A master plan for Buckhead’s Lindbergh/Morosgo and Armour neighborhoods, jointly sponsored by the city and MARTA, has been delayed by at least months.
Announced in October 2020, the Lindbergh-Armour Master Plan was anticipated to begin with an immediate round of public meetings and a goal of getting a final draft to the Atlanta City Council by July.
But the process has not materialized and the city now says it is giving lead consultant Stantec more time to perform a study.
“We’ve not been on hold per se but [are] giving our consultant time to work on analysis of the study area. We’re aiming to re-engage the public early this spring,” said Paula Owens, a spokesperson for the Department of City Planning. “…There’s no definitive date for completion, but I was told we are pushing for fall.”
MARTA’s unfinished vision for transit-oriented development at Lindbergh Center Station lies at the core of the Lindbergh-Armour Master Plan, and a bevy of new multiuse trails — including a future Atlanta BeltLine segment — also inspired the study.
The study area centers on the Piedmont Road corridor roughly bordered by Ga. 400/I-85 to the east, the Armour area to the south, the Northfolk Southern rail line to the west, and Sidney Marcus Boulevard to the north. It also includes Miami Circle, southern Buford Highway to the Brookhaven border, and part of the Cheshire Bridge Road corridor.
Trail plans snaking through those areas are a major subject for the plan to tackle. PATH400 already exists within that area. Atlanta BeltLine Inc. is working on a concept for a prospective route for its Northeast Trail path and transit segment to run through the Armour area to the MARTA Station. Last year, the South Fork Conservancy installed a bridge over Peachtree Creek to connect its trail system to PATH400 on Adina Lane.
Then there’s MARTA, the 800-pound development gorilla of Lindbergh, whose headquarters is at the station. About 20 years ago, MARTA began executing a massive plan for transit-oriented redevelopment around the station. Acres of mixed-use buildings and two apartment complexes were built, but they are less transit-oriented than MARTA envisioned, and other phases of the plan have stalled. And now MARTA has a long-term plan to build a new rail line called the Clifton Corridor between Lindbergh Center and the Emory University area.
The basics of the planning process are outlined on a project website.