Atlanta City Council adopts agenda, approves budget substitute and 2025 legislative package; refers multiple zoning items

The Atlanta City Council on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, adopted its meeting agenda and approved a series of budget and referral measures, including a substitute transfer to replenish council carry‑forward allocations and the council’s 2025 legislative package.

The agenda motion was moved by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiar and seconded by Councilmember Antonio Lewis; the clerk recorded the vote as 12 yays, 0 nays. The council then approved the minutes of its Dec. 2, 2024 meeting and adopted multiple consent items and committee recommendations that will guide referrals and spending decisions in the coming months.

Why it matters: the votes move funding and land‑use matters into committee and authorize the administration to proceed with planning and procurement steps. The finance committee’s substitute motion corrected account numbers and replenished council allocations; the council also sent multiple zoning and land‑use items to the city’s zoning review board and relevant committees for further review.

Key actions and outcomes

- Agenda adoption: motion moved by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiar, seconded by Councilmember Antonio Lewis; 12 yays, 0 nays (motion carries). Evidence in the public record shows the council adopted the published agenda without amendment.

- Adoption of minutes (Dec. 2, 2024): clerk certified minutes and the council adopted them by recorded vote (motion carries; recorded as 14 yays, 0 nays in the minutes).

- Consent Agenda, Section 1 (second reading items): adopted by recorded vote, 13 yays, 0 nays.

- Consent Agenda, Section 2 (first reading items): referred to committee by recorded vote, 14 yeas, 0 nays.

- Committee communications and appointments: the Council on Committee (COC) approved four communications appointing members to city boards and commissions by unanimous consent (15 yeas, 0 nays as recorded in the minutes). Those appointments were placed on file and entered into the council record.

- Finance substitute (Ordinance 2401696 as substituted): the Finance Executive Committee brought forward a substitute to correct account numbers and replenish council carry‑forward accounts. The substitute was adopted by the council, recorded as 14 ayes, 0 nays.

- Legislative package (Resolution 24R‑4524): the council approved a resolution urging the 2025‑26 Georgia General Assembly to support the City of Atlanta’s 2025 legislative package; adopted by recorded vote, 14 yays, 0 nays.

- Zoning referrals: the council referred multiple zoning and land‑use ordinances (including grouped rezoning items and special‑use permit requests) to the Zoning Review Board and the zoning committee; the referral vote recorded as 14 ayes, 0 nays.

What the council did not decide Monday: the council referred numerous items for further committee consideration rather than voting final adoption on many ordinances; substantive debates and final votes on those matters will occur at later committee meetings and subsequent council readings.

Meeting mechanics and next steps: several committees reported favorably on items that will now proceed to formal hearings or second readings. The finance and zoning committees, in particular, will take up the substituted budget item and the grouped zoning applications, respectively. The council’s municipal clerk certified vote tallies and recorded the motions in the official journal.

Ending: The council concluded the business of the day after the roll call and adjourned; many referred items and the finance substitute now move to committee work and future readings.