Hot Townie Summer is over: The new school year starts for Clarke County public school students on Wednesday, and the trickle of University of Georgia students will soon become a flood later this week.
“I want everybody to be a little more mindful, a little bit more patient during the school year—the buses, the traffic the pedestrians—everybody just take a moment to be mindful of public safety, and to be courteous to people who are coming to our community who aren’t used to being [here],” Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Allison Wright said at Tuesday night’s commission meeting.
For public safety reasons, UGA recently instituted new rules regarding micromobility vehicles, such as e-bikes, e-scooters and the one-wheeled skateboards commonly known as “hoverboards.” Such devices should now be walked on sidewalks and in crosswalks, and are prohibited in buildings and on buses.
Compounding traffic problems, Oconee Street is down to one lane as the Georgia Department of Transportation replaces a bridge over the North Oconee River just south of downtown, in addition to the ongoing work at the Loop interchange.
Early move-in at UGA starts on Thursday for select groups, such as students participating in sorority rush, international students and Redcoat Band members. Move-in for other on-campus residents starts Friday and runs through next Wednesday. That means staying away from the campus area, downtown and big-box stores might be a good idea, if possible.
“Let’s avoid downtown, let’s avoid Five Points and Atlanta Highway,” Commissioner Tiffany Taylor said.
Actual business for the commission was fairly light. It voted to:
• unanimously deny a rezoning to allow slightly more density for a townhouse project on Pinecrest Drive near Foley Field.
• allow a concrete company to relocate its plant from College Avenue to College Industrial Boulevard, at the former Southern Brewing Co. site. Commissioners Dexter Fisher, Ovita Thornton and Taylor voted no.
• delay a vote on a preliminary design for a pipeline to bring water from a future reservoir at a rock quarry near Athens-Ben Epps Airport to the J.B. Beacham Water Treatment Plant off Barber Street at the Loop.
In addition, Thornton announced that she will be running for re-election to her District 9 seat representing northeastern Athens next year.
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