Peach Bites

Wow, we had a busy week with headlines.  Most of them centered around water and transit.  We obviously, the recent flooding was a big story and there was some movement in the water wars.  In the transit arena, Ray LaHood, secretary of transportation for the Obama administration was in town and shared his views on what the state and region need to do to progress the transit gridlock that exists.  

We also saw a couple really positive articles come out which we will kick the post off with below:

Emory Honored for Green Work - The Urban Land Institute awarded it's Sustainable Development Award to Emory's Sustainability Program.  This is great because Emory has been a leader in the area developing LEED certified buildings and creating innovative sustainability programs such as their campus Farmer's Market which was started in 2008. - EmoryWheel.com
 

Smog Days Down in Georgia - Great News!!  The metro area has halved the number of unhealthy air quality days.  The suspected culprits are the weather and the economy.  This happened even while the federal government increased the standards for healthy air this year. - Georgia Public Broadcasting

Georgia Supreme Court Rejects Power Plant Challenge - Justices voted unanimously on Wednesday against hearing the appeal by environmentalists against the $2B Longleaf Energy Station.  Notable Quote: “It’s amazing that, with 30 organizations representing tens of thousands of people weighing in with the Supreme Court discussing how important this case is … the Georgia Supreme Court declined to even consider the case,” said Justine Thompson, executive director of Atlanta-based Green Law. - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Congress Set to Finalize Anti-Mercury Bill - Wow.. There are only four facilities in the US that are still using mercury to produce chlorine and one of those is the Olin plant in Augusta.  Apparently, more than 600 lbs. of mercury are released into the air and water along the Savannah river annually.  It would definitely be nice to see that phased out. - Georgia Public Broadcasting

 

Perdue Favors Incentives for Water Conservation - You may or may not recall our post, Perdue says no to conservation and yes to water war.  Well, in typical politician fashion, reality has set in and the big man has flip-flopped.  He is now saying "I think it's time to think about potentially, some state-types of strong suggestions for conservation efforts in our local communities, and I'd love to think about it in an incentive fashion... rather than a stick."  Expect to see outlines of those 'incentives' before the next state legislature session. - Georgia Public Broadcasting

 

Perdue Names Water Task Force - Sonny is bringing in some heavy hitters from the private sector.  John Brock, CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., and Tim Lowe, Lowe Engineers Inc., will co-chair the panel which will look for alternative plans following the recent federal court ruling. - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Trash and Bacteria Fill Rivers - In the aftermath of the recent flooding, reports are now coming out about e.coli and other problematic bacteria polluting our rivers and streams.  The bacteria will quickly go away but the bigger issue is the tons of trash that have been introduced into the rivers.  Where will it all flow to?  At least we're upstream.  It's someone else's problem, right??? - Georgia Public Broadcasting

 

Atlanta Reservoir Plan on Hold - We touched on this in last week's Peach Bites.  This week, the Atlanta City Council decided to put off consideration of the proposed $650 million reservoir in the Dawson Forest. - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Tri-State Water Dispute: Georgia's Hand Further Weakend - Alabama landed another blow against Georgia this week.  The prospects for a ruling in Georgia's favor keep getting slimmer and slimmer. - Georgia Public Broadcasting

 

Georgia Applies for High-Speed Rail Grant - The GDOT applied for a grant in the amount of $472 million this week to begin working on a high-speed rail line between Atlanta and Macon.  This application, if approved, is expected to cover all the capital costs of the project.  I've been doing a lot of research on this topic and haven't really heard much about the Atlanta-Macon route.  You've probably seen the Brain Train, Lovejoy and Chattanooga routes discussed but the Macon route came out of the blue.  Any way we look at it though, connectivity is a good thing.  Let's see what happens. - Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

ATL Mayoral Candidates and the Beltline - The AJC had a quick recap of the recent Beltline mayoral forum.  The reality of the economic collapse and depressed real estate market is definitely recognized by the candidates.  But, it is apparent that all three of them support the Beltline.  They each have some interesting ideas on what is the vision of the beltiline. - AJC

Beltline Mayoral Forum: Which Candidate Scored - There was some interesting perspective on the recent Beltline mayoral forum from Atlanta Unsheltered.  Here's what I took from the post.  Lisa Borders and Mary Norwood really support the beltline.  Kasim Reed wants to prevent crime and a deterioration of urban youth.  Mary Norwood got stuck in traffic and the audience wondered why she didn't take MARTA since there was a stop across the street.  Probably because there wasn't a stop where she was coming from.  hmm...  - Atlanta Unsheltered

Beltline Officials: Citizen Group Wants to Take Control of the Project - This was interesting.  The Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee (TADAC), has put out statements questioning the funding of affordable housing along the Beltline and has stated that Beltline officials are keeping important information private and thus not allowing TADAC to do it's job.  There is too much in the article to accurately summarize in a few sentences but to me it seems to be a battle over public or private control.  I lean toward the private side. - Creative Loafing

Atlanta Forward, Our View: Transit is a Track to Metro's Prosperity - This article has some interesting local perspective and I enjoyed the comparison to St. Louis and Chicago when riverboat transportation was giving way to train transportation.  St. Louis became an also-ran because it pandered to pressure from riverboat operators.  If Atlanta panders to the pressure of the auto/road lobby, we will lose out on the opportunity to significantly upgrade our transit and will fall behind other southern cities. - AJC

Atlanta Forward, Another View: Georgia Needs to get its Act Together - This quote sums it up: LaHood expressed the administration’s strong support for more transit alternatives. He encouraged state support for MARTA and noted streetcars are on their way back — citing the success of Portland, Ore.’s system. This kind of thinking is potentially good news for the proposed Peachtree Streetcar and bodes well for federal support for our region’s comprehensive, coordinated Concept 3 Transit Plan. - AJC

State of Georgia is Stuck in the Mud While Atlanta Region Moves Forward on Transit - Notable Quote: "Although LaHood didn't tell us anything we didn't already know, it's always reaffirming to have the most powerful transportation official in the country tell state leaders that they've been asleep at the switch."  The good news is that there is overwhelming support for Concept 3 and Metro Atlanta is on the verge of approving the Regional Transit Committee which will be a much needed regional steering group that has the teeth to make things happen. - Saporta Report

Peach Bites

We haven't posted a Peach Bites column in a while so we have built up quite a backlog.  There has been a lot of buzz about water and transit over the past month and we've tried to capture the highlights in today's post.   

 

Georgia to Appeal Water Ruling - Who didn't see this one coming?  We'll see what happens but one thing I know for sure, the federal government will not cut millions of people off from their water source.  Well, I'm not 100% sure about that but politicans want votes and thirsty people don't vote for the politicians who let them go thirsty... - GPB

 

New Reservoir Proposed for North Georgia - I don't know what to think of this one.  On one hand, I say it may be a good idea since it will set aside 8,000 acres of the 10,000 acres of wilderness that the city owns in the Dawson Forest.  However, the other tells me that $650 million to build a dam that will disrupt natural habitat is insane when we haven't exhausted our water conservation efforts.  Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

Clayton County Among Nation's Most 'Water Wise' Counties - American Rivers recently named Clayton County one of the nation's most "water wise" communities.  The wetland filtration system that Clayton County created years ago is integral to its ranking.  While keeping wetlands in tact, Clayton County was able to maintain a 230 day drinking water supply at the height of the drought while Lake Lanier was as low as 90 days.  This is a win for the environment and for the people of Clayton county. - Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

Half a Penny for Metro Transportation Just Not Worth the Trouble - If you've ever been in sales (or politics), you learn quickly that compromise rarely means mean win-win.  Moving from a penny sales tax to a half-penny sales tax increase is a compromise that panders to political pressure and doesn't follow logic or the spirit of the tax.  It's boring stuff but worth a read if you are interested in the future (or lack thereof) of transit in Georgia. - Saporta Report

 

MARTA Could Run the Beltline - Sure... Let's see if MARTA can run MARTA first...  I have my thoughts on MARTA and it's future but that's not for a Peach Bite comment.  I'm sure it's inevitable and it would make for the most seamless transit experience but MARTA just has so many issues.  There is a better way and I'll touch on that in a later post. -  AJC

 

Atlanta Streetcar Makes Pitch for Public Funding - I'm a huge proponent of the Peachtree Streetcar.  Unfortunately, I get the feeling that the only reason other people are excited about it is because it is really the only 'shovel ready' transit project in Atlanta that affords us the opportunity to get some government cheese.  If we do build it, my prediction is that it will be wildly successful.  Expect to hear something from the Feds by Feb 2010. -  Saporta Report

 

Atlanta-Chattanooga MagLev Rail Gets Dose of Cash - This could be one of the first steps taken in the south to connect the region with a 21st century transit system.  The Federal Transit Administration is providing $14.2 million to pay for environmental and engineering studies on a MagLev train that could connect the two cities.  Imagine zipping to Chattanooga in 30 minutes. This would be good for business, recreation and image. - AJC

 

MagLev Train Shuttle to Braves Stadium? - Okay... Do I really think we need this??  NO.  But, it would be crazy cool.  Stepping back to reality though, let's take that money and move it to the Beltline.  Or just build a regular train service.  MagLev is totally unnecessary for this type of shuttle system.  Let's focus on the Atlanta-Chattanooga MagLev.   - Atlanta Unsheltered

 

Beltline Names New CEO - Brian Leary, vice president of Atlantic Station, was recently named the new CEO of Atlanta Beltline Inc.  This looks to be a good move.  With this though, I am predicting a change of the northwestern path of the Beltline to now cut through Atlantic Station instead of going to the north and west of it.  We shall see.. - Creative Loafing

 

Beltline's Feasibility Rides to Forefront - The worrisome thing about the Beltline is that the financial plan around securing funding is primarily based on increasing property tax revenues.  The plan was devised prior to the real estate market crash back in 2005 and hasn't been changed.  Finding $1.7 billion from property tax revenues might prove impossible in the new environment.  Personally, I believe that the project is integral to the city and the 'leadership' will find a way to make it happen regardless. - AJC

 

Metro Atlanta Needs a Metro Solution to Transportation - Jay Bookman gives some very interesting insight on the history of transportation planning in the state and the current and future needs.  A really notable fact is that the state of Georgia ranks 49th in per capita dollars spent on transportation.  The other was that metro Atlanta accounts for ~28% of transportation spending.  I wanted to see if that was proportionate to the population and found that it is significantly below.  Approximately 60% of the residents of GA live in the metro area.  We need to let to politicians know that change is needed. -  Jay Bookman (AJC)

 

MARTA Wins Solar Energy Grant - Marta is planning to use $10.8 million in federal grants to put solar panels on top of bus canopies.  The panels will be installed at the Laredo Bus Maintenance Facility in Decatur. This will be the largest PV system in GA. - Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

Atlanta Bests San Francisco for Green Building - For some reason, Atlanta doesn't seem to get the respect it deserves in this area.  We're good but we could be better.  Right now, we're 5th in the nation in LEED certified buildings at 53.  Chicago has 88, Portland has 73, Seattle has 63 and DC has 57.  San Fran is right behind us at 50. - San Francisco Chronicle via Chicago Tribune

 

Lovett's New Green Middle School - The unfortunate thing is that most Atlantans can't afford to send their kids to Lovett.  But, the school's commitment to sustainability and environmental issues is something to be commended.  The new facility is seeking LEED Gold certification and has a green roof and rainwater harvesting system among other features. - WSBTV

 

Going Green Pays Off - Man, I hate the phrase "going green."  What does it mean?  It seems to me that it's up to anyone's interpretation.  Am I 'going green' because I use CFLs or bring reusable shopping bags to Whole Foods for my groceries??  Well, that's not the point of the article.  The exciting thing that I took from this article is that the Westin downtown will finally be replacing the windows lost during the tornado.  And... those windows will be thicker, darker and better insulating.  There are a few other buildings that are highlighted like 1180 Peachtree and the Emory University Conference Center Hotel. - AJC

 

Don Wells Named Atlanta's 2009 Cox Conserves Hero - Mountain Stewards, Wells' non profit organization, will receive a $5,000 donation from Cox Enterprises. - Trust for Public Land

Recycling Pick-Up Back On in the City of Atlanta - How exciting!  Recycling!  Wow!  How are other cities going to compete with us now that we have recycling again? We are truly 'going green' here in Atlanta. -  The Buckhead Blog

Stay tuned for next week's installment of Peach Bites.  Feel free to send me any articles or stories that you come across at michaeldhadden@gmail.com

Peach Bites

Georgians Aren't Water Hogs - Apparently we're not guzzling as much water as you may have thought. I think that 1.8 percent is misleading though. The sprinklers in my neighborhood didn't kick in until the beginning of July. Now, I'm seeing the sprinklers on while it's raining which leads me to believe it's back to the old mentality. Georgia Public Broadcasting

Atlantans Could Save $21.2 Billion by 2020 - A McKinsey & Company report cited by Consumer Reports indicates that Americans can save $1.2 trillion by 2020 with effective investments in energy efficiency. Wow! That translates into $4000 for every man woman and child in the US. Atlantans would collectively save about $21.2 billion. That could pay for almost 10 Beltlines.. It could even come close to paying for that crazy tunnel under Atlanta that some of our wise leaders in the capitol have discussed. Consumer Reports

Atlanta Ranks Highly on Outside Magazine's Top Cities - This year's rankings of best cities ranked Atlanta #3 overall behind Colorado Springs and Seattle. Their criteria were pretty thorough so I can feel comfortable that the proper level of research was done. I would tend to agree with the ranking given the sheer volume of activities within 2-3 hours of the heart of the city. The article mentions fishing, mountain biking, cliff jumping, boating and hiking as positives for the area. Outside Magazine

Beltline Gets Bond Issuance Approval - The Atlanta City Council granted approval for the Beltline to issue $267 million in bonds to fund the project. The plan is to issue $145M - $165M in October. Developer interest will ultimately decide the amount that is issued in October. It's great to see this project moving forward. Creative Loafing

Peach Bites

HOV lanes switching to toll lanes on I-85

NorthFulton.com - I guess Money talks. I wonder how much this will actually help congestion. If you don't want to pay the 'tax,' you can still use the lanes if you have 3 or more people in your vehicle.

EPA Gives BeltLine $1M for Cleanup (2009-06-02)

WABE - Wow!! There are over 100 brownfield areas along the Beltline corridor that are still in need of cleanup. Hopefully, this $1 million can stretch a long way.

Proposed Coal Plant Loses Support

GPB News - Good to hear that four energy suppliers have lost interest in the proposed coal power plant in Douglasville. This leaves only six remaining companies backing the proposed plant.

Greenpeace places Publix last for seafood sustainability

Atlanta Business Chronicle - Not a very good score for one of the largest grocers in the metro area. The highest rated company was Whole Foods but they only scored a 4 out of 10.

The Buckhead Blog: Streets of Buckhead Delays Opening to Fall 2010

The Buckhead Blog - Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait a little longer to see how the old Buckhead Village evolves into its next incarnation. The project is seeking LEED certification and should be another great addition to the Atlanta scene.

A Great Overview of the Beltline

This Week in Atlanta

This week is going to be a really busy week for green events here in Atlanta. Many Earth Day celebrations will be held on Saturday the 18th. Here's a preview of what is going on this week:

April 13 (Monday)

630pm - 830pm - Beltline Public Workshop - Southeast Study Group

April 14 (Tuesday)

7pm - 10pm - Sierra Club - Metro Atlanta Chapter Monthly Meeting

April 16 (Thursday)

530pm - 7pm - Andres Duany, Free Talk on Smart Growth Principles in Decatur

April 17 (Friday)

730am - 9am - Central Atlanta Progress/ADID Town Hall Meeting - The Ritz Carlton Atlanta
All Day - Georgia Tech Earth Day Celebration

April 17 - 19 (Fri-Sat)

Dogwood Festival at Piedmont Park

April 18 (Saturday)

City of Alpharetta Bulky Trash & Electronics Recycling Day \

Earth Share of Georgia Corporate Green Day Challenge

8am - 12pm - Beltline Earthday Cleanup

9am - 12pm - Trees Atlanta Planting, Location Varies
10am - 3pm - 7th Annual Earth Day Kids Fest - Chattahoochee Nature Center
8am - 5pm - Earth Day at the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center

April 18 - 19 (Sat-Sun)

Sweetwater 420 Fest, Historic Candler Park

Peach Bites

Citywide Conversation on Transit & Trails
Atlanta Beltline Inc.

This Citywide Conversation on April 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church, 634 West Peachtree St., will focus on how ABI and MARTA are working together to complete an Environmental Impact Statement as required to compete for federal transportation funding and preserve the BeltLine right-of-way. The conversation will cover feedback from the first round of public scoping meetings including updated goals and objectives and new evaluation criteria and a review of the EIS process and milestones for public input. It will also include an open house on the inventory of existing environmental, cultural, and socio-economic features along the BeltLine that may be impacted by construction of the transit and trails.

Georgia House Nixes New Transportation Agency
Atlanta Business Chronicle

After the senate narrowly passed the bill three weeks ago, the house has voted it down. Much of the concern is over the fact that the govenor, lieutenant govenor and speaker would be responsible for appointing the members of the agency. We should see a new version of the bill sometime next week though.

Georgia Legislature is Pushing to Ease Restrictions on Stream Barriers
Georgia Public Broadcasting

The Georgia Legislature is seeking to soften mandatory buffers aimed at protecting Georgia's waterways from pollution and development. The House voted 106-58 Thursday to remove the buffers around an untold number of unnamed tributaries - or ephemeral streams - that crisscross the state. State law provides for a 25 foot buffer along all streams and as much as 150 feet for watersheds providing drinking water. Supporters say many of the streams are little more than ditches and that the buffers restrict growth and hamper property rights. Critics say loosening rules could threaten the state's clean water.

Picturing the Beltline

As you probably already know, the Beltline is one of our favorite things going on in the city. We try to stay up to speed on the news and events relating to the project but sometimes things slip through. I recall reading about this back in October but completely forgot about it and just ran across it tonight. A local artist, Meryl Truett, put a very nice exhibition entitled "Picturing the Beltline" back in October at the Barbara Archer Gallery in Atlanta. It is worth taking a peek just to see what the Beltline currently looks like. I enjoyed a number of her pictures.

Definitely check out the images at Meryl Truett's website here or if you would like to see a review of the exhibition check out BurnAway's review. We have also added a video to the GreenPeaches YouTube Channel.

Peach Bites

It's been a little while since our last post. A lot has transpired in the Beltline saga since it flared up last week but really when you look at it deeper, it doesn't seem like much.


Beltline Rally Last Saturday Drew More than 200 Supporters - The Epoch Times - Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it down to Piedmont Park for the rally but there was a decent gathering of support. I expect that we will see more of these if the news continues to go against the Beltline.

Agencies Working Together on Beltline 'Solution' - AJC - The City of Atlanta, Georgia DOT, MARTA and many other agencies agreed to a 30 day timeout to work on a solution to the dispute over the NE section of track that everyone seems to want but only one seems to be able to have.

Georgia Senate Approves Mag Lev Train Between Atlanta & Chattanooga - TheChattanoogan.com - Do we have approval for a Mag Lev train from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson to Chattanooga Municipal Airport? Do we have the money? At $40 million per mile, Mag Lev isn't cheap, but it sure is fast. Check out this YouTube post of the train in Shanghai.

Transportation Bill Calls for New Northern Arc, Tunnel - AJC - Do we really need new roads? Let's fix the ones we have first and stop building the type of sprawl that creates the perceived need for new roads anyway. My bet is that this project won't do much to decrease traffic congestion nor will it do much to increase quality of life.

Green School Opening in DeKalb - AJC - "It will be Georgia’s premier “green” school —- one of the first public schools in the state with a national certification for environmental construction and perhaps the only one with an environmentally themed curriculum." The school will be in southeastern DeKalb near Arabial Mountain and is expected to have LEED Silver certification. To learn more

Beltline Derailment Update

The news has been buzzing around Atlanta for the past couple days that an 11th hour move by the GDOT and AMTRAK may be putting the Beltline at risk. The story centers around the right of way in the northeast quadrant of the proposed loop. The GDOT swooped in with AMTRAK on 1/21/2009 to stop the abandonment process that was already set in motion by Norfolk Southern set to take effect on 1/22/2009. The state feels that this section of the Beltline is one of the only suitable corridors that they can use for commuter rail and/or high speed intra-city rail. I think everyone can agree that both of those are needed solutions to the metro area's transit woes but should we potentially sacrifice what may be the largest urban redevelopment project in the city for potential commuter rail and/or high speed intra-city rail?

There are other options for those two (Brookhaven & the Gulch area) but no other viable options exist for the Beltline. Not to mention that the northeast rail lines would run right through some of Atlanta's nicest neighborhoods and parks. Light rail would be a much quieter and development friendly solution for these areas.

I have full faith that the city and state leaders will work this out and the Beltline will move forward. But, for all of us who are in favor of this project, this is a wake up call that pitfalls are out there and this multi-billion dollar project is certainly far from a done deal. If you are unfamiliar with the Beltline project but are interested in learning more, check out our previous post on the free Beltline tours.


Recent Articles on the Beltline Dispute

GDOT, AMTRAK Throw Wrench in Beltline Plans - Creative Loafing
DOT Action Could Kill Beltline, Mayor Says - AJC
BELTLINE: Amtrak Wants Land for Heavy Rail - AJC
Most of DOT Board Didn't Know About Beltline Opposition - Creative Loafing
Mayor Shirley Franklin's Letter to State Representative John Lewis