AGA Public Realm Strategists

A plan for a 688-acre (278.4 ha) area in DeKalb County, Georgia, presents a new approach to addressing suburban sprawl and urban development in general-the public realm framework.

A new public realm for DeKalb County, Georgia, is the culmination of an iterative, six-month planning process unique for its openness, level of public participation, and collaborative spirit. It was commissioned by the Livable Communities Coalition-an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of development throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area-at the request of two DeKalb County commissioners, Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon, when major redevelopment projects for the area were proposed by the Sembler Company, a national real estate development company based in Florida, Boston-based HRPT Properties Trust, and several other property owners. In the plan that emerged, the public realm, which comprises all publicly accessible areas in any city or town-its parks, streets, and the like-is posited as the primary determinant of the quality of life in any area, and thus should be the driving factor of future development. Also proposed is a program to improve the public realm and access to it, and a method for financing necessary land acquisition and public improvements.

The public realm is more than just a physical layout of sidewalks and parks. It supports, and is supported by, complex combinations of different uses and destinations located close to one another. A sandwich shop close to the office, a drugstore close to homes, a public park close to a school are examples of interdependent proximities contributing to a great public realm. But the public realm typically is the last factor to be considered in planning discussions. Concerns about it may involve paving patterns and landscaping styles, but may ignore the rest of the public realm. As the public realm affects people's daily lives, it is the most fundamental element in any community when it comes to physical planning. It also provides the most leverage to capture and guide private investment in the public interest.

The DeKalb plan includes a 62 percent expansion of an existing park, the conversion of two major urban arterials into boulevards lined with 900 new trees, and the creation of an interconnected network of streets, replete with ample sidewalks and protected bike lanes.

The planning process involved local residents, developers, community leaders, and business owners. These stakeholders were essential to ensuring that anything proposed could happen-the developers because they control the land; the community leaders because they can work to stymie or support and inform the proposals; and the agency officials because they are aware of all related initiatives and can provide technical feedback.

Kittredge Park. Located in the heart of the area, Kittredge Park is invisible from all major roads; only a small sign on North Druid Hills Road alerts passersby to its existence. Since the park's acquisition in 2005, virtually nothing else had been done. As a result, it is underused and unkempt. A creek-a tributary to South Peachtree Creek-flows through the park, which is marked by erosion and dominated by invasive species of vegetation. The creek passes through a wooded area within the park at Briarcliff residential community, and then pours into a small lake there. Although the area around the lake is well used by residents, it is a private, gated facility. Beyond the lake, the creek wends its way through the area, eventually crossing to the other side of Interstate 85.

It was decided that the creek should be converted from a forgotten dumping ground to an asset. A proposal was made to widen Kittredge Park by at least 150 feet (45.7 m) along the length of the creek. West of Briarcliff Road, new parkland was to replace an underused parking lot, and extend up the side of Executive Park Drive to terminate at a new, publicly accessible pond in Executive Park. The new parkland represents a 20.3-acre (8.2-ha) expansion of the existing 32.6-acre (13.2-ha) park-a 62 percent increase. Also proposed was restoration of the entire park, existing and new-new roads along its borders to improve public access, and measures taken along the creek and throughout the area to ameliorate the erosion of the creek's banks through improved stormwater capture.

Traffic Congestion. The residents of Briarcliff-North Druid Hills wanted travel options other than driving: they wanted to walk, ride bicycles, and use convenient mass transit. At the same time, vehicular traffic congestion is a concern in the neighborhood. It stems from three causes: the sheer volume of traffic and its concentration along Briarcliff and North Druid Hills roads; the configuration of these two roads, which are the area's two main arterials; and limited road connectivity. Most of the other roads in the area are short streets leading to dead ends. Therefore, anyone within Briarcliff-North Druid Hills who wants to travel anywhere-even locally-must use one of the arterials. The two roads must accommodate regional through-traffic as well as local traffic, resulting in lack of flexibility and congestion. To create the interconnected street network that could provide alternative routes during periods of congestion, it was proposed that as each section of the area undergoes development, new roadways would have to be added or altered to connect with existing streets and culs-de-sac on neighboring properties.

Sidewalks. Large portions of Briarcliff-North Druid Hills contain random fragments of sidewalk that are often in poor condition, making it difficult for residents to walk anywhere easily or safely. This is a particular problem for the large Orthodox Jewish population whose religion disallows operating motor vehicles on the Sabbath. There are many exposed strips of earth in the grass alongside the roads-referred to as "desire lines"-that indicate local demand for sidewalks. It was proposed that any development, public or private, line streets with sidewalks, thereby creating a genuine pedestrian network. Also, limits were proposed on the lengths of block faces.

Bicycles. In all of Briarcliff-North Druid Hills there is just a single, quarter-mile stretch of Briarcliff Road equipped to accommodate bicycles, and it leads nowhere. Even worse, the bike lane is completely ignored by motorists. The plan would make all streets include separated bicycle lanes like those in many European cities, running between the sidewalks and the on-street parking. Moreover, these bike lanes would be wide enough to allow a cyclist to pass by comfortably without getting hit when a car door is opened.

Bicycling and walking will not replace driving as the predominant means of getting around this part of DeKalb County, but the existence of strong bicycle and sidewalk networks will provide residents with choices they currently do not have-choices that emphasize areas of health, economy, and convenience.

Public Transit. The nearest MARTA train stops are at Lindbergh Station and at Lenox Station in Buckhead-some 2.5 miles (4.0 km) away. The four bus routes that run through the area do not provide frequent service to these stations or convenient connections between them and nearby destinations. While the Atlanta region as a whole may be, as some contend, too dispersed to support a heavily used, large-scale public transit system, pockets of greater density are evolving, and opportunities for more transit may grow along with them. Such growth opportunities are happening in Briarcliff-North Druid Hills. Consequently, provisions were made for a new local and a new regional, express bus route-or possibly bus rapid transit (BRT)-to serve residents and connect the area to two major regional destinations: Lindberg Station and Emory University.

Greening DeKalb. The Atlanta metropolitan area generally has an extensive tree cover, and this part of DeKalb is no exception-at least in the single-family housing areas. Trees are beneficial for many reasons: they provide shade and lower ambient temperatures in summer months, absorb stormwater, make the area generally more attractive, provide habitats for small animals, absorb carbon dioxide, and trap dust and particulate matter.

However, the commercial core that has grown in Briarcliff-North Druid Hills to approximately 254 acres (102.8 ha) not only has few trees, but also it comprises 111 acres (44.9 ha) of parking lots, 52 acres (21 ha) of buildings, and 42 acres (17 ha) of roads. In other words, 81 percent of the total land area is covered in impervious surfaces. Parking lots alone make up 139 acres (56.3 ha) of the total 688 acres (278.4 ha)-20 percent of the area.

As a result, little rainwater can filter into the ground. The rest of it courses off the impervious surfaces-typically loaded with pollutants such as tire residue and oil-and drains into the storm sewer system. After large storms, matters are worse-large amounts of water may be dumped directly into local waterways unfiltered and at high rates, creating polluted, eroded waterways and generally damaging ecological health.

As a solution, a plan was proposed to plant thousands of new trees: 900 trees on the two new boulevards, and thousands more along the new roads, in parking lots, and in the extension of Kittredge Park. Also proposed are regulations requiring these trees and other landscaping to achieve stormwater capture performance standards.

Financing without Additional Taxes. There are two main financial components to the recommendations: the capital costs of new infrastructure-the construction of new roads, the planting of new trees, the park renovations, and so forth; and maintenance and operating costs-tree pruning, trash pickup, security, and the like. The obvious way to finance capital costs is to tap into the tremendous development potential that the capital improvements will spur.

Consequently, it was recommended that DeKalb County use tax increment financing to pay for the capital improvements. Commercial property owners in the area were advised to form a self-taxing community improvement district (CID) to pay for services such as sanitation, security, and general maintenance and operations.

DeKalb County has passed legislation establishing a tax allocation district (TAD) in Briarcliff-North Druid Hills to finance planned capital improvements. It is now considering the various recommendations contained in the DeKalb plan. Due to considerable controversy, the Sembler Company's proposed acquisition of 130 acres (52.6 ha) for the construction of about 1.5 million square feet (139,355 sq m) of commercial space and 3,700 apartments is currently stalled. HRPT Properties Trust, the owner of 70 acres (28.3 ha) in the southwestern quadrant of the area, known as Executive Park, and Atlanta-based Taylor & Mathis (which was the original developer of Executive Park), have just announced that they will redevelop Executive Park.

Executive Park has about 1 million square feet (92,903 sq m) of office space, mostly in low-slung buildings that HRPT officials say have become difficult to lease. Plans call for keeping about half of the office space and adding 877,600 square feet (81,532 sq m) of new office space, 432,600 square feet (40,190 sq m) of retail, 790 multifamily residential units, a 160,000-square-foot (14,864-sq-m) hotel, and a 15,000-square-foot (1,394-sq-m) community center. This will cover implementation of plans for the southwestern quadrant of the master plan for DeKalb County. Thus, the public realm planning process initiated just over one year ago already is starting to provide DeKalb County with a 21st-century antidote to sprawl.

Alex Garvin, an urban planner, educator, and author, is currently president and CEO of Alex Garvin & Associates, Inc. , which is involved in the DeKalb County, Georgia, project.