Category Archives: Transportation

City of Alpharetta invites you to see their 30 pieces of silver

Posted on by
2

The city of Alpharetta issued a press release today inviting residents to come see their new plans for the Northpoint LCI center. Below is the release:

Open House Announced For Encore Parkway Improvements

Released on: Monday, April 11, 2011 10:00 AM

Major improvements are underway for Encore Parkway from Westside Parkway to North Point Parkway. Plans include widening Encore Parkway to include a newly designed bridge as it passes over Georgia 400 and shoulders that will house 6-foot buffer planter strips and an 8-footwide sidewalk/bike lane. To connect the newly constructed sidewalks and bike lanes on Encore Parkway to the Big Creek Greenway trail system, sidewalks and shared lanes will be established along the eastern side of North Point Parkway. The project will also incorporate enhancements such as trees, landscaping, lighting and furniture.

The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to unveil the visual elements of the proposed project at a Public Information Open House & Detour Meeting to be held between 5:00pm and 7:00pm on April 26th at the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce (located at 11605 Haynes Bridge Road, Suite 100, Alpharetta, GA). Residents are encouraged to stop by as the presentation is informal and will provide more details on the project and planned detour routes.

What the city fails to mention is that the projects discussed in the press release are a quid pro quo for the city’s adaptation of the Northpoint Area Livable Centers Initiative which includes the MetLife high density mixed use development. Back in 2008 the Mayor of Alpharetta, Arthur Letchas, and the City Council knowingly chose to accept the urbanization of our city in exchange for 4 million dollars worth of improvements in the Northpoint area. Now that the city has approved the MetLife project they can show us the precious new projects that they got in exchange for urbanization.

So if you live in Alpharetta and want to see why our City Council continues to approve high density mixed use projects please stop by and decide for yourself if the urbanization was worth it. While you are there you might also want to ask Department of Transportation board member Brandon Beach how spending that 4 million dollars is going to help relieve congestion for you and your family.

Will Alpharetta really give up our niche?

Posted on by
3

Yesterday I was reading this post on the Roots in Alpharetta blog. One comment on the “An Alpharetta Lament” post clearly shows how people supporting Alpharetta’s urbanization want our city to look in a few years. It also provides an opportunity to show why so many people are opposed to that vision. The comment was by another local blogger named Michael Hadden. Michael is a vocal supporter of urbanizing Roswell and Alpharetta and he said:

You can take a look at Reston Town Center in Reston, VA.  They have been planning mixed-use since the early 90′s without connection to transit.  The new Metro Silver Line will be opening with a stop at Reston in the next ~3 years

I appreciate Michael’s willingness to explain his vision of Alpharetta’s future because most of the people trying to change Alpharetta just make vague statements like “mixed use is the future” or “there are plenty of examples of successful mixed use” without ever providing one example of what they consider to be a success. So let’s take Michael’s advice and look at Reston, Virginia.

At one time Reston was similar to Alpharetta, Georgia. That time was back in the 1950’s before Dulles International Airport was built just outside of Reston. Since the 1960’s Reston has been between Washington, DC and the nearest international airport making it geographically much more similar to College Park, Georgia than Alpharetta. And unless Forsyth County builds an international airport in the next few years Alpharetta will never really be comparable to Reston.

But despite that major difference we can still look at what the urbanization of Reston has done to see what urbanization would bring to Alpharetta. First urbanization will bring more traffic. I worked in Reston, Virginia back in the 1990’s and anyone that says high density developments solved their traffic problem has never been there. Stacking people in buildings 5, 10 or 15 stories high does not relieve congestion. It makes it worse. Urban planners know that. They just don’t care because they want to force people out of their cars anyway.

Michael points out that mass transit will come to Reston and that may well be true. Once urban planners have succeeded in making traffic unbearable enough people are willing to spend billions on inefficient rail projects in the hope it will bring relief.

There are three main reasons a transit trains will come to Reston:

1) High density urbanization created a traffic nightmare

2) The traffic nightmare stands between politicians and an airport

3) The politicians are inconvenienced enough that they were willing to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to get the common people off of the roads between themselves and the airport

The second consequence of urbanizing Reston is a mediocre public school system. North Fulton County and South Forsyth County now have some of the best schools in the nation. So let’s see what the future holds if the city of Alpharetta continues down the path being laid by our current City Council. Below are the comparisons of schools in Alpharetta and Reston according to Greatschools.org (You can click on the image to enlarge)

Here are the elementary school ratings:

Alpharetta elementary schools

Reston elementary schools

And here are the high school ratings:

Alpharetta High Schools

Reston high school

There really is no comparison. High density development results in lower test scores. Alpharetta’s low density neighborhoods produce public schools which are among the best in the nation. Reston’s high density developments produce mediocre public schools.

In marketing terms Alpharetta has a “niche” now that brings people to our city when they move to the metro area from all over the world. The Atlanta Regional Commission is trying to change that with the help of our community develoment department and city council. If they succeed our community will be just be another congested concrete jungle with bad schools and nothing special to offer that can’t be found in Buckhead, Sandy Springs or Marietta.

The choice is clear. Alpharetta can continue to draw families with our great public schools and high quality of life much like East Cobb County has for decades. Or we can urbanize and compete with Sandy Springs, Buckhead and Marietta on price alone. The Atlanta Regional Commission and the City of Alpharetta have made their choice obvious. What do you think?

Alpharetta City Council’s Wish List for a Tax Increase

Posted on by
Reply

Tonight the Alpharetta City Council is slated to vote on the list of projects to include on the transportation tax referendum next year. Proponents hope that a list of possible projects will entice voters into voting for higher taxes on themselves. You can see the list of projects on the city website here.

I also suggest you read this article about the transportation tax issue in today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution. The AJC article doesn’t do a very good job of summarizing the list being presented to Alpharetta City Council tonight but it does give a valuable overview of the process. Below are a few random thoughts on the transportation tax proposal:

1. I don’t trust the state of Georgia to live up to their end of the bargain. After the DOT and State Roadway and Toll Authority arbitrarily extended the GA 400 tolls I came up with a phrase to express my thoughts on the matter: “Once you vote to give the government your money they will do with it what they damn well please.”

2. Supporters of the tax increase include most of Georgia’s business and political establishment who try to portray the issue as just another penny for a great cause. It is important that taxpayers realize all those pennies add up to 8 Billion Dollars. That works out to about $3,300 the average family of four in Georgia will no longer have to buy gas, food or anything else they need.

3. Supporters of the plan point out that the tax is only authorized for ten years. Let’s be realistic, there isn’t a chance in hell that the tax will ever go away. If you doubt me look at what Cobb County did to push through the SPLOST tax extension.

4. The business and political establishment in metro Atlanta are determined to expand inefficient and expensive train service. One way they hope to achieve this goal is by rebranding MARTA as a shiny new regional transportation authority run by GRTA. Somehow they think that will make it more palatable to suburban taxpayers. This recent front page article in the Alpharetta Revue illustrates what I mean. While the article uses the transit authority in Chicago as an example it failed to also mention that census numbers show people are fleeing the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois is on the verge of bankruptcy and the Chicago Regional Transit Authority will cost taxpayers about 1.4 Billion Dollars this year.

5. Land development companies and speculators will reap billions of dollars in profits while shouldering none of the burden for the transportation improvements which increase their property values. That is why local Chambers of Commerce and Community Improvement Districts will invest millions of dollars to promote the new tax on consumers.

6. There is still no relief in the proposal for taxpayers in Fulton and Dekalb Counties who already pay a one cent transportation tax for MARTA that costs us about $350,000,000 a year. Last year North Fulton mayors threatened to withhold support for the proposed tax increase if it continued to unfairly punish their constituents but the resulting political backlash left them noticeably silent since then.

There is no doubt that the state of Georgia has neglected our road infrastructure as tax revenues boomed over the past few decades. I just think it is a horrible idea to make up for that mistake by raising taxes now that people are struggling with high unemployment, rampant inflation and declining property values. The state’s political and business community disagree.

It will be interesting to see what the people of Georgia decide when the issue reaches the ballot box.

Forget plastics… buy Bag Balm!

Posted on by
1

Bag balm is the medicated salve that dairy farmers apply to soothe the overworked teats of dairy cows. But Bag Balm isn’t just for cows any more and after yesterday’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax vote in Cobb County the stuff will soon be flying off the shelves as taxpayers seek to soothe the pain of being milked for another 500 million dollars.

The special election decided whether Cobb voters would approve an extension of the local 1% sales tax. The referendum could have been held in November thus saving taxpayers $340,000 in special election expenses but tax advocates knew that higher voter participation would hurt their chances of passage so the special election was held yesterday. In addition to that example of political gamesmanship the Cobb County business community funneled $150,000 to tax advocates through the local Community Improvement Districts.

Yet despite all the machinations of Cobb County’s business and political community the issue was a dead heat right down to the wire. The tax extension won by  a whopping 79 votes out of the roughly 43,000 votes cast.

That works out to 50.09% in favor and 49.91% against so proportionally about 241 Million Dollars will be taken from taxpayers to pay for projects that they either didn’t want or didn’t want to pay for. That’s gonna hurt.

But every challenge presents an opportunity and the sore teats of Cobb County’s cash cow taxpayers present a huge opportunity for the local distributors of Bag Balm. And since political observers viewed the Cobb SPLOST referendum as an indicator of how Georgia’s proposed transportation tax increase will fare next year we can all get in on the action.

Forget plastics… buy Bag Balm!

High density mixed use means high traffic… period

Posted on by
2

A local blog called New Urban Roswell serves as a platform for blogger Mike Hadden to tout the various urban planning concepts he supports. Mike is a knowledgeable guy and often makes some good points as he did in this post entitled “Traffic Misconceptions”. The article does clear up some common misconceptions but unfortunately it also perpetuates one about mixed use housing.

The truth is that high density mixed use means high traffic… period. But when it comes to the fans of high density mixed use developments they all seem to display an “Imperviousness to evidence” as characterized by Mona Charen in this article at National Review online.

Here is what Mike wrote:

High Density Development Creates Traffic – This one is legitimate under the assumption that you pack people into condos and create a
dense SINGLE USE environment. Single use environments are a sure fire way to create traffic.

I know that mixed use fanatics want that statement to be true but that doesn’t make it so. Look at the actual numbers.

According to the traffic analysis submitted for the MetLife mixed use development in Alpharetta they will build 532 units of high density housing on approximately 8 acres of land. That is a lot of units for 8 acres but each condominium does create fewer vehicular trips than a single family home and they even get a 2% trip reduction factor for being in a mixed use development.

Now let’s compare that to the horrible old sprawl that urban planners abhor but the people in Alpharetta love to call home. To be generous we will say that “sprawl” would create a density of 4 units per acre. That number is awfully high if you are going to put in some of those loathsome cul de sacs but we’ll give the mixed use fanatics the benefit of the doubt. That means that 32 single family homes could be built on the same 8 acres of land that MetLife will use to cram in 532 units. That is 500 more families on 8 acres of land.

So how do 500 additional families reduce traffic? They don’t and the dirty little secret is that any urban planner worth their salt knows it. High density mixed use is just a way for developers to make more money and urban planners to achieve their other goals of mass transit and affordable housing.

Let’s look at the traffic numbers. MetLife submitted a traffic analysis that shows the 532 condos were expected to create about 3,000 additional trips from 8 acres of land. Single family homes usually cause about twice as many trips as condos so we could have expected about 180 trips if the property had been developed as a typical Alpharetta neighborhood. That means the MetLife condos added 2,820 more car trips than single family homes would have. That’s a 1466% increase in traffic!

There is an old saying that goes something like this, “Don’t pee on my head and tell me it’s raining”. Well just to be safe the next time a fan of a high density mixed use development tells you that it will reduce traffic I suggest you have an umbrella handy.

How much does Georgia spend on Transportation?

Posted on by
2

The state of Georgia expected to take in over 14 Billion Dollars of income taxes and general sales taxes for 2010. How much of that general revenue do you think they spent on roads?

Ten percent? Not even close. Five percent? Dream on. One percent? Nope. Try less than 1/10 of one percent. Yes you read that right. Out of 14 Billion Dollars in sales taxes and income taxes the state of Georgia spent a measly 15 million on the entire Department of Transportation.

That means less than 1/10 of one percent of those general taxes went toward maintaining and improving the lifeblood of our state. For perspective, the state spent more than 2 Billion Dollars on community health departments but .0075 of that for the roads that allow Georgians to get to the hospital and drugstore. The state did spend other money on the Department of Transportation in 2010. Fuel taxes or other money from the federal government made up 99.24% of the state DOT’s budget.

In 2012 the state of Georgia will ask voters to raise taxes on themselves because infrastructure needs are so dire the situation demands it. I submit to you that a lack of money isn’t the problem and raising taxes shouldn’t be the solution. If Georgia spent more than 1/10 of one percent of the 14 Billion they already collect on infrastructure there wouldn’t be a problem in the first place.

(Update 3/5/2011)

Regular reader Lee from rootsinalpharetta.com asked for clarification on this post so I am adding the following explanation to hopefully clear up any confusion.

As I mentioned in the article more than 99% of the state DOT budget of approximately 2 billion dollars is funded by fuel taxes and federal money. Georgia drivers pay about 800 million dollars in fuel taxes for the DOT and the feds kick in the other 1.2 billion.

Based on that it appears a person who doesn’t drive a car in Georgia pays less than the cost of a round trip ticket on MARTA for the state’s entire Department of Transportation. Since the DOT is responsible for making sure groceries can reach stores, ambulances can reach homes and buses can reach schools that seems like a heckuva bargain.

The point being that instead of proposing another huge tax increase for transportation projects the state of Georgia should reevaluate the way they spend the 15 Billion already being collected.

Different party same plan

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday I pointed out that President Obama’s Secretary of Education was on capital hill asking for a 68% increase in spending despite our presently catastrophic federal deficits. You can see that article here.

Today it is President Obama’s Secretary of Transportation on capital hill asking for ridiculous sums of money that the American people don’t have. According to this report in The Hill, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is asking for a 62% increase in spending and wants congress to raise taxes by 435 Billion Dollars so that he can implement a transportation infrastructure bill. Fortunately Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama is unsympathetic to the administration’s plan.

But if mean old Republicans won’t agree to higher taxes how will the federal government ever afford to turn hamlets like Alpharetta into livable centers? What will happen to sustainability and trains if the feds don’t have billions to pump into organizations like the Atlanta Regional Commission? Will people be forced to drive cars and live in those terrible neighborhoods with cul de sacs? The horror!

Of course an attempt to raise taxes during a miserable economy is something one might expect from Washington liberals. Too bad it’s the same thing being proposed by Georgia Republicans.

Alpharetta continues urbanization to attract MARTA

Posted on by
2

Tonight the Alpharetta City Council voted to approve another high density mixed use project with nearly 500 condos. The vote was unanimous and it was embarrassing to watch how council members fawned over the developers. The council toothlessly imposed ownership restrictions but MetLife balked at an amendment that would prevent the property from converting to 500 apartments within five years so council decided to take their word for it.

Below are my comments to the council.

Good evening. My name is Jimmy Gilvin and I live in Alpharetta. I’ve come to speak against the Peridot project being proposed by MetLife.

Tonight this council will decide whether to continue urbanizing the city of Alpharetta by adding dense housing. The MetLife parcel is currently zoned for more than a million feet of office space which would provide more than 3300 badly needed jobs for the people of Alpharetta. The new proposal replaces 1800 of those jobs with 500 condominiums.

Why would this council trade $123,000,000 in annual salaries for 500 condos? This letter from MARTA’s Office of Transit Planning explains,

“MARTA is also working with the City of Alpharetta to initiate an LCI for the North Point Mall area as part of a north line rail extension… the city of Alpharetta had inquired from MARTA on the feasibility of having the proposed rail station at a location across SR 400 from the mall in the vicinity of the development site. MARTA has not yet made a firm decision on the station location but believes this development will add density in the area, making for better transit supportive environment.”

So for more than 5 years Alpharetta City officials have been quietly but methodically urbanizing this city in the hope of attracting MARTA. Was it happening when current City Councilman Chris Owens was working for the developer of Prospect Park as the civil engineer of the project? I don’t know. But it was happening when the city approved a 12 story condo tower in the Alpharetta High School district and it will continue tonight if you approve this MetLife proposal.

This year Alpharetta voters like me will elect a new mayor and several of you will be up for reelection. With your votes tonight you will help make those choices clear. We can either choose leaders that continue to urbanize our city in the hope of attracting MARTA or we will elect people that will protect what already makes Alpharetta a great place to live.

Alpharetta is a special place. We enjoy a fantastic quality of life with great public schools and low crime rates. As a result we are one of the finest places to live in all of Georgia.

I stand here asking you not to throw that all away. Despite what consultants, developers and land use attorneys may tell you the majority of people that live here don’t want Alpharetta urbanized to attract MARTA. Many voters don’t want MARTA here at all. All of you live here and in your hearts you know that is true. I am asking you to vote accordingly. Please vote no on this project.

The council members that voted for the project were: Douglas Derito, Jim Paine, Cheryl Oakes, Chris Owens, Mike Kennedy and DC Aiken in addition to Alpharetta mayor Arthur Letchas.

Why would Alpharetta trade 1800 jobs for 500 condos? MARTA

Posted on by
3

Below is a letter submitted by MetLife to justify the Peridot project proposed for Alpharetta. The new project would remove more than 1800 potential jobs from the site in return for building 500 condominiums. Why would the Alpharetta City Council do that? I will let Mr. Ikwut-Ukwa of MARTA’s planning office explain:

“MARTA is also working with the City of Alpharetta to initiate an LCI for the North Point Mall area as part of a proposed north line rail extension. In the past the City of Alpharetta had also inquired from MARTA on the feasibility of having the proposed rail station at a location across SR 400 from the Mall in the vicinity of the development site. MARTA has not yet made a firm decision on the station location but believes this development will add to the density in the area, making for a better transit supportive environment.

For at least five years the City of Alpharetta has been working with MARTA to increase the density of our city so they can justify bringing trains here. Funny, I don’t remember Alpharetta voters being asked about that. It must have happened at a charade charrette.

IF an Alpharetta mayoral or city council candidate comes knocking on your door this summer to ask for your vote don’t forget to tell them how you feel about the urbanization of Alpharetta to lure MARTA. Obviously they think it is a good idea. They just don’t want you to know.

MARTA, is it smarta for Alpharetta?