All is not well at the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, after two prominent board members, including Ryan Gravel, who originally proposed the idea for the BeltLine, resigned this week.
"Two prominent board members of the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership turned in their resignations Monday saying not enough emphasis is being given to the issues of equity and affordability," reports Maria Saporta. The Atlanta BeltLine Partnership is a public entity, controlled by the city of Atlanta, with responsibility for implementing the massive, ambitious project.
The two resigning board members were Ryan Gravel, "an urban planner to initially proposed the concept of the BeltLine in his Georgia Tech Master’s thesis," and Nathaniel Smith, "founder of the Partnership for Southern Equity," according to Saporta.
Gravel and Smith signed a resignation letter that included the following explanation for the bombshell: "While there have been success stories that we can be proud of, our coalition’s progress has not been commensurate with the scale of the challenges at hand." The letter also cited the example of $7.5 million recently allotted from TAD bonds, which "will likely support fewer than 200 affordable units out of ABI’s obligation to 5,600 – it is a drop in the bucket when compared to the need."
The article includes the full text from the resignation letter, as well as a public statement from Atlanta BeltLine Partnership Chair Mike Donnelly in response to the development.
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