Business & Tech

Camp Creek Corridor Seeks Community Improvement District Status

The goal is to access funding sources to make the Camp Creek corridor a destination hub for shoppers.

Looking to boost customer traffic, improve traffic flow and other other initiatives, a group of businesses along the Camp Creek Parkway corridor are looking to form a Community Improvement District.

The initiative, which would be called the Airport West Community Improvement District, aims to fund a number of transportation, safety and beautification projects.

Community Improvement Districts, or CIDs, are funded via self-imposed taxes that member businesses agree to pay. Those funds are deployed to increase the vitality of the CID zone and other goals.

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Buckhead, for example, has a CID.

As designed, the proposed district would include a swath of land around Camp Creek Parkway that includes Atlanta, College Park East Point and South Fulton County.

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Technically, there will be two CIDs forming because state law prohibits them from crossing county lines.

The West CID, which is in Fulton County, will be the first to form. The Airport East CID, which will come later, will be in Clayton County.

Working together, across municipal boundaries makes success for project improvements more likely, said Natalie Martin a principal with Duke Realty, and chairwoman of the Camp Creek Parkway Improvement Association, which is leading the CID effort.

"For the first time, the South Fulton area will be able to go for millions of dollars in grants," Martin told Cascade Patch. "We've never had that opportunity for the Southside."

Chick-fil-A and the Airport Marriott have already signed on to the initiative and have joined the West CID.

While it means member businesses will have to pay into a fund with a self-imposed tax, about 5 mills, Martin said the money will go toward some much needed safety, traffic and beautification improvements.

They include a diverging diamond at the I-285 and Camp Creek Parkway intersection, adding sidewalks on Camp Creek between I-85 and I-285 and signage throughout the zone.

In all, there are 28 planned improvements within the projected CID zone. The ulitimate goal is to boost revenue to Camp Creek businesses.

"We want to make Camp Creek a destination," Martin said.

Arguably, many of the improvement projects might be expected to fall under the purview of the local governments, but in an era of shrinking budgets, they can't tackle them, she said.

"If the cities could, they probably would, but they can't," she said."Their budgets have been cut greatly."

The CID initiative is not entirely a done deal.

In order to be established, at least 75 percent of the value land in the zone and 50 percent of the owners must sign on.

The West CID has about $800 million to $1 billion in land value, with property owners and businesses sign on that represent $300 million of that amount.

Today, April 29, the boosters of the West CID have planned an information event to sign up businesses.

It is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Marriott Atlanta Airport Gateway Hotel, 2020 Convention Center Concourse, Atlanta, in the Jetstream -1 Conference Room.


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