Today, the College Park MARTA station has 477 housing units within a half-mile of the station. (Image: DeKalb, Wikimedia)
College Park, a city south of Atlanta which has a station on a MARTA heavy rail line, will consider the creation of a zoning district that would support transit-oriented development on 200 acres of land surrounding the station. If approved, the new district could house more than 6,000 new residents.
While other parts of the MARTA system have seen heavy development, stations on the south side of downtown have not achieved the same levels of investment. College Park Mayor Jack Longino and supportive council members hope to create a vibrant district designed around pedestrians and bikes, not auto access. One of the stated goals is to make it just as easy to park a bike as parking a car.
But the plan might be most effective north of the station since the 2,056 parking space lot surrounding the station itself is subject to strict rules related to the adjacent airport runways. This is likely to limit taller buildings near the station and require a great station access plan from the development zones.
For more information about access guidelines, visit TODresources.org for reports such as TCRP 153: Guidelines for Providing Access to Public Transportation Stations and the BART Station Access Policy.
Recent TOD news
Here are a few things that have been happening this week with TOD projects across the country.
- “Great Streets Planning Study” to kick off on Nashville’s Dickerson Pike (The Tennessean)
- Developer unveils plans for $750 million station revamp in Brisbane, Australia (The Urban Developer)
- Vancouver, Canada places moratorium on Broadway corridor development after subway announcement (The Star Vancouver)
- Editorial: Ditch Houston’s burdensome parking regulations around light rail and bus routes (Houston Chronicle)
- Nine South Shore cities work together to plan TOD around commuter rail (Northwest Indiana Times)