From You
Mar 10, 2004
Letters
From You
ATHENS GROW GREEN IS...
I'd like to take this opportunity to explain what type of group the Athens Grow Green Coalition is, since Mr. Hogan asked in his letter last week [Mar. 3].
We are an all-volunteer, non-profit organization formed in 2000 by Athens citizens from neighborhood associations, environmental organizations and other concerned groups to urge the commission to pass and enforce zoning and development standards that protect the environment, reduce sprawl and preserve a high quality of life.
We are not, as he calls us, a "special interest" group; that is, we are not trying to further the interests - particularly the financial interests - of any one group at the expense of others. We are more of a "general" interest group, in that we promote balancing the rights and responsibilities of different groups, such as developers and neighborhoods, in order to maintain a healthy environment and economy for all of us. We approach this by advocating growth management - not growth prevention. We know that growth will continue to happen here; we are trying to make sure that it doesn't happen in a way that causes problems (environmental, fiscal and social) for our community. We base our recommendations on the ACC Comprehensive Land Use Plan and its Guiding Principles, which were themselves based on an unprecedented amount of public input and represent the entire community's vision for our own future. There is plenty of evidence showing that the kind of quality growth the Comprehensive Land Use Plan describes is better for the environment, for the community, for developers and for the fiscal health of local governments than haphazard, unmanaged sprawl is.
For more information about growth management and about Grow Green, please visit our web site at www.AthensGrowGreen.com.
Finally, Mr. Hogan is concerned that Grow Green has "the ear of the Commission," and the Chamber does not. I can only suggest that the Chamber do what we do: research the issues and offer constructive suggestions. Write letters, email, call and show up for meetings. Thanks,
Beth Gavrilles, President
Athens Grow Green Coalition
Athens
A SMALL PLEASURE
This past Sunday afternoon I had an opportunity to visit Athens with a couple friends of mine. The reason for my visit, which was tacked on to the end of a general "get out of town" road trip, was to do a sort of reconnaissance mission to see if I could in fact live there. My girlfriend was thinking of moving down there and so was I. I wanted to check it out.
At a pleasant lunch at The Grill, I ordered a cup of coffee. I looked in back of me and to my astonishment found several patrons at the counter smoking. What were these people doing? Smoking cigarettes in plain view of everyone, in public no less, at a diner? I was shocked.
I asked the friendly waiter if I could move. I wanted to enjoy my cup of coffee... with the aid of a cigarette. "Excuse me," I said, "do you have to be over there to smoke"? He smiled, said, "You can smoke right here," and brought me over an ashtray.
I nearly teared up. How long it had been since I sat in a diner with a cigarette and a cup of coffee? Being from Connecticut, this simple joy had long been stricken from my list of life's simple pleasures. I never really got over this loss, and would always feel like something was missing with that nice steaming hot cup of Joe at a diner. I deeply missed it.
So here I am in Athens, GA, on a lazy Sunday digging the town. Ten minutes previous I find a copy of a comic I write (Tupelo - $2.95 Slave Labor Graphics - buy now, buy often!) at Bizarro Wuxtry and here I am smoking at a diner! Cool! And what's that over to my left? Why, it's a copy of Amazing Fantasy with a Steve Ditko cover displayed in a case! I just purchased some long sought after reprints by the same artist at aforementioned shop (which by the way has the greatest selection of cool old comics: I bought back some of my childhood there). Coffee, comics and cigarettes, all on a pleasant Sunday. Bliss.
Upon my return to Connecticut I popped open an issue of Flagpole and to my great dismay read John Huie's article on the proposed smoking ban. You gotta be kidding.
Commissioner Kathy Hoard said "she'd heard from many people on both sides of the question and would like to hear from the owner of a bar that reportedly went out of business after it banned smoking." It's a shame you have to declare bankruptcy before your opinion is heard. Yes, I know I was at a diner in the afternoon, but I am also one of many who like the have a smoke while drinking and listening to music. I could not imagine entering one of Athens' many cool looking bars and not lighting up. I am still traumatized by the memory of being at a Nick Cave show in New York and criminally smoking a cigarette in the handicapped stall of the Roseland, while Nick was happily puffing away on-stage, singing of murder and love.
I am not going to get into the whole secondhand smoke debate of whether it kills you or not. The truth is, my belief that it's not a health hazard is based upon an episode of "Penn and Teller's Bullshit." I believe there are far more lethal things in a double Quarter Pounder with Cheese (consumed on the drive down South: Calories 370, Calories from Fat 2,873) and that there are, of course, far more troublesome things to worry about. Yes, I know it stinks and it's inconvenient and some people don't like it. I personally can't stand when people walk down the streets yammering on their cell phones, but am not going to tell them not to do so or support any legislature restricting it. It's just a typical annoyance of modern day life that I deal with. So just say it stinks and you don't like it. Don't say it's killing you.
I am just curious as to where I can relocate in the United States where this is not an issue, to where I can enjoy the simple satisfaction of smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of coffee.
Cue up Otis Redding's "Cigarettes and Coffee" at the March 16 public hearing and tell everyone to relax. The "kind of impact" the smoking ban would have would not be a great one. It'll just be another of life's little pleasures being taken away.
Matt DeGennaro
New Haven
I'd like to take this opportunity to explain what type of group the Athens Grow Green Coalition is, since Mr. Hogan asked in his letter last week [Mar. 3].
We are an all-volunteer, non-profit organization formed in 2000 by Athens citizens from neighborhood associations, environmental organizations and other concerned groups to urge the commission to pass and enforce zoning and development standards that protect the environment, reduce sprawl and preserve a high quality of life.
We are not, as he calls us, a "special interest" group; that is, we are not trying to further the interests - particularly the financial interests - of any one group at the expense of others. We are more of a "general" interest group, in that we promote balancing the rights and responsibilities of different groups, such as developers and neighborhoods, in order to maintain a healthy environment and economy for all of us. We approach this by advocating growth management - not growth prevention. We know that growth will continue to happen here; we are trying to make sure that it doesn't happen in a way that causes problems (environmental, fiscal and social) for our community. We base our recommendations on the ACC Comprehensive Land Use Plan and its Guiding Principles, which were themselves based on an unprecedented amount of public input and represent the entire community's vision for our own future. There is plenty of evidence showing that the kind of quality growth the Comprehensive Land Use Plan describes is better for the environment, for the community, for developers and for the fiscal health of local governments than haphazard, unmanaged sprawl is.
For more information about growth management and about Grow Green, please visit our web site at www.AthensGrowGreen.com.
Finally, Mr. Hogan is concerned that Grow Green has "the ear of the Commission," and the Chamber does not. I can only suggest that the Chamber do what we do: research the issues and offer constructive suggestions. Write letters, email, call and show up for meetings. Thanks,
Beth Gavrilles, President
Athens Grow Green Coalition
Athens
A SMALL PLEASURE
This past Sunday afternoon I had an opportunity to visit Athens with a couple friends of mine. The reason for my visit, which was tacked on to the end of a general "get out of town" road trip, was to do a sort of reconnaissance mission to see if I could in fact live there. My girlfriend was thinking of moving down there and so was I. I wanted to check it out.
At a pleasant lunch at The Grill, I ordered a cup of coffee. I looked in back of me and to my astonishment found several patrons at the counter smoking. What were these people doing? Smoking cigarettes in plain view of everyone, in public no less, at a diner? I was shocked.
I asked the friendly waiter if I could move. I wanted to enjoy my cup of coffee... with the aid of a cigarette. "Excuse me," I said, "do you have to be over there to smoke"? He smiled, said, "You can smoke right here," and brought me over an ashtray.
I nearly teared up. How long it had been since I sat in a diner with a cigarette and a cup of coffee? Being from Connecticut, this simple joy had long been stricken from my list of life's simple pleasures. I never really got over this loss, and would always feel like something was missing with that nice steaming hot cup of Joe at a diner. I deeply missed it.
So here I am in Athens, GA, on a lazy Sunday digging the town. Ten minutes previous I find a copy of a comic I write (Tupelo - $2.95 Slave Labor Graphics - buy now, buy often!) at Bizarro Wuxtry and here I am smoking at a diner! Cool! And what's that over to my left? Why, it's a copy of Amazing Fantasy with a Steve Ditko cover displayed in a case! I just purchased some long sought after reprints by the same artist at aforementioned shop (which by the way has the greatest selection of cool old comics: I bought back some of my childhood there). Coffee, comics and cigarettes, all on a pleasant Sunday. Bliss.
Upon my return to Connecticut I popped open an issue of Flagpole and to my great dismay read John Huie's article on the proposed smoking ban. You gotta be kidding.
Commissioner Kathy Hoard said "she'd heard from many people on both sides of the question and would like to hear from the owner of a bar that reportedly went out of business after it banned smoking." It's a shame you have to declare bankruptcy before your opinion is heard. Yes, I know I was at a diner in the afternoon, but I am also one of many who like the have a smoke while drinking and listening to music. I could not imagine entering one of Athens' many cool looking bars and not lighting up. I am still traumatized by the memory of being at a Nick Cave show in New York and criminally smoking a cigarette in the handicapped stall of the Roseland, while Nick was happily puffing away on-stage, singing of murder and love.
I am not going to get into the whole secondhand smoke debate of whether it kills you or not. The truth is, my belief that it's not a health hazard is based upon an episode of "Penn and Teller's Bullshit." I believe there are far more lethal things in a double Quarter Pounder with Cheese (consumed on the drive down South: Calories 370, Calories from Fat 2,873) and that there are, of course, far more troublesome things to worry about. Yes, I know it stinks and it's inconvenient and some people don't like it. I personally can't stand when people walk down the streets yammering on their cell phones, but am not going to tell them not to do so or support any legislature restricting it. It's just a typical annoyance of modern day life that I deal with. So just say it stinks and you don't like it. Don't say it's killing you.
I am just curious as to where I can relocate in the United States where this is not an issue, to where I can enjoy the simple satisfaction of smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of coffee.
Cue up Otis Redding's "Cigarettes and Coffee" at the March 16 public hearing and tell everyone to relax. The "kind of impact" the smoking ban would have would not be a great one. It'll just be another of life's little pleasures being taken away.
Matt DeGennaro
New Haven
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