Politic-ATL: Tampons, taxis, bars and tiny homes
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Here's the latest from Atlanta City Hall.
🚺 Tampons
City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari wants to require restrooms in city- owned or -operated buildings and facilities to provide dispensers stocked with free menstrual pads and tampons.
Why it matters: "Period poverty" — which is when someone lacks access to menstrual products — contributes to depression and anxiety, according to the ordinance.
What's next: The council's Finance/Executive Committee could consider the ordinance on Wednesday at 1:30pm.
🚕 Taxis
City Councilman Byron Amos is sponsoring an ordinance intended to level the playing field between taxicabs and rideshare services.
The proposed ordinance would raise the permissible age of a taxi or rideshare vehicle from seven to ten years.
- It would also repeal the annual $100 operation certificate renewal fee, as well as the vehicle inspection prerequisite to serve airport visitors.
Likewise, taxi drivers would be allowed to use cell phones and other wireless devices as a taximeter.
- And instead of having to paint every company vehicle the same color, the law would only require taxis to display company emblems.
What's next: The Transportation Committee could consider the ordinance at 10am on Wednesday.
What we're watching: If the council committees approve the ordinances for free tampons and changes to the taxi industry, the full council could ratify these proposals at their Monday meeting.
🏠 Small homes
An Atlanta ordinance for special permits to build smaller homes just hit a brick wall.
What's happening: Atlanta City Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet said in a statement on Monday that she is "revising and revamping" her proposal, which would've required a special permit to build homes smaller than 750 square feet.
- Critics said it would effectively ban small homes.
🍻 Booze battle: City Councilmember Keisha Sean Waites wants to amend the law for holiday nightlife hours after business owners told her the legislation — which allows bars to open on Sundays if the holiday falls on a Monday — excludes Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
State of play: Waites said in a statement that the ordinance was postponed at the latest council committee meeting due to a lack of a quorum.
Additionally, Atlanta Deputy Chief of Staff Theo Pace said the administration wants to complete its nightlife economics study, and review recommendations from City Hall's Alcohol Technical Advisory Group III, prior to future changes to its bar hours legislation.