 presentation last Tuesday, August 13, there have been several updates and questions considered including:

• changes to the height regulation
• changes to ADU regulations
• "Existing Nonconformities" and how to enshrine that in our regs (see Slide 10)

In addition these slides seek to illustrate some of what is proposed in the regulations. The Zoom recording may be most helpful of course:

August 19 CPNO Meeting Recording (new link!):

It's been a summer of travel it seems but finally we are almost all back in one place and ready to finalize the Candler Park Historic District proposal! We want to share the long-awaited Draft 3 with you and see what you think. In addition, City Office of Design staff will join for the Q&A. 

Join us on ZOOM ONLY:

Tuesday, August 13, 7pm
Historic District Draft Review and Q&A
​Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83965537354?pwd=R9wvBYKiGigbt55Ok5wq5OZSDabSFj.1
Meeting ID: 839 6553 7354
Passcode: 818780
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Is your house likely Contributing or Non-Contributing to a potential Candler Park Historic District? We've created a DRAFT of potential Contributing (historic) and Non-Contributing (not historic) properties attached below.

This initial determination is based on the current proposed Period of Significance (1870 to 1955) and takes into account any alterations to the building which have affected the front facade or front portion of the house.  As you can see there are a number of properties about which we are "unsure" about and need final input from the City on. Although we think this is fairly accurate determination, THIS IS A DRAFT AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE! A final assessment will be made by the City after we have finalized our proposed district.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and questions about the 1st draft, we tried to get back to as many of you as possible with answers to questions and take all of your comments into account. There were a lot of questions around the proposed "period of significance" and we will go into that further in a separate post.

Summary provided below but you don't have to take our word for it:

Missed the Draft 2 Review Meeting?
​Watch the Zoom recording here:

Overall synopsis of the Proposed regulations:

• Yard setbacks can conform to the existing house or match another house on the block rather than being a set # of feet.
• Alterations/additions are allowed to both contributing (historic) and non-contributing (not historic) buildings.
• Alterations/additions may be in any style or design except the facades of contributing buildings, in which case the existing design should be retained (but only on that elevation).
• Solar panels will be allowed anywhere
• The proposal does not regulate materials or window replacement.
• The proposal enables gentle density increases through ADUs with some important changes to allow construction of ADUs will be more flexible and for ADUs to be larger and more numerous which will be helpful for adding density particularly on larger lots.
• ADU construction will still be governed by the overall lot coverage and floor area allowed by zoning.
• Changes in the number of primary dwellings on a lot can be increased in the future through the underlying zoning.
• Existing uses (ie the number of dwellings on a lot even if not technically legal by zoning) - CAN REMAIN under new owners and even if the building is changed. (this is already allowed by zoning)

Main points that have been revised for Draft 2 -

• Period of Significance changed to end with 1955 across entire district - this aligns with the National Register nomination.
• Defined "facade" and deleted other definitions which are covered in Chapter 20 (historic districts) of Atlanta's municode.
• Specified that no COAs will be required for solar panels, change of building materials, handicap accessibility features such as wheelchair ramps, or the replacement of windows. 
• Financial hardship exemption - this has been revised based on the City's recommendation that we use the MLK District's language. There are 2 factors for consideration that have been removed which are 1) the owner's age and 2) the length of time they have lived there. 
• Accessory Structures - change from unlimited size of ADUs to 50% of the main structure (current limit is 30% of main structure).
• Design Standard section: added clarity for what specifically could be "regulated" when making alterations/additions to contributing building facades.

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