Grant Park Neighborhood Association
Land Use and Zoning Rules
This document shall constitute the procedural rules governing the Land Use And Zoning Committee (LUZ), as a part of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA) in the conduct of its business, to include the consideration and recommendation of land use and zoning applications.
I. Meetings and Quorum
(a) Regular meetings are held in either the ARC Building at Zoo Atlanta, or online through GPNA’s official Zoom account. From January to October, regular meetings are held on the 4th Thursday of the month at 7pm. In November and December, regular meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7pm due to scheduling conflict with holidays.
(b) A quorum consists of Three (3) or more people in order to conduct the voting procedures of a monthly LUZ meeting. This number shall not include those who are bringing forth a proposal to the committee, such as developing parties and legal counsel, or other representatives for said parties.
No quorum is needed for the simple discussion of proposals or applications.
II. All zoning and variance proposals brought to the committee shall be treated to a meeting with surrounding neighbors of the property in concern.
(a) The term "surrounding" shall mean any resident or homeowner located within a Three (3) to Five (5) residential block radius from the property's location, with the specific amount being at the discretion of the chairperson upon review of the location and application, due to an uneven ratio of block dimensions throughout the neighborhood.
(b) To the greatest extent possible, based on the timing of receipt of documents from the City Planning Department and NPU-W, surrounding neighbors meetings shall be announced no less than Two (2) weeks in advance by the Chairperson, and invited neighbors within the area specified above shall be given no less than Seven (7) days notice prior to the date of a meeting.
(c) To the greatest extent possible, the surrounding neighbors meeting should occur before the whole LUZ committee meets to consider the application. If that is not possible due to time constraints based on the receipt of documents from the NPU or from the City, the invited neighbors meeting can occur concurrently with the LUZ&T regular meeting.
(d) Invited neighbors shall be informed of these meetings by a combination of the following methods where applicable: Email, Hand Delivered Notice, including door tags or flyers, and postings on GPNA's main webpage or LUZ subpage.
(e) A recommendation of the Surrounding Neighbors and of the LUZ committee shall be forwarded to the GPNA General Membership for a final recommendation on action to NPU-W, in accordance with City Ordinance. Only the vote of the General Membership is forwarded to the NPU.
III. The Chairperson - and if applicable, the Vice-Chairperson - shall disclose any existing conflicts of interest related to a proposal brought forth to the LUZ committee at each meeting where the topic is to be discussed. A conflict of interest shall be deemed to exist if a chairperson has a business relationship with the applicant from which the chairperson derives any income or if the chairperson is related by blood or marriage to the applicant or any person acting in a representative capacity for such applicant. No other perceived or conflict shall constitute a disqualifying condition under this Rule.
(a) If a chairperson has a conflict, they shall not count towards the quorum needed for the voting procedure at a meeting.
(b) The Chairperson(s) with the conflict shall not participate in the recorded vote of a proposal if this conflict exists, but shall be noted as being present.
(c) Nothing in these rules shall disqualify a Chairperson with a conflict from presiding over a meeting at which they may not vote or be considered part of the quorum.
IV. Nothing in these rules prohibits an Applicant from contacting the Chair or Vice-Chair outside of a regular meeting to discuss an application. Such communication shall not constitute a conflict of interest under these rules. The Chair is not authorized to bind the Association to any recommendation and should make sure the Applicant is aware of the limited purpose of any such communication.
V. In consideration of each application, the Surrounding Neighbors and the LUZ Committee shall be guided by the City of Atlanta Ordinances in determining whether to recommend approval or denial of any Application.
VI. The Neighborhood is authorized to discuss and seek to reach an accommodation with the Applicant to conditions outside of the Zoning Code which can be reduced to writing and made into a contract between the Neighborhood Association and the Applicant in exchange for the Neighborhood Association’s support of the Application. No individual gifts, promises, or payments to any individual person or persons shall be part of any such Agreement.
VII. Before consideration by the LUZ Committee and/or Surrounding Neighbors, all documents relating to a proposal shall be submitted to the City Planning Department in order to be publicly available and binding to the proposal at hand.
VIII. Every effort will be made to place items for a vote on a published agenda at least Seven (7) days before a scheduled meeting; however, the LUZ is bound by the processes of NPU-W and ordinances of the City of Atlanta related to the consideration of an application for a rezoning, variance, or issuance of a Special Use Permit.
This means that sometimes items for formal consideration by the Committee will be added to the agenda with less than Seven (7) days notice.
Items for general discussion and not yet ready for a vote may be added to an agenda at any time prior to or at a scheduled or specially called meeting.
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