Ansley Park is much more than 120 properties
For more than a year, the APCA Board has sponsored a small volunteer group called Ansley Park Forever (APF). The goal of both APCA and APF has been to gain Historic District designation for Ansley Park. Once the neighborhood submits the nomination to the city, restrictions (outlined in the Draft Interim Controls) are almost immediately placed on all residents.
The APCA Board (fewer than twenty people) decided that they should initiate this process on behalf of the neighborhood. They claimed support based on about 120 signatures on a petition. for a draft ordinance the “supporters” had not seen. However, the petition was circulated before the Draft Interim Controls were posted, so none of the signatories knew precisely what they were supporting. The Interim Controls were posted publicly less than two weeks before the Board was set to approve the nomination, allowing only days for a neighborhood response.
A concerted effort brought wider attention to the issue only days before the Board was set to vote, and those of us who asked for more time to consider the impact of increased zoning restrictions were heard. This group applauds the Board’s decision to pause, but thirty days is not long enough. We need to take as much time as necessary to work through the issues and explore solutions to problems facing the neighborhood. The Board has also pledged neutrality from here on out; we appreciate this and mean to hold them to it.
