originally published April 9, 2008

One idea that seems to be coming up more and more frequently lately is the idea of an overlay zone for communities on the river. This idea was brought up as a possibility during the comprehensive land-use plan process, and it turned up again in the recent Potterytown charrette (which I participated in, as one of the design students).

Potterytown is the little community at Wilkerson, East Broad and Pottery streets (home to Weaver D’s), and it is currently overshadowed by 909 Broad and Georgia Traditions, two new highrises. Many more of these could be built in the area, looming over the greenway and a proposed rail/trail. These would significantly alter the character of the area and mark a considerable departure from the historic nature of riverside communities. The 100-foot-tall highrises don’t relate to the greenway quite the way that three-story mills do. This historic area is facing considerable pressure due to its proximity to downtown and the river, but Potterytown isn’t the only neighborhood on the river that is threatened; the Puritan Village on Macon Highway, the Elizabeth Street area and Whitehall are all in danger of being lost due to development.

A Sense of History: These days Athens has turned to academics, research and healthcare when it comes to employment; once upon a time Athens was the “Manchester of the South,” with cotton mills up and down the river. These mills and the villages that surrounded them are a huge piece of our community’s history, and none of them are protected with historic districts. The Oconee rivers used to be full of activity, with boats running up and down them and a handful of dams providing power for the city and the mills. Until recently, Athens seemed to have turned its back to the river; the greenway changed that. As we once again turn to the river, it seems obvious that an Oconee River overlay be created to protect the history that survives, and to guide future growth. This needs to be done soon, before another preservation tragedy occurs, like those that have occurred recently on Milledge Avenue or Reese Street.

Example Number One: One place to look for an example of a river overlay is to the north. Since 1994, Madison County has had a special zone overlaying two riparian corridors in the county. Within this zone, designated “Parks, Recreation, Conservation and Agriculture,” all new subdivisions must be conservation subdivisions, with 50 percent of the development set aside in a conservation easement. The existing density for the zone is still allowed, the highest in Madison County being one unit per three-quarter acre. That is still a lower density than most of the single-family-zoned lots in Clarke County.

Madison County’s rural feel is something that’s made establishing corridors like these a bit easier; the county is still zoned to a relatively low density. When the land values go up, let’s hope that this rural preservation ethic holds up.

Athens-Clarke is certainly a different beast from Madison County; small and dense versus large and rural. Still, the same ideas could be applied here on a small scale, and adapting them to some hybrid of a historic district and design character area might be worth pursuing. Although there aren’t many large undeveloped parcels along the Oconee rivers themselves that aren’t already covered by the greenbelt around the edges of Clarke County, such an approach might be useful for preserving the historic areas there, as well as the viewsheds from greenways.

Another consideration to keep in mind is that parking lots are now encouraged to be placed on the side or rear of a building (as seen from the road). Typically, however, rivers and streams flow behind a building (with roads usually up a bit higher, or on a ridge), which means that it is possible we might be encouraging parking closer to our streams. Although having buildings address the street properly is important, a second look should be taken to see how this matches desires to protect waterways. Is there a conflict of interest that could be avoided with a bit more elaboration, to avoid another “creative development” a la Discovery Trail?

How to Do It?: Such a zone could also have a specific set of criteria attached to it. Gaines School Road has a special zoning that regulates things like uses and building setbacks. Historic districts also have certain aesthetic requirements to maintain their character. Similar functional and aesthetic regulations might be appropriate for development along the rivers. Currently there are several sets of brightly-colored houses (including Mandyville and the Retreat) on hills not too far from the North Oconee River Greenway. Dictating a more muted color pallette would be one way to maintain a more natural feel along the greenway. The woodland feel is certainly lost when there’s a bright red house at the top of the hill, whereas a brown or green house might go unnoticed. More stringent regulations regarding stormwater management and grading along these corridors might be warranted. The proposal for the former Boys and Girls Club, which included a mammoth retaining wall near the North Oconee River, suggests a need to provide closer scrutiny in this area.

An overlay over the entirety of the river corridor would help Athens re-orient itself to the Oconee, and guide future development in the area to take advantage of that orientation. Even in areas without historic villages, an extension of that older character would protect the experience along the greenway.

In Other News: The final piece of the Chase Park warehouse complex (home to Canopy, Athica and others) is due to be renovated soon. Plans call for building a new structure within the existing footprint, where the roof has collapsed, preserving the old brick wall at the end. Additionally, three new structures are proposed. One of them matches the character of the area, but the angular footprints of the other two don’t seem to relate to the railroad warehouses. The proposal also includes a substantial amount of parking. The new buildings should at the very least honor the historic rail bed in their orientation, since that is such a defining part of the warehouses. (They don’t, as shown in sketches at www.onetaspace.com.) This series of warehouses has grown very organically over the past few years; let’s hope that these folks can do just as good of a job.

Kevan Williams