East Point council transmits draft Capital Improvements Element to regional planners

East Point — The City Council voted Nov. 3 to transmit a draft Capital Improvements Element to the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to begin the regional and state review required before the city can pursue a development impact-fee program.

The public hearing and transmittal resolution moved the draft CIE to the next stage of review; council approved the motion by voice vote. The resolution sends the document to ARC and DCA so those agencies can determine whether the CIE meets state standards required under the Georgia Planning Act of 1989 and implementing rules (OCGA 36-71-6; state development impact fee compliance chapter 110-12-2-.04).

Paige Hatley, a consultant with Ross & Associates, told the council the CIE identifies capital projects in parks, public safety and roads that will be considered eligible for impact-fee funding if the city later adopts a fee program. "The CIE is the document that identifies all of the capital projects that are eligible for impact fee funding," Hatley said. She explained that the draft lists both long-range needs and near-term projects expected to be implemented in the next five years, and that project cost estimates and implementation years are subject to change.

Hatley said the CIE itself does not calculate fees; it provides the project list and eligibility percentages that underlie the fee calculations. "Anything less than 100% means that we cannot attribute the full cost of that project to future growth," she said, describing how department input, service‑life rules and current deficiencies affect the share of a project that can be attributed to new development.

Council members sought clarifications about what is treated as a "road" for eligibility. Councilman Sean Atkins asked whether sidewalks and bridges would be included; Hatley replied that, under state law, bridges are included and sidewalks that are part of a road-capacity project (for example, a widening that includes sidewalks) may be eligible, while stand-alone pedestrian trails are typically handled in the parks chapter.

Next steps outlined by Hatley and staff: DCA/ARC review (typically about two months), reconvening the advisory committee to discuss fee calculations, producing a fee schedule, and bringing an implementing development impact-fee ordinance back to council for the statutorily required two public hearings and local adoption.

Why it matters: Tranmitting the draft CIE begins the formal process that would allow East Point to adopt impact fees tied to specific capital projects. If the council later adopts an impact-fee ordinance and a fee schedule, the city would collect fees from new development to fund a portion of the projects listed in the CIE.

The council did not take action on any fee schedule on Nov. 3; the vote approved only the transmittal to ARC and DCA for review.