Urban Design Standards

A Resolution Calling for Adoption of Street and Sidewalk Design Standards
That Support Revitalization of Town Centers in Metropolitan Atlanta

WHEREAS, cities, and town centers are generally the oldest settled places in their vicinities; are more diverse, denser, have a greater mix of land uses and offer more choice in life style than their surrounding communities; and,

WHEREAS, cities and town centers either are attracting or will attract significant new growth, which is the result of demographic, economic, and lifestyle changes which are projected to continue for the foreseeable future; and,

WHEREAS, the functionality, safety and visual quality of the street and sidewalk environment - the streetscape - is an essential public amenity to attract and build on the market shifts that favor in-town living options; and,

WHEREAS, regional public investment in urban transportation infrastructure in cities and town centers has languished over the last forty years as suburban settlement patterns have dominated development activity; resulting in inadequate urban streets, intersections, sidewalks, and transit, which have only recently been recognized as essential to regional transportation efficiency, and

WHEREAS, the Atlanta Regional Transportation Plan depends on the accelerated development of cities and town centers because of their unique capacity to support transportation alternatives that reduce automotive transportation demand and contribute to attainment of federal air quality standards, and WHEREAS, current street design standards and practices administered by the Georgia Department of Transportation continue to prioritize automobile traffic flow over the quality of the streetscape environment as a whole, measurable by such criteria as design speeds, lane widths, turning radii, on-street parking, tree planting clear zones, acceleration and deceleration lanes, sidewalks, intersections and other related design criteria; undermining the ability of cities and town centers to fulfill their role in realizing the region’s economy and transportation strategies, and,

WHEREAS, the Georgia Department of Transportation has begun to recognize the applicability in Georgia of efforts of other states, jurisdictions and professional organizations to encourage quality streetscape environments in cities and towns and has started a process that could lead to modifying street design standards;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

Section 1: The Metro Atlanta Mayors Association calls upon the Georgia Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the mayors or their representatives, to develop, adopt and administer standards that recognize and support the goals of creating vibrant, mixed use, pedestrian-friendly, transit-supportive civic environments in their respective city and town centers.

Section 2: Further, the Metro Atlanta Mayors Association calls upon the Georgia Department of Transportation to review and realign their funding policies and resources and plan development processes to accelerate the creation, enhancement and implementation of the streetscape environments in city and town centers to achieve to the fullest extent regional and state transportation policy objectives of reducing the number and shortening the length of trips as well as providing choice on how to make trips.

Approved September 30, 2004