Aldi planned for Cascade Road as council waives tree fee

An Aldi grocery store is planned for Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta. On Monday, the Atlanta City Council voted to waive about $800,000 in tree fees that, the ordinance says, would have made the project no longer economically feasible.

The council adopted the waiver 11-0 on Nov. 2, according to the legislation history for ordinance 26-O-1597 (PDF). Council members Wayne Martin, Andrea L. Boone and Eshé Collins sponsored it. The council’s Community Development/Human Services Committee had backed it 6-0 on Oct. 27.

What is planned

The ordinance describes a commercial development at 3460 Cascade Road SW, in Council District 11. It will be anchored by an Aldi store of roughly 20,000 square feet.

The ordinance ties the store to Mayor Andre Dickens’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative. It says the mayor has made grocery options and fresh food access a key part of that plan. That applies especially to underserved neighborhoods and to the Cascade Road and Campbellton Road corridors.

Why the tree fee was waived

Atlanta’s updated tree protection ordinance raised the fees developers pay when they remove or destroy healthy trees. The city calls this payment “recompense.” The maximum rate per acre depends on how each parcel is zoned.

The Cascade Road project covers several parcels with different zoning. The ordinance gives these reasons for the waiver:

• The tree fee would add about $800,000 to the project’s cost, and the project would then no longer be economically feasible.
• Combining and rezoning the parcels before getting permits would put the project’s financing at risk.
• That delay would likely cost the project its grocery tenant.

The waiver covers only the payment. The rest of the tree ordinance still applies, including:

• tree planting standards for commercial development
• tree planting standards for parking lots
• street tree requirements

What it means for you

• A new grocery store is coming, but there is no date. The ordinance does not give a construction start or an opening date.
• The city gave up a payment, not all its tree rules. The developer must still meet the city’s planting standards for the site, its parking lot and the street.
• Want to weigh in? Cascade Road is in Council District 11. The council’s contacts are on our who to call at City Hall page.

The council’s Nov. 2 meeting record also set the city’s final 2026 tax rates; see our story on the school tax rate. For more on the area, see our guide to Atlanta neighborhoods.