Mayor Kasim Reed made an 11th hour veto on the Moores Mill Road extension, much to the chagrin of members of the Atlanta City Council. The council may vote to override his veto at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. at city hall.
During Thursday night’s Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods meeting, Dist. 8 Councilmember Yolanda Adrean said she had spoken with Reed earlier in the day and he was committed to making sure the road extension and mixed-use development attached to it would go forward, but not by using city impact fees.
Edens, a South Carolina-based development company, is ready to move forward with the project, which would include a 45,000-square-foot Publix supermarket, retail shops and apartments.
Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, committed $500,000 for a road extension that would create a signalized entrance to the mixed-use project. The additional $800,000 to build the road extension that would connect Moores Mill to Marietta Boulevard would have come from impact fees from both Adrean and Dist. 9 Councilmember Felicia Moore’s available funds.
“Mayor Reed said there is federal money available so we wouldn’t have to tap into the impact fees,” Adrean said. “He [Reed] said we could use the $800,000 from impact fees as a backstop to make sure the project goes forward.”
However, there is concern that using the mix of federal dollars and local money will delay the project and force the developer to move on.
Demolition of the abandoned shopping center on Moores Mill Road was to begin after the first of the year to make way for the new $40-million center mixed-used project.
Both Adrean and Councilwoman Mary Moore said they had been inundated with angry emails and calls from local residents about the mayor’s veto of the project.