A proposal to establish a historic district on Peachtree Circle in Ansley Park cleared two hurdles this week, earning support from Neighborhood Planning Unit-E and the Atlanta Zoning Review Board.
The Atlanta City Council will cast the final vote on the matter at its Aug. 24 or Sept. 8 meeting.
Neighbors have been slinging insults for months while the city’s preservationists have pushed to maintain the character of Peachtree Circle, one block east of Peachtree Street.
The move to create a historic district was sparked in January after the demolition of 205 Peachtree Circle, an American Craftsman-style home that stood in Ansley Park for more than a century. It was torn down to build a larger house on the acre-plus residential lot.
A total of six meetings have been held with Ansley Park Civic Association, the City of Atlanta and NPU-E. Yet, some neighbors have requested more time to evaluate how the historic district will affect their property value, taxes, and future renovations.
At the Aug. 6 ZRB meeting, Peachtree Circle resident Drew Gandy asked for “a 60-day continuance of any decision on this matter, so that I can obtain, at my own expense, an independent appraisal report on the actual impact that this designation would have on our property values.”
His request was not granted. ZRB voted to support the proposal 6-0.
ZRB board member Lauren Welsh said she was torn on the issue.
“There’s real value with homes like this for historic district designation, but I’m a little concerned about the street-by-street approach,” Welsh said.
“I don’t think this is a street-by-street approach,” Keyetta Holmes, director of the Office of Zoning and Development, said. “The Randolph-Lucas-Jones House inspired the persons who live on Peachtree Circle to consider this.”
The Randolph-Lucas-Jones House, which had been a fixture at the intersection of Peachtree Road and Lindbergh Drive since 1924, was famously moved to Peachtree Circle and renovated by Roger Smith and his husband, the late preservation advocate Christopher M. Jones.
Ansley Park has tried and failed twice in recent years to gain a historic designation. The last movement to get historic district protection for the neighborhood fell apart in 2022 after residents became bitterly divided over the issue. Some residents didn’t want the burden of historic preservation requirements, championing the rights of individual property owners. A lawsuit filed by one of the property rights advocates ended the movement.
“Historic district designation should be shaped by thoughtful public discussion and meaningful participation,” said Robert Reed, director of Atlanta’s Historic Preservation Studio in the planning department.
Peachtree Circle features a landscape design with wide, tree-lined lanes inspired by famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead.
“Currently, what we’re seeing is that houses will be torn down, moved to the allowed setback of the underlying zoning, and interrupting the sort of pattern of the streets. So that’s one of the things that this ordinance would address,” Reed said.
“Peachtree Circle continues to prove that its worth to the architectural character and significance of this city has found support again,” David Mitchell, executive director of Atlanta Preservation Center, said. “It is big deal to know that we have the vision to protect this street for the future. This is a great accomplishment for Atlanta.”
