Georgia has some of the weakest renter-protection laws in the United States, as a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation detailed. And when it comes to evictions and the state laws that govern them, the city isn’t able to preempt those laws to make it easier for tenants fighting to stay in their homes.
But the City Council last week found one way it hopes to make an impact. It approved a $500,000 donation to the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation to start a pilot program that will provide access to free legal representation for low-income Atlantans facing eviction.
We caught up with the bill’s main sponsor, Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari, who said the “Access to Legal Counsel” pilot program was inspired by similar programs in cities like New York and Baltimore.
“Cities have to get very innovative about how we approach tenant protections,” Bakhtiari said. Her goal is for local corporations to match the city’s half-million-dollar donation, with the program eventually becoming a line item in the city’s yearly budget.
The foundation already does some pro-bono eviction prevention work, but the new pilot program will allow it to take on more clients. There’s no word yet on the size of the staff or case load, since the pilot is still in the early planning phases.
“Over the next several months, we will learn from other jurisdictions, test different models for providing legal representation, ensure we have systems in place to measure whether we are having an impact, and set the stage to further expand access to counsel,” foundation Executive Director Michael Lucas said in a statement.
The money is coming from a housing trust fund, which was provided to the city as part of the Gulch redevelopment agreement in 2018.
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It’s committee week for the City Council, meaning newly introduced legislation will have hearings.
Some measures we’re watching: A proposal from Councilman Jason Dozier to lower the maximum amount of parking that new developments (including offices, hotels and apartment complexes) can build in downtown and Midtown.
Plus, Bakhtiari is pushing for the city to donate $300,000 to Access Reproductive Care-Southeast, a group that works to expand abortion access.
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Mayor Andre Dickens — who just celebrated his first six months in office — joined local and federal leaders last week to celebrate Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport obtaining $40 million from the federal government to widen Concourse D as part of a round of grants to airports nationwide from the bipartisan infrastructure law.
As the AJC’s Kelly Yamanouchi reported, the Atlanta airport plans to use the money to help pay for the expansion of the central corridor, gate areas and restrooms, and to improve accessibility, in one of the most crowded and cramped areas of the airport,
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Development watch: Portman Holdings held an official groundbreaking for “Junction Krog District,” a six-story development coming to the bustling area along the Beltline’s Eastside Trail near Krog Street. The AJC’s Zachary Hansen reports the development with include restaurants, office space and a large “public porch” gathering space on the ground floor.
Less than a mile away on Auburn Avenue, the Historic District Development Corporation broke ground last week on “Front Porch,” a 100,000-square-foot mixed-use project that will include affordable housing, retail space and a rooftop event space. Reporter Newspapers reports it’ll be the first new construction along the historic Auburn Avenue corridor in over a decade.
Credit: Portman Holdings
Credit: Portman Holdings
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Some readers may not know that Councilman Dustin Hillis, who chairs the council’s public safety committee, is also a registered nurse.
During a ride-along with Atlanta’s interim police chief last week, Hillis was thrust into action when his patrol car was flagged down for a man suffering a medical emergency. Hillis, who represents a northwest Atlanta district, helped clear the man’s airway as police waited on additional emergency medical personnel.
“We were really just in the right place at the right time,” he told the AJC’s Henri Hollis.
