Council tables two proposed redevelopment TADs after debate over hotel parcels, digest cap and process
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Summary
After hours of questions from council members about parcel selection, the digest cap and consultant communications, East Point City Council tabled two proposed tax allocation districts (Willingham Innovation and Sylvan Oakley) and directed staff to re-advertise the plans and schedule a follow-up public hearing and decision meeting.
East Point — Councilmembers on Dec. 15 deferred action on two proposed redevelopment plans that would create Tax Allocation Districts (TADs) known in the staff materials as Willingham Innovation (TAD 3) and Sylvan Oakley (TAD 4).
Consultants and the city attorney described the legal choices: approve the redevelopment plan as submitted, reject it and return it to the development agency, or send it back for revision. Staff said the initial boundary choices emphasized vacant land and lower-value parcels that the Willingham LCI identified for redevelopment. The consultants noted the council had intentionally left some digest capacity unused in order to allow for future additions.
Council members from multiple wards pressed for clearer answers about whether parcels in the city’s so-called hotel district (Bobby Brown/ Virginia Avenue) were included, how including hotels would affect the 10% digest cap, and whether the process had afforded enough council engagement. Councilmember Atkins said she had submitted questions but had not received responses in time and expressed concern about process and timing; Councilmember Butler emphasized the need for a project plan tied to the TAD incentives and cautioned against tying up digest capacity on parcels unlikely to redevelop.
Attorney guidance to the council emphasized procedural caution: tabling without rejecting is not the same as denying the plan; to be conservative the attorney recommended re-advertising the public hearing and scheduling a new combined public-hearing/decision meeting so notice and statutory requirements are beyond challenge. Council directed staff to prepare new legal notices, to run publication beginning the earliest possible date, and to return with parcel values and a short analysis about the hotel parcels and digest impacts so the council can refine boundaries before final action. No TAD was approved or rejected at the Dec. 15 meeting.
What’s next: Staff will re-advertise the redevelopment plans and prepare maps and parcel-value information for council review; the council discussed scheduling a follow-up combined public hearing and decision meeting in late December or early January, and staff said it would work with the legal team to ensure adequate notice.
