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Hey, VaHi / Morningside! This week: Amsterdam Walk just landed a $15 million tax break to move its Beltline-adjacent redevelopment forward, Shaky Knees survived a wild Saturday night storm to close out its 13th year in Piedmont Park, and your calendar is stacked with everything from a 5K for domestic violence awareness to the Garden's 50th-anniversary Scarecrows display.

- News — Portman's Amsterdam Walk redevelopment clears a major funding hurdle, council sets a January 2027 deadline for Beltline light rail, and three Beltline construction do-overs raise eyebrows.
- Events — From Shaky Knees' storm-tested finale to Scarecrows in the Garden's 50th anniversary and a fly-fishing brew launch for breast cancer survivors, the neighborhood's calendar is overflowing this week.
- Government — Council unanimously backed the Beltline rail timeline and Felicia Moore's Ethics Board seat, while a contract investigation and public comment reforms stayed stuck in committee.
- Construction — A six-story storage build on Piedmont Rd and 211 new units on La Vista headline a busy permit week, alongside two commercial re-roofs and lingering traffic signal fixes.

Let's dive in.

NEWS

Invest Atlanta greenlights $15M tax break for Portman Holding's Amsterdam Walk redevelopment
Invest Atlanta approved a $15 million tax incentive for Portman Holdings to advance its planned redevelopment of Amsterdam Walk, a mixed-use site bordering Piedmont Park and Morningside along the BeltLine.

An electric—very electric—Shaky Knees
The 13th annual Shaky Knees festival brought acts including Gorillaz, Wu-Tang Clan, The Strokes, and a shirtless, glam-metal Danny Elfman to Piedmont Park, with a Saturday night thunderstorm packing 60 mph winds and hail forcing a temporary evacuation before headliner Twenty One Pilots closed out the night by 9:20 p.m.

Atlanta City Council sends Beltline rail resolution to mayor's office
The council voted unanimously to pass Kelsea Bond's resolution urging the city, Atlanta Beltline Inc., and MARTA to deliver an implementation plan and timeline for light rail on the 22-mile corridor by January 2027, after Byron Amos won approval of amendments stripping language backing use of Beltline Tax Allocation District funds, which sunset in 2030, for the rail project.

Atlanta City Council seeks tally of vacant sites to develop housing
The Atlanta City Council is advancing plans to compile a comprehensive registry of privately owned vacant and underutilized land across the city that could be repurposed for housing.

Shedding light on 3 recent construction failures along Atlanta Beltline
Beltline officials confirmed that connective stairs at Grant Street on the Southside Trail were fully ripped out in August after inspectors found "cosmetic and dimensional deficiencies," with contractor Reeves Young now working toward a late-October fix, joining two other recent redo projects spanning the Eastside Trail's Ponce de Leon Avenue ramp and a trail bridge in southern Buckhead.

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Monday, September 28
- VA Highland Plein Air Paint Out | Green Market
- Atlanta Running Meetup | 7pm - 9pm/Park Tavern
- Community Game Night | Piedmont Park

Tuesday, September 29
- Fine Line Pen for Botanical Illustration | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Weekly Walking Club | Piedmont Park
- Garden Playtime | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Guided Workshop: Painting Flowers | Green Market
- Fuqua Lecture: Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson – Climate Wayfinding | Atlanta Botanical Garden

Wednesday, September 30
- Storybook Time | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- APS Cross Country City Championships | Piedmont Park
- Larry Griffith Band: Larry Griffith solo at World Famous Fat Matt's Rib Shack, 7-9:30! | Fat Matt's Rib Shack
- Planning Your Raised Bed Garden | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Nogu Svelo! in Atlanta | Smith's Olde Bar
- Wednesday Jazz Jam - Gordon Vernick Quartet | Red Light Cafe

Thursday, October 1
- Scarecrows in the Garden | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Jammy Buffet – Tribute to Jimmy Buffet – Atlanta | Music Room at Smith's Olde Bar
- Walk a Mile in Their Shoes | 1000 Monroe Drive NE
- Heroes for Ghosts & IN DIVISION & Over Anna & Suitable Miss | Smith's Olde Bar
- Breast Cancer Survivors, Fly Fishing & a New Brew Come Together for a Cause | SweetWater Brewing Company
- Fest-of-Ale | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Light Bites & Garden Insights | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Cider Making Workshop | Piedmont Park
- New South Chef Collective: A Garden Dinner Series III | Atlanta Botanical Garden

Friday, October 2
- Emily Nenni | Smith's Olde Bar
- Penny Loafer, Strumbrush, Wheat, Siichaq | MJQ Concourse
- The Waymores | Smith's Olde Bar

Saturday, October 3
- Splish Splash Doggie Bash | Green Market
- Tree Tour: Virginia Highland Neighborhood Arboretum | Murphy's restaurant
- Green Market | Piedmont Park
- Fall Family Fun | Atlanta Botanical Garden
- Light the Night Atlanta | Piedmont Park

Sunday, October 4
- Fresh Produce Comedy - October | The Supermarket ATL
- Soul and Self Care Sunday's | Piedmont Park

GOVERNMENT | Presented by

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Note: our information comes from posted meetings documents (agendas and minutes when available) — latest source document hyperlinked to each meeting.

Past Week Roundup

Atlanta City Council had a busy week between its full council meeting and the Committee on Council. As covered in today's news section, the full council unanimously passed the Beltline rail resolution pushing for a light rail implementation plan by January 2027, and separately moved forward on building a citywide inventory of vacant private land for housing. Minutes for the full council's other business haven't posted yet, so those outcomes aren't confirmed. Over at the Committee on Council, members voted 5-0 to recommend former Council President Felicia Moore for a seat on the city's Ethics Board, and unanimously backed reappointments to the Atlanta Commission on Women along with a new appointee to the Special Event Technical Advisory Group. Several notable proposals stayed stuck in committee, including changes to how public comment works at council meetings, a charter amendment requiring named sponsors on legislation, and a push for an independent investigation into city contracts tied to Foris Webb, III. A resolution asking for certified police officers at recreation center polling sites also remained held, so don't expect changes there before the next election cycle.

Notable Neighborhood Mentions

Atlanta City Council
- 774, 784, 790, 794 Ponce de Leon Ave NE — The commercial property was on the agenda for rezoning from planned development mixed-use and commercial designations to mixed residential commercial.
- 790 Bonaventure Ave NE — The site was on the agenda to be rezoned to mixed residential commercial as part of a 1.76-acre BeltLine redevelopment project.

Meetings This Week
- Atlanta City Council — Zoning Committee | Sep-28, 11:00 AM | key topics: self-storage special permit regulations, Ponce de Leon commercial redevelopment, comprehensive zoning ordinance overhaul
- Atlanta City Council — Public Safety & Legal Administration Committee | Sep-28, 1:00 PM | key topics: Atlanta City Detention Center lease and sale proposals, vehicle booting fee adjustments, municipal surveillance technology oversight
- Atlanta City Council — City Utilities Committee | Sep-29, 10:00 AM | key topics: water bill usage spike relief, North Fork wastewater storage, Atlanta Memorial Park matching funds
- Atlanta City Council — Community Development/Human Services Committee | Sep-29, 1:30 PM | key topics: Westside park acquisitions, tree canopy protection standards, Memorial Drive Greenway expansion
- Atlanta City Council — Transportation Committee | Sep-30, 10:00 AM | key topics: Centennial Yards complete streets funding, traffic signal property acquisition, neighborhood street abandonments
- Atlanta City Council — Finance/Executive Committee | Sep-30, 1:30 PM | key topics: Atlanta City Detention Center agreement, Glynn Drive boundary annexations, Morningside and Virginia-Highland park donations
- Fulton County Board of Commissioners | Sep-30, 6:00 PM | key topics: FY 2026 General Fund millage rate public hearing, 2027 employee healthcare contracts and premium rates

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Permits
- 1913 Piedmont Rd NE — New 6-story mixed-use storage facility with a basement, filed as a major land development permit. This is a big one for the Piedmont Heights corridor and worth watching as it moves through review.
- 1155 La Vista Rd NE — Two separate HVAC permits for a new multifamily construction project totaling 211 units (92 units and 119 units). That's a serious amount of new housing coming to the area, each unit getting its own heat pump, bath fan, and dryer exhaust setup.
- 1420 Mayson St NE — A 3,977-square-foot building is getting adaptive reuse for FASTSIGNS (doing business as Midtown Signs & Graphics). Another empty commercial space about to come back to life.
- 2121 Faulkner Rd NE — Full commercial re-roof job. Crews will strip the existing roof down to the deck and install new insulation and cover board. Expect some noise if you're nearby.
- 551 Dutch Valley Rd NE — Commercial re-roof project, stripping two layers of old roofing and insulation and replacing it. Routine but noisy work for anyone close by.
- 1402 N Highland Ave NE — Fire sprinkler system upgrade to meet current NFPA 13 code. Standard commercial safety compliance work, permit already issued.
- 576 Wimbledon Rd NE — A duplex is being converted back into a single-family home, with an 850-square-foot addition to the basement. Small but telling sign of the area's ongoing shift toward larger single-family footprints.
- 2452 Elizabeth Ann Ln NE — Home office addition with a new room and bathroom. Nothing dramatic, just steady residential investment in the neighborhood.
- 2239 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE — Electrical connection request at Cheshire Bridge and Lenox Road was terminated, so don't expect work here anytime soon.

Road Work

Under Construction
- I-85 from I-75 to N of Lenox Road - Lighting — The purpose of this project is to upgrade the existing lighting systems, along this corridor, from HPS to energy-efficient LED fixtures. GDOT lists Fulton as affected county.
- Buford Spring Connector @ I-85 - Tunnel Lighting — The purpose of this project is to upgrade the existing tunnel lighting from HPS to energy-efficient LED fixtures. GDOT lists Fulton as affected county.
- SR 236 / LaVista Rd & Shepherds Ln Signal Upgrade — The project includes signals work. GDOT lists DeKalb as affected county.

Service Requests
- Traffic Signal Repairs — Four non-emergency reports came in on Pelham Rd & Piedmont Ave, Piedmont Rd, Ponce de Leon Ave, and Cheshire Bridge Rd & Faulkner Rd, with three now closed and one still in progress. A separate emergency signal repair at Ponce de Leon Ave & Highland Ave is already closed.
- Visibility and Overgrowth — You'll find three reports on Ponce de Leon Ave, Ogilvie Dr & Lenox Rd, and Virginia Ave. Two are marked solved, one is still in progress.
- Potholes — Reports came in for Monroe Dr & Yorkshire Dr, McLynn Ave, and Cumberland Cir. One turned up no problem found, one's solved, and one's closed.
- Sign Repair/Replacement — A request on Montgomery Ferry Dr is in progress.
- Litter Removal — Crews are working a right-of-way litter complaint at Maiden Ln & Ponce de Leon Pl.
- Downed Tree — A downed tree on Lanier Blvd is still being addressed.

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Until next week,
VaHi / Morningside Busybody

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