Atlantic Steel
Atlantic Steel: Letter from Environmental Defense Fund regarding Atlantic Steel XL Project
Atlantic Steel Redevelopment XL Project
Stakeholder Participation Plan
Introduction
Stakeholder involvement is considered essential by the Atlantic Steel
Redevelopment Team and has been an important part of the concept and rezoning
considerations since the project began in early 1997. It is important
to note that multiple public meetings, discussion groups, individual contacts,
and a full public notice and review process relative to this project was
held during the rezoning of this property. That process included involvement
of the City of Atlanta Planning Department, Georgia Department of Transportation,
Atlanta Regional Commission, nine neighborhood organizations, and several
other groups such as the Midtown Alliance and Georgia Tech.
These groups collaborated on the concept, design,
and conditions put in place in the rezoning document. These changes and
conditions replaced the existing land use zoning classification of industrial
with a mixed-use classification including residential, retail, office,
and hospitality at urban densities. After the public input and review,
the rezoning was approved by each of the involved neighborhoods 9-0, the
City of Atlanta Zoning Review Board 9-0, recommended to the City Council
by the Zoning Committee 5-0, and passed by the Atlanta City Council 15-0.
The order was signed by Mayor Bill Campbell as soon as it passed through
the City Council approval mechanism. This process began in May 1997 and
continues today, as one of the agreements was that a periodical status
report would be given.
This Stakeholder Involvement Plan is intended to supplement previous activities
and describe the basic methods by which additional input can be solicited
and received particularly as it relates to Project XL. Stakeholder input
will be used to refine and establish community goals of the Atlantic Steel
Redevelopment and will be incorporated into the Final Project Agreement
(FPA). Stakeholder input will also help develop the program specifics
and evaluate project performance.
Goals and Objectives
The goals of the early stakeholder input and this Stakeholder Involvement
Plan is to ensure that interested stakeholders are afforded the opportunity
to participate in the success of this project and to provide the stakeholders
with the information they need to participate in decisions on the future
of the Atlantic Steel Redevelopment.
The following are the objectives of this plan:
Identify Stakeholders and their role in this project:
*Describe methods of communication between the project sponsor and the
stakeholders
*Ensure all stakeholders have an opportunity to participate in the project
*Promote stakeholder involvement in the development of the FPA
*Assure all previously involved stakeholders that discussions, agreements,
and contracts, particularly relating to zoning conditions remain fully
intact.
Identification of Stakeholders
Stakeholders include any individuals, government organizations, neighborhood
organizations, academic centers, and companies with an interest in the
progress of the Atlantic Steel Redevelopment Project. The identification
of Stakeholders will be based on inviting those who are already involved
in other environmental projects with the Atlantic Steel Redevelopment,
contacting others with related interests, and by general invitation to
the local population. Stakeholders provide information on the preferences
of the community and may also identify un-addressed issues.
Stakeholders in the XL program typically fall into three categories; direct
participants (EPA, Jacoby Development, Law Engineering, Moreland Altobelli,
ldf Associates), commentors (EPD, FHWA, MARTA, City of Atlanta, GDOT,
The Georgia Conservancy, Atlanta Regional Commission, Sierra Club, Southface
Energy Institute, Environmental Defense Fund, Georgians for Transportation
Alternatives, etc.), and the general public.
Direct participants will work intensively with the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Atlantic Steel Redevelopment team on designing and developing
the project.
Advisory committee members are considered direct participants and could
include representatives from local government offices, educational institutions,
special interest groups, and interested members of the public.
Commentors have an interest in the project, but do not desire to participate
as intensively in the project's development. Commentors will typically
want to be kept informed on project development, attend public meetings,
and contribute their comments and advice in written or verbal form.
Members of the general public might choose not to become directly involved
in the project, but will be given easy access to the project development
process and to information about the environmental results during project
implementation. Members of the general public have the opportunity to
participate more actively if they choose to.
Contacting potential stakeholders will occur prior to and during development
of the Final Project Agreement. At that time direct participantswill be invited to sit on one of the advisory committees. Commentors
will be put on a project mailing list to ensure that they are informed
of all opportunities to comment or participate during project development
and implementation. The following methods will be used to contact and
inform potential stakeholders.
Local Newspapers: Display and/or legal ads will be taken out in
the major local newspapers to invite the general public to public meetings
and inform them of comment periods.
News Media Notice: A notice of this project and public meetings
will be sent to the news departments of the local newspapers, and other
published media and local radio.
Cable Television: Notices of public meetings and comment period
will be sent to the community access cable station for broadcast during
the community events segment. If possible, the public meetings may be
taped and then broadcast on the community access station.
Newsletters / Fact Sheets: Newsletters including Fact Sheets will
be mailed to everyone on the current mailing list as part of the public
notice of meetings and comment periods. These mailings will include status
reports, timelines, mileposts, contacts, and future meeting times and
locations.
Internet: A public web site will be established in conjunction
with the EPA Project XL web page. This site, will provide access to announcements,
project background and documents, meeting minutes, project developments
and implementation status, and provide an Internet address for comment
submittal.
Information Repository: An information repository for the project
will be established at the local branch of the Fulton County Public Library
System.
Invitation: The following groups will be invited by phone, mail,
or electronic mail to become direct participants in project development
(this list is not all inclusive).
Public Meetings: Public Meetings will be held to both inform the
general public about the project, and to invite their comments and participation.
The first public meeting was held September 15. This meeting introduced
the public to the project and to the XL process. Other public meetings
may be held during development and implementation of the FPA based on
public interest or as decided by the direct participants. Public meeting
locations will be chosen to provide adequate size and accessibility to
all that wish to attend. A trained facilitator will be provided to assist
in the conduct of the public meetings.
Training: When requested by members
of the stakeholder group, project briefings will be provided to ensure
that members have the information they need to participate effectively.
These briefings could include discussions of technical issues associated
with the project, as well as the public participation process.