Resources

Being informed about historic districts and the implications they have for homeowners is critical to vote for your best interests as an Ansley Park resident. We want to share additional resources with you if you would like to read more about the effects of historic designation in Atlanta.

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Historic Districts in the Atlanta Code of Ordinances

If you would like to read the exact language about historic districts in the Atlanta Code of Ordinances, you can read through the laws here.

Source: City of Atlanta

Major Issues with Historic Districts

This Forbes Article discusses many of the major issues with historic districts becoming more popular across the country.

Source: Forbes

OPINION: Black historic district hits homebuyers like a ton of bricks

This new homeowner says she’s being asked to pay thousands of dollars to undo unauthorized changes made by the previous owner. This is possible because the responsibility of the home stays with the property, not the person who made the changes. You can read more about this story at either of the following articles.

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Garage construction dispute brings two lawsuits against Athens-Clarke County

Here, you can read about a homeowner in Athens, GA who is suing the county for blocking the construction of a garage behind his home.

Source: Athens Banner-Herald

Residents File Lawsuit Seeking Judicial Review of 280 Elizabeth St. Project

Neighbors in other districts also often sue one another over their renovations. Here is an example from Inman Park.

Source: Patch

Historic Preservation Is Great, Except When It Isn’t

This article makes the argument that designating entire districts as historic is detrimental to urban development. Instead, anchoring specific historically significant buildings, like what was done in Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market, is better for healthy urban development.

Source: Governing

Neighborhood regulations and some alternatives

A member of our community, Geoff Graham, wrote a letter to the APCA about the historic designation issue. You can read his thoughts here.

Source: Geoffrey Graham

Minutes from City of Atlanta Urban Design Commission Meetings

You can read the minutes from the City of Atlanta Urban Design Commission meetings here. These are the meetings where Certificates of Appropriateness (COAs) are determined for Atlanta historic district residents.

Source: City of Atlanta

Historic Preservation: Preserving Value?

You can read about the possible negative impacts of historic designation in this academic article. Their findings were that historic designation actually slows the increase of property values by 11-16%. Many of the sources that claim property values will increase do not take into account the existing trends of increasing property values in the districts.

Source: Springer Link

The energy costs of historic preservation

Though historic districts are often described as being pro-environment, this research conducted in England found that private energy costs increase an average of $19,100 annually for homes in historic districts.

Source: ScienceDirect