The Athens-Clarke County Commission roundly rejected a proposed development of 69 townhomes on Gaines School Road out of a concern for traffic congestion and the fear that the development would contribute to gentrification, displacement and homelessness.
At their meeting on Tuesday, the commission also approved a special-use permit for a new parking lot at the current site of the historic Saye building and gave the go-ahead for a preliminary redesign of the College Square pedestrian plaza.
Contents
Gaines School Road townhomes
New downtown parking lot
Preliminary design for College Square
Gaines School Road townhomes
ACC Commissioners rejected a proposal by local design firm W&A Engineering for 69 townhomes on Gaines School Road, citing traffic and affordability concerns. The townhomes would have sold between $300,000 and $400,000 as “fee-simple” units, meaning the owners would have had full rights to them without limitation. In addition, the project would have included nearly 10,000 square feet of commercial space and ten one-bedroom accessory dwelling units.
$350,000 is a fairly modest price for a new single-family home in Athens. Nevertheless, Commissioner Tiffany Taylor sharply criticized the proposal, saying that it would cause the displacement of nearby residents.
“A lot of us [commissioners] don’t get the phone calls from residents who are being displaced because of the developments that we approve,” Taylor said. “We are contributing to the homeless population in Athens-Clarke County because we continue to approve developments that are expensive that our residents cannot afford.”
Taylor believes that the construction of new homes can boost the values of neighboring properties, causing an increase in rents and the potential displacement of existing residents. However, most economists believe that an increase in the supply of housing tends to lower its cost, meaning that new construction could actually reduce displacement and homelessness.
Taylor has raised similar objections to almost every new housing development that has been brought forward in the last few months. This time around, she was joined by Commissioner Patrick Davenport, whose district is directly across Gaines School Road from the proposed townhomes. Davenport was incensed by the proposal, saying repeatedly that it could “destroy” the surrounding neighborhoods.
“When people move to the eastside, they like the quiet. They like to see the stars at night,” Davenport said. “I would hate for this commission to deny the folks who have been here for generations [that peace and quiet]…As long as I’m sitting here [as a commissioner], I’m not going to allow the destruction of the eastside.”
Two residents from the nearby Cedar Creek neighborhood did speak up to oppose the project at the meeting, although their comments were muted compared to the vociferous objections coming from Taylor and Davenport. Robert Gorman, a Cedar Creek resident, told commissioners that he was concerned with the loss of tree canopy and the overall look of the project which, to him, felt more commercial than residential. Ross Watson, also a Cedar Creek resident, remarked that he thought the plan was “beautiful” but that he had concerns about traffic safety along Gaines School Road.
Two pedestrians were killed in April by a car traveling along Gaines School Road very close to the proposed site. This fact was mentioned by Taylor, who said she did not want to contribute more traffic congestion to an already dangerous road by approving the development.
Most commissioners deferred to Taylor since the development was proposed for her district, but Commissioner Allison Wright spoke up to recommend approval, citing various stormwater and sidewalk enhancements for the area that would be paid for by the developer. Commissioner Melissa Link seconded Wright’s motion for approval and then responded to Taylor’s point about traffic safety.
“There is a lot of public benefit to this project. We’ve got some stormwater and sewer upgrades that neighboring property owners will be able to tie into. The sidewalk improvement is tremendous,” Link said. “I understand we’ve had pedestrian deaths there. That is not the fault of any developer. That is the fault of our road design. That corridor is ripe for a road diet [which would reduce travel lanes].”
W&A Engineering had a traffic study performed on Gaines School Road but determined that the extra traffic that would be generated by the development did not warrant a stoplight or other traffic changes.
The commission rejected both the future land use change and the rezoning request that would have allowed for the townhome development in a 3-7 vote, with Wright, Link and Commissioner Carol Myers voting in favor.
While Commissioner John Culpepper voted with the majority in opposition to the rezoning request, he questioned Taylor’s logic that reducing the number of homes in the area would allow for more affordable housing.
“We’re limiting the amount of units that are going on a piece of property [by not approving the rezoning request], because we want affordable housing,” Culpepper said. “But in reality what we’re doing is increasing the cost of the houses that are going to be there, because there [would be fewer] units [if they are built according to the current zoning].”
New downtown parking lot
The commission approved a special use permit which will allow Athens First United Methodist Church to build a 14-space parking lot at 110 W. Hancock Avenue, the current site of the historic Saye building. This was the final component to an agreement reached with the local government to settle the dispute that arose when the church was included in the West Downtown Historic District against their will in 2020.
The commission voted 8-2 to allow the parking lot despite unanimous disapproval from the ACC Planning Commission. Only Link and Taylor voted against the plan.
“There is absolutely no reason to approve this. We’ve given the go-ahead to the demolition. There’s no reason to incentivize that by allowing a special use which is in clear violation of all our policies and all our planning documents.” Link said.
The mediation agreement did not specifically require the approval of a special use permit for this parking lot, but commissioners may have felt they needed to approve it to avoid a lawsuit.
Preliminary design for College Square
The commission gave their unanimous approval for a preliminary redesign of the College Square pedestrian plaza in downtown Athens as presented by the Athens Downtown Development Authority.
The plan includes brick paving, more trees and upgraded seating, lighting and stormwater infrastructure for the area.
“I think the folks working on this project have done a really outstanding job,” said Commissioner Mike Hamby. “I’m looking forward to this project and how it’s going to improve downtown and make College Avenue look better.”
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