While Roswell City Council implemented changes that could displace Roswell's workforce and elderly residents, Sarah Beeson spoke out.
Sarah Beeson was recently interviewed by the Atlanta Business Chronicle regarding the City of Roswell's sweeping changes to the Unified Development Code. Roswell Mayor and Council recently altered the code to limit housing choice. Beeson argued that the change would cause rents to increase at an exponentially faster rate, displace local workers, and limit affordable home ownership options for young professionals or aging residents.
““You made it into Roswell, and now you’re closing the door and bringing up the ladder so that other people can’t do the same thing you did,” said Beeson, who worries the rent rise will price out teachers, first responders and service workers.
Sarah Beeson has been present to give public comments at all City Council and Planning Commission meetings where these changes were discussed.
Being Smart About Development
Beeson has been emphatic that she supports smart growth for the city. At the May meeting, Beeson used the development of The Catherine as an example of how the city's officials have botched development in the past. Citing meeting minutes and records from the Fulton County Tax Assessor to combat Council's statement that they are passing the new resolution to prevent developments which are sold as mixed-use from turning into standalone residential development:
"Council's past mistake was that they gave the developer square footage maximums, not minimums. So the developer technically met Council's request not to exceed 115,000 square feet of commercial space by not building any commercial components in The Catherine. We shouldn't limit our city's future because of past mistakes and a lack of direction. Instead, let's learn from those mistakes."
Read the full article at Atlanta Business Chronicle