Legislation introduced by Atlanta City Councilmember Michael Julian Bond to determine the feasibility of using Atlanta Public Schools (APS) property owned by the city as greenspace will get its first hearing at the Monday, Feb. 24, Finance/Executive Committee meeting at 1 p.m. in the council chambers at city hall.
Bond said the evaluation of property will look at the best interest of the public, the City of Atlanta, and APS to ascertain the highest use of the properties.
“We want to make sure these facilities are used in the best way possible,” said Bond. “The evaluation will let us know the most efficient way to use these properties. Currently Atlanta has a dearth of park space so one option may be to convert these city-owned lands into public greenspace.”
Bond’s legislation comes as the city continues to wrangle over the deferred Atlanta BeltLine tax debt it owes to APS. Earlier this month, APS Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said the city refused to hand over the deed to the long-closed Adair Elementary School in southwest Atlanta so the property could be sold. Mayor Kasim Reed said city-held APS deeds would not be released and were part of the ongoing negotiations over the BeltLine debt.
