Atlanta, GA — MARTA is working on creating a master plan for the Kensington MARTA station, which is located just outside of Avondale Estates. MARTA will hold a virtual focus group for Avondale Estates residents to provide input on the plan on Thursday, Oct. 6, from 7-8 p.m.

Registration for the focus group closes at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29.

MARTA encourages residents to “provide feedback to ensure that the master plan reflects a wide variety of wants, needs, and desires of the surrounding communities,” according to the city of Avondale Estates’ newsletter.

MARTA also has surveys for the community to provide feedback. The surveys are still open and can be found here.

The master plan will direct the rezoning of the 35 acres surrounding the station and enable redevelopment from the private development community, according to the project website.

The station is located at 3350 Kensington Road at the crossroads of Covington Highway and Memorial Drive. The study area includes 35 acres that currently house 1,912 surface parking spaces.

The station is between the regional anchors of the Beltline and Stone Mountain, and is within walking distance to the Stone Mountain Trail.

“The plan is an opportunity to connect transit with our region’s ecological network,” the project site states. “This station is a critical link to local destinations – from Decatur Square to GSU’s Perimeter College and Covington Place Shopping Centre. This plan is an opportunity to build synergy between stations for a stronger local economy.”

The project website shows three concept designs, which include adding new streets, connecting trails, building multifamily housing and townhomes, adding retail and office space, and having public spaces.

Street and land use framework option one orients the redevelopment and streets according to how the parking lot exists today, the website states. The plan has a focus on connectivity – building new streets in place of existing parking lot entrances and drive aisles, connecting pedestrian and bike paths from the corner of Mountain Drive and Covington Highway, and including sidewalks or multiuse paths on all new streets.

In terms of land use, option one would include a small town green on the north side of the station that would be fronted with retail and mixed-use buildings. Station Soccer could be located there. Townhomes could be built on the northeastern corner of the site, or Station Soccer could remain in its current location.

Option two orients the redevelopment and streets parallel to Mountain Drive on the south side. New streets would use existing parking lot entrances as intersections with nearby streets, but the internal network would be redesigned. One continuous street would connect Memorial Drive to Kensington Road through the property, using the existing bridge over the MARTA tracks.

Pedestrian and bike paths would connect into the site from the corner of Mountain Drive and Covington Highway, and the current bike and pedestrian connection from Memorial Drive would remain.

Option two features a town green on the north side of the station, fronted with small-scale mixed-use buildings and larger apartments. The town green would include Station Soccer, and could be used for community events or passive recreation.

Option three combines option one and two in terms of street layout. Highlights of the connectivity include:

– New streets use existing parking lot entrances for intersections with the adjacent streets, but the network internal to the site is completely re-designed.

– Pedestrian and bike paths could connect into the site from the corner of Mountain Drive & Covington Highway on both sides of the tracks. Some sort of MARTA signage or monument would identify the station.

– The existing pedestrian and bike connection from Memorial Drive would stay in place.

– Sidewalks or multi-use paths would be included on all new streets.

In option three, the town green would be fronted with large apartments with ground-floor retail. Streets around the town green could be closed for events to expand the size of the park. In the long term, some mixed-use office and retail space could be added to the corner of Covington Highway and Mountain Drive.

All three options have a few things in common, which include:

– Parking decks and on-street parking would accommodate parking needs.

– Mid-rise multifamily buildings would make up most of the new development on the site in all options.

– Some retail is imagined to be on the south side of the station.

– The stormwater parks on the southeast and northwest corners would be redesigned to be usable park spaces with residences facing them. The parks would also include pedestrian paths to the station.

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