Ordinances / Resolutions of Note
- Approve student apartments near Lay Park
- Extend the ban on new data centers
- Approve the future land use map
- Regulate data centers
- Approve North Avenue road diet
- Build judicial center downtown
- Start affordable housing trust fund
- Approve FY 2027 budget
- Authorize new sales tax referendum
- Block ban on “urban camping”
- Allow tiny houses
- Keep accessory dwelling units banned
Approve student apartments near Lay Park
The ACC Commission approved a 1,400-bedroom student apartment complex in downtown Athens to be constructed by Chicago-based developer Core Spaces. The complex will extend past the Foundry across what is now publicly-owned land just south of Lay Park.
Read more about this vote here.
Voting yes to approve the development: Davenport, Link, Wright, Culpepper, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: Taylor, Fisher, Myers, Johnson
Absent: none
Proposal made by: Link
Passed on January 6, 2026
Extend the ban on new data centers
The ACC Commission extended their previous ban on new data centers until June 5 in a unanimous decision.
Read more about this vote here.
Voting yes to approve the development: Davenport, Link, Taylor, Wright, Fisher, Johnson, Culpepper, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: none
Absent: Myers
Proposal made by: Thornton
Passed on March 3, 2026
Approve the future land use map
Commissioners approved a new future land use map to guide growth in Athens-Clarke County for the next twenty years. While they approved the underlying map unanimously, there were disagreements about some of the particulars. For example, Commissioner Ovita Thornton proposed an amendment to consider sewer expansion out to District 9, potentially through the Sandy Creek basin. This amendment passed 7-2, with Commissioners Mike Hamby and Allison Wright voting against it.
Read more about these votes here.
Voting yes to approve the future land use map: Davenport, Link, Taylor, Wright, Fisher, Johnson, Myers, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: none
Absent: Culpepper
Proposal made by: Link
Passed on April 7, 2026
Regulate data centers
Commissioners accepted an ordinance recommended by the ACC Planning Commission to allow data centers in Athens, but to designate them as a heavy industrial use and to mandate that each data center require a separate vote for approval. In addition, commissioners immediately sent the regulations back to the planning commission for futher review. Commissioner Carol Myers asked for several changes to the ordinance, including mandating closed loop cooling systems, increased transparency, annual energy usage reporting, limiting data center sizes and preventing their clustering in certain communities.
Read more about this vote here.
Voting yes to approve the future land use map: Davenport, Link, Taylor, Wright, Fisher, Johnson, Myers, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: none
Absent: Culpepper
Proposal made by: Myers
Passed on April 7, 2026
Approve North Avenue road diet
In a big win for traffic safety advocates, the commission approved a staff-recommended plan to “reimagine” North Avenue using a $25 million federal RAISE grant. The plan includes a multiuse path to improve pedestrian and bike safety and it will narrow North Avenue to four lanes to slow traffic heading into downtown, among other safety improvements.
Read more about this vote here.
Voting yes to approve the road diet: Davenport, Link, Wright, Fisher, Culpepper, Myers, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: Taylor
Absent: Johnson
Proposal made by: Link
Passed on June 2, 2026
Build judicial center downtown
After years of discussion, the ACC Commission finally decided on the location of the new judicial center: 120 W. Dougherty Street. The commission also approved a tentative six-story concept for the building, which will span over 200,000 square feet.
Read more about this vote here.
Voting yes on building the judicial center downtown: Davenport, Link, Taylor, Wright, Fisher, Culpepper, Myers, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: none
Absent: Johnson
Proposal made by: Davenport
Passed on June 2, 2026
Start affordable housing trust fund
The ACC Commission has selected Envision Athens to manage the county’s affordable housing trust fund in a split 5-4 vote. Commissioners voting no wanted to put out a request for proposals to have a more open and competitive process for selecting the fund’s manager. Read more about this vote here.
UPDATE 6/30/26: Due to requirements of the ACC charter, the vote to select Envision Athens has been overturned. Instead, an RFP process will be used to select the fund’s manager.
Voting yes on building the judicial center downtown: Davenport, Link, Wright, Culpepper, Hamby
Voting no: Taylor, Fisher, Myers, Thornton
Absent: Johnson
Proposal made by: Davenport
Passed on June 2, 2026
Approve FY 2027 budget
The ACC Commission voted to approve the fiscal year 2027 budget unanimously. This was a fairly conservative budget that kept property tax rates flat and provided a 4% raise for county employees. You can read the budget for yourself here.
Voting yes on the fy 2027 budget: Davenport, Link, Taylor, Wright, Fisher, Johnson, Culpepper, Myers, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: none
Absent: none
Proposal made by: Thornton
Passed on June 9, 2026
Authorize new sales tax referendum
When voters amended the Georgia constitution to put a cap on home valuation increases in 2024, they set up the possibility of another referendum for themselves to make up some of that lost revenue. With this vote, the ACC Commission chose to allow Athens voters to decide whether they would like to make up part of the lost revenue with a 1% increase in sales taxes or by (presumably) raising property taxes.
Most commissioners decided to let the voters make this decision, but some spoke out against the proposed new tax, called FLOST (for Floating Local Option Sales Tax).
Voting yes on putting FLOST up for a referendum: Davenport, Link, Taylor, Wright, Culpepper, Hamby
Voting no: Fisher, Johnson, Myers, Thornton
Absent: none
Proposal made by: Davenport
Passed on June 9, 2026
Block ban on “urban camping”
Urban camping will remain legal in Athens after dozens of residents packed city hall to defeat a measure that would have prohibited sleeping, cooking or using a tent in public spaces for purposes of living accommodations. You can read more about the proposed ban here.
Voting yes to block the ban on urban camping: Davenport, Link, Taylor, Johnson, Myers, Thornton
Voting no: Wright, Fisher, Culpepper, Hamby
Absent: none
Proposal made by: Hamby
Failed on August 4, 2026
Allow tiny houses
Commissioners voted unanimously to remove a limitation requiring homes to have at least 1,000 square feet of floor area, thereby allowing small cottages and tiny homes in Athens for the first time in several decades.
Voting yes on allowing tiny houses: Davenport, Link, Taylor, Wright, Fisher, Johnson, Culpepper, Myers, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: none
Absent: none
Proposal made by: Davenport
Passed on August 4, 2026
Keep accessory dwelling units banned
The ACC Commission has decided to continue a ban on accessory dwelling units, which are secondary homes on single-family zoned lots, sometimes taking the form of garage apartments or detached “in-law” suites. These structures are actually legal, but only if they don’t have a kitchen. You can read more about this vote here.
Voting yes on keeping ADUs with kitchens banned: Taylor, Wright, Fisher, Johnson, Culpepper, Thornton, Hamby
Voting no: Davenport, Link, Myers
Absent: none
Proposal made by: Hamby
Passed on August 4, 2026