Candler Park votes against historic neighborhood designation

Candler Park votes against historic neighborhood designation


Courtesy Candler Park Neighborhood Association

A movement to have the Candler Park neighborhood declared a city historic district has failed after a community vote.

According to a report on the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization (CPNO) website, residents voted 318 to 293 in opposition to the plan to nominate the Candler Park Historic District to the Atlanta Urban Design Commission.

The organization’s Historic District Committee was looking for a 2/3 vote in support to pass the measure.

In 1922, Coca-Cola magnate Asa Griggs Candler donated the 55-acre tract of land that became the park itself. The park is surrounded by a collection of century-old bungalows and cottages along with thriving small businesses and restaurants.

The historic district designation would prevent the demolition of existing houses and guide future construction. The designation also protects aesthetics of properties, and can be used as a tool to limit density.

In a blog post on the CPNO website, resident Samrit Sangal said he was voting against the designation because he didn’t want “additional burdens to be placed on my rights as a homeowner.”

“If I wanted to subject myself to the architectural preferences of my neighbors, I would have bought a house with an HOA or condo board,” Sagal wrote.

He also said that since Atlanta is already “struggling with a housing supply crisis and crippling wealth inequality” the neighborhood could “ill-afford excesses such as the preservation of a design aesthetic, especially in a prime location close to public transit.”

Resident Nancy Nethery, who voted in favor of the historic designation, harkened back to when Candler Park was nearly lost to a highway development. She wrote in a blog post that the designation would “protect the ambiance of our streetscape, provide gentle density increases” and “protect the tree canopy.”

Atlanta Preservation Center Executive Director David Y. Mitchell released this statement on Candler Park’s vote:

“The decision for not becoming a Local Landmark District was made by the residents of Candler Park today.  We will continue to navigate what culture, identity – and/or what meaning and purpose we wish to have as our standard?  I hope that the embrace of the market and best and most valuable approach to real estate can be sustained by a thoughtful level of community stewardship, otherwise we have witnessed an embrace of transaction that is not limited to Candler Park.”

A number of the city’s notable neighborhoods are designated historic districts, including Inman Park, Grant Park, Druid Hills, and Poncey-Highland.





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