$980,000 in Beltline funding gone

Beltline loses grant because project isn’t far enough along.

Speaking of Beltline letdowns, $980,000 in federal grant money designated for the Beltline will now be spent in some other city.

Why’s that?

The AJC:

A spokesman for the Beltline, Ethan Davidson, said the Beltline never went through the application process to get the money, because federal regulations did not permit such grants to be used for projects in such early stages as the Beltline was.

UPDATE: Beltline director of communications Ethan Davidson offers details about the missed federal grant.

“This appropriation was made in 2006, before the existence of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., the implementing entity of the project. Over three years ago, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. began a planning and implementation strategy with the Federal Transit Administration and other federal agencies, which has successfully accessed and programmed nearly $20 million in federal funds. While this appropriation was well intentioned, due to federal regulations, we could not access these funds, which had a limited and restricted use. Unfortunately, the appropriation could not be altered to fit our current strategy, but we are on good footing for future federal funds.”