Meeting #1 - Q & A

The Historic Designation Committee hosted the first of 4 meetings on Thursday September 7, at First Existentialist Church and on Zoom. The meeting covered some general Historic District education topics, a brief overview of Candler Park’s development, and explanations of what our zoning regulations currently cover. 
Below are Q & As from the meeting, answers have been edited for clarification but full audio and video of the meeting is available as well as other Meeting Materials.

HISTORIC DISTRICTS and PROCESS

Q.  What is the relationship between a National Register Historic District and a Local Historic District?
A.  Candler Park is listed as a National Register Historic District. Listing on the National Register is a primarily recognition/documentation of the historic value of a place and offers no protection on its own. Protection for historic properties through regulations comes at the local (city) level through the designation of local Historic Districts. Local Historic Districts are both documentary and regulatory, used as planning tools to preserve the historic identity of a place.

Q.  What is the relationship between Contributing structures in a National Register Historic District and a Local Historic District?
A.  National Register District may or may not exactly correspond to contributing structures in a local district. The National Register Period of Significance ends in 1955 (so buildings that retain their historic integrity and were built before 1955 are considered contributing) but if a Local District had an earlier or later Period of Significance, that baseline would be used to define Contributing structures in the local district. The City Historic Preservation Studio staff determine whether each building in a proposed district is Contributing or Non-Contributing using the established Period of Significance. As part of this process, each home is documented at the time of the nomination.

Q.  If the building is technically old, but looks modern from the street would it be Contributing or Non-Contributing? 
A.  A house that has been significantly altered so that it does not to appear as it would have historically, would be considered Non-Contributing.

Q.  When is the earliest to expect a vote on a potential district?
A.  May 2024 is the earliest.

Q.  If historic district regulations supersede the current/underlying zoning, how does that work? For an extreme example, what if we adopted “no setbacks”? 
A.  Assuming that were possible and desirable, then the underlying zoning regulation for R-4 of “35 foot front yard setbacks” would be essentially overwritten and all new construction would have to have a “zero-foot setback.” This example would apply only to new construction as existing buildings that do not conform to a regulation, whether Contributing or Non-Contributing, do not have to be altered to suit the regulations. The neighborhood will need to work with City Historic Preservation and Office of Design staff on what is possible and allowed according to building and fire codes.
 
Q.  If 1/4 to 1/2 of a Contributing structure burns down, do you have to keep it?  
A.  In the City of Atlanta if more than 50% of the value of your home is lost, you can rebuild the whole house.

Q.  Does the prohibition on demolition apply to other structures, like detached garages?
A.  We will need to ask the city staff to be certain. However, Limits on demolitions typically only apply to the principal structure on the lot and accessory structures are not typically counted as contributing. Additionally, this may be addressed by the size of the compatibility zone fact that accessory buildings are typically at the rear of a property and would fall outside of the “compatibility zone.”

Q.  What is the actual goal of establishing a historic district? Is the whole thing to maintain an aesthetic identity for the neighborhood?  
A.  Based on the Community Survey put out in the spring of 2022, we saw many neighbors said that the historic character of the neighborhood is a quality that they'd like to see retained. This is both aesthetic and architectural. Another concern that caused the group to be formed initially was that outside developers are able to demolish homes and max out new construction with no consideration of the neighborhood. The group was interested in how we can make new development fit our neighborhood better and also how we could prevent houses from being so easily demolished. 

Q.  Do we have the ability to set regulations for fences, chimneys, etc. for contributing structures?  
A. We can address whatever is important to the neighborhood. There are already regulations in the zoning code about height of fences for example but if we want to address these items to maintain a character we can write them into the proposed regulations. We can also be light handed and choose not to address.
 
Q.  What about homes that already have a feature that may be not allowed by the new regulations?
A.  Anytime new zoning is approved, including historic district regulations, whatever is already existing is grandfathered in.

Q.  What can we do to ensure that homes are changing with the times? For example, the modern need for more electric outlets. 
A.  One of the newer approaches to becoming a historic district will limit the size of the area that even needs to be regulated. Historic districts can directly address water reclamation, solar power, etc. As a reminder, interior alterations are not subject to regulations or review.

Q.  Isn’t it true if we come up with a document, isn’t there part of it that is out of our hands?  
A.  We are going to work with the City so that their input is integrated into the process and there are no surprises. We plan to discuss our first draft with the City staff to make sure our proposed regulations will be allowed and then share that with the neighborhood so that we are not over-promising anything.

Q. What kind of latitude does the UDC have in allowing you to do things that are not in the regulations?  
A.  The UDC is guided by the regulations and the intent of the regulations. There are some things you can’t vary: number of units is an example of that, it would require rezoning to a higher density.

Q.   If you had a contributing structure and you wanted to make alterations to it, is there some consideration like the appeals process? 
A.  If you get a decision on your application that you don't like, you can appeal that decision to the Urban Design Commission.

Q:  Is there any consideration of net benefit to the property itself and to the community? For example, if someone wanted to build something “for the greater good” on a lot that was contributing but could not do it without tearing the building down?
A:  There is nothing wrong with converting an existing building for another use, for example if a house would be an excellent spot for a commercial venture, as long as the property was zoned appropriately (or rezoned) it could be used commercially or for another purpose, but the regulations for a contributing structure, no matter the zoning or use, would remain, including the restriction on complete demolition.

(MOSTLY) ZONING DISCUSSION

Q.  I know that in many places, planning departments are actually getting rid of single-family zoning. Does the city have the power to get rid of single family and duplex zoning? Does an overlay allow them to make a change? What power does the city have, versus what power the neighborhood has?
A.  The city has the authority to change zoning, legally, however only the neighborhood can change historic district regulations. Politically, the city and city council members will usually respond to what a neighborhood wants when it comes to zoning changes. Additionally, a historic district overlay means that items not covered by the overlay would change as zoning changes are made. For example, if the rules we adopt don’t address lot coverage, usage, density, this would default to the zoning regulations.
 
Q.  It seems like what the City decides will have more of an impact if we go with an overlay approach. Who decides what is R-4 and R-5?  
A.  The current zoning map was established probably in 1982. Rezoning requests for individual lots go through the neighborhood for a vote. The city also has a Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) and that plan has a land use map that works in tandem with the zoning map. You can’t rezone a piece of property to something that the land use map does not allow. 
 
Q.  In the City’s Zoning Rewrite: How much “right-sizing” of zoning is the city planning on doing?
A.  There are likely to be options that relieve side yard setback discrepancies, the Zoning Rewrite is unlikely to address architectural characteristics.  
 
Q. Is fixing these zoning concerns in Candler Park off the table because the City is addressing zoning through the Rewrite?
A.  It’s hard to know how long the city’s timeline will be. Whatever the city does, it will apply to the whole city, not specifically to Candler Park. Zoning will not address the concern of demolition.
 
Q.  I want to challenge the idea that a historic district could help increase density. Won’t we run into situations where a 1,200 square foot house couldn’t be demolished?
A.  Yes, but a 1,200 square foot house can be added to, ADUs can be added to the lot, etc. The intent is to address size and scale a bit more.
 
Q.  What are your thoughts about affordable density? My issue with the giant duplexes is they knocked down a $450,000 house and put up two million-dollar houses. As we move forward is not only density, but affordability in your thoughts?
A.  It is hard to buy a property, tear it down, and provide something new that is as affordable as the house that was torn down. Adding an ADU or adding onto an existing house for a greater number of units is usually a much more cost-effective way to add density. The larger apartment complexes provide naturally occurring affordability within the neighborhood. If those large properties could be redeveloped they would not be nearly as affordable. We will discuss density and affordability in more detail in future meetings.
 
Q.  Are garages that face the street allowed under current zoning?
A.  Front-facing garages are allowed as long as they are set back 10 feet from the front facade.
 
Q.  I thought R-5-C got rid of the parking requirement?  
A.  The parking requirement for R-5-C was reduced to 1 parking space per dwelling (it was previously 1, plus 1 for each additional bedroom over 3 and most developers build 2 garage spaces per dwelling). Parking spaces are only required for primary dwellings (so not ADUs)
 
Q.   If you had a contributing structure and you wanted to make alterations to it, is there some consideration like the appeals process? 
A.  If you get a decision on your application that you don't like, you can appeal that decision to the Urban Design Commission (UDC).
 
Q.  When in the process are we getting together to discuss what we want density to look like?
A.  There is actually a question on the survey today about density, but we are planning to get more into that in our discussion of overall district regulation in the 4th meeting. Between now and November 9th, we’re going to have 3 more Community Meetings. We'll keep having surveys that will circulate at our meetings and for people who weren't at the meeting. And at the end of the year, we'll take all of that information and start working on a draft, based on what we're hearing from people, what we see the consensus is.