Zoning Reform
Aligning zoning laws with Atlanta's needs
In 2015, we commissioned a team of consultants to conduct a comprehensive assessment of and recommend improvements to the City of Atlanta’s Zoning Ordinance. By implementing this zoning reform, the City seeks to create user-friendly regulations, expand transportation options, ensure housing diversity, protect neighborhood character, and create vibrant corridors and districts.
Why: The Mayor and City Council began the process of reviewing the Atlanta Zoning Ordinance by performing a diagnostic of the existing zoning code in combination with professional City staff and a consultant team. The diagnostic, performed over one year, resulted in the Atlanta Zoning Ordinance Assessment that made a series of recommendations for future changes to the Zoning Ordinance, including amendments to the regulations.
What: The Diagnostic categorized the recommendations into 1) those that could be completed in a relatively short period of time as “Quick Fixes,” or “Medium Fixes;” and 2) those that would require a comprehensive overhaul of the current Zoning Ordinance and would likely require a period of two to four years to complete.
The recommendations clarified and improved certain provisions of the Atlanta Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance and provide consistency with the Atlanta City Design project; as well as update consistency with state and federal law, and advance the public health, safety and welfare of citizens. The recommendations topics were broken down into two Phases: Phase I - “Quick Fixes” and Phase II - “Medium Fixes.”
| Phase I Topics | Phase II Topics |
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Where are we now?
Phase I - Quick Fix proposed amendments were adopted and approved in May of 2018.
Phase II: The Medium Fix proposed amendments were adopted and approved in January of 2019.
Zoning Ordinance Rewrite: A Request for Proposals (RFP) - FC-10449 - was posted on December 14, 2018 to solicit bids/proposals on a complete overhaul of our Zoning Ordinance.
The rewrite is an opportunity to incorporate best practices, address outdated standards, create a more user-friendly format, and better align zoning regulations with current and future needs of the city. Public input and conversation is welcome during the process to help DCP shape the new Zoning Ordinance.