245 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW, Atlanta, GA 30312-2634

Mechanicsville Neighborhood Special Public Interest District - Subarea 3: RDA Neighborhood Commercial

The intent of the council in establishing SPI-18 Mechanicsville Neighborhood Special Public Interest District as a zoning district is as follows: Create a diversified city where people across the spectrum of age, income, ethnicity, and culture can live, work, shop, meet, and play; Improve the aesthetics of streets and the built environment; Ensure through the administration of specific standards and criteria that new housing achieve architectural, site and street design consistent with the existing historic built environment. Protect the historic character of the single-family residential areas; Facilitate safe, pleasant, and convenient sidewalk-level pedestrian circulation that minimizes impediments by vehicles; Promote public safety through the provision of pedestrian-oriented street-level uses, sufficient sidewalk widths, adequate visibility from adjacent buildings and primary pedestrian access from buildings to adjacent sidewalks; Ensure pedestrian-oriented building forms which are compatible with the scale, character and needs of the neighborhood; Encourage a grid of connected streets to improve access and reduce congestion: Facilitate safe and convenient bicycle usage; Encourage a compatible mixture of residential, commercial, cultural and recreational uses; Promote an appropriate balance and scale of commercial uses which meet the needs of nearby residents; Encourage infill and rehabilitation development within traditionally commercial areas that include proportionately significant residential uses; Place reasonable controls on the development of larger scale highway-oriented retail, service, office and dining uses which are intended to serve larger areas of the city than a single neighborhood or a small group of neighborhoods; Encourage owner occupancy and retention of single-family residential structures compatible with the character of the Mechanicsville residential neighborhood while permitting two-family and multi-family housing in appropriate locations; Provide a range of housing types and prices to meet different housing needs; Prevent encroachment of incompatible commercial uses and minimize commercial parking in residential subareas; Provide accessible and sufficient parking in an unobtrusive manner; Reduce parking requirements by encouraging shared parking and alternative modes of transportation; Provide sufficient, safe and accessible parks, plazas and greenways for active and passive enjoyment; and Improve the quality of air and water through provisions for the planting of trees, bicycle parking and an urban form that reduces the need to drive.