The Athens-Clarke County Commission approved an ambitious housing development off Barnett Shoals Road called “The Shoals” (formerly known as Lakeshore), but not without some controversy.
The designer, W&A Engineering, envisions four different neighborhoods to be constructed in several phases around Dekle Lake that will include between 575–745 housing units, at least 20,000 square feet of commercial space, a mile-long extension of the North Oconee River Greenway and outlets for charging both electric cars and electric bikes. The housing will come in a wide variety of different types, including townhomes, duplexes, quadruplexes, apartments in mansion-style buildings and single-family homes.
The project was unanimously approved by the ACC Planning Commission, and public comment was in favor of the proposal, but that didn’t stop it from being controversial among ACC commissioners.
Commissioner Tiffany Taylor harshly criticized the development, which is primarily designed for the upper-middle class, as being unaffordable and unwelcoming for people who live nearby. “I think about the underrepresented communities within that area who [are] not going to be able to partake in this new development. If we are honest, it’s not for that area,” Taylor said. “It is going to create an area where residents are not welcome who already live there.”
At a meeting in February, Taylor stated her belief, which is not supported by data, that the construction of new housing like this can cause displacement of existing residents. As such, she has pledged to oppose all new construction that lacks affordable units.
Commissioner Ovita Thornton spoke up to support the development, but she agreed with Taylor on the broader point that the local government needs to do more to promote affordable housing in Athens. “I don’t think that this body, since I’ve been on the commission, has taken [affordable housing] seriously,” Thornton said. “I don’t know where you think low, moderate [income] people of color are going to go.”
“They don’t care,” Taylor interjected.
Thornton asked for more public-private partnerships to address Athens’ affordable housing shortage and urged her colleagues to take the issue more seriously.
Other commissioners denied that the local government has failed to take action on affordable housing, touting the many millions of dollars that have been spent building hundreds of affordable units in recent years. “We put almost $40 million into an affordable housing fund with our last SPLOST program, which is pretty unprecedented for a community of this size,” said Commissioner Melissa Link. “We’re seeing the fruits of that coming up just a couple blocks away in the North Downtown Project [aka the redevelopment of Bethel Midtown Village, now called The View at NoDA]. Folks are moving in there as we speak.”
Private developer Columbia Residential recently announced that it is now leasing units at NoDA, stressing the convenient location and premium amenities. Two-thirds of the units are reserved for lower-income residents through local SPLOST funding, federal tax credits and a partnership with the Athens Housing Authority. While market-rate units are available to college students, under federal law the subsidized and public housing units are not.
Mayor Kelly Girtz listed a number of affordable housing developments the commission has approved in recent years, including apartments off Highway 72 and senior housing at Lakewood Hills and on Atlanta Highway. Going further, he mentioned several affordable housing programs funded though the federal American Rescue Plan, including housing construction, a home repair program and a first-time homebuyer down-payment assistance program.
Commissioner Carol Myers called for a work session dedicated to affordable housing so that commissioners could have a more in-depth discussion on the topic. “In general, affordable housing funding does not come from local governments, it comes from the state and the federal government. If we want to take more money and use the [public] property that we have, I think there’s ways we can explore this. But we have to do it in a setting where we have enough time to discuss the issues, to come up with strategies,” Myers said.
Commissioners approved the proposed development off Barnett Shoals Road in a 7-2 vote, with Taylor and Commissioner Stephanie Johnson voting no and Commissioner John Culpepper absent.
In other zoning items, the commission denied a request by the new owner of an old dermatology office on Cobb Street to allow the building to continue as a commercial space permanently.
Attorney Brad Sperr acquired the building after Dr. David Lockman retired. Sperr plans to convert the dermatology office into six smaller office spaces, running his law practice out of one of the offices and renting out the other five. However, his plan may have hit a roadblock last Tuesday when the ACC Commission unanimously rejected his request for a special use permit to operate his commercial business in a residential area.
The building at 728 Cobb St. was originally built as a residential home but has been used commercially since at least the 1970s, before Athens’ current zoning code was put into effect. That means whoever owns the building retains the legal right to operate a business there, even if the use is not conforming to Athens’ current code. Therefore, even without the commission’s approval, Sperr has the same “grandfathered-in” rights to operate a business on the property that Lockman had. However, without a legal and conforming status, Sperr may find it more difficult to apply for the loans or tax credits he may need to help him restore and renovate the property, which needs significant work.
Without a special use permit, the “grandfathered” rights will vanish if the property ever reverts back to a residential home.
Residents of the Cobbham neighborhood strongly opposed the idea of having a permanent commercial space at this location. They spoke up against granting the special use permit, saying that it was unnecessary, that it violated ACC planning code and that it could be used as a precedent to allow further intrusion of commercial activity into residential areas.
Opposition from the Historic Cobbham Foundation and from notable Athenians like R.E.M.’s lawyer Bertis Downs and former mayor Gwen O’Looney encouraged commissioners to unanimously reject Sperr’s request, despite support from the ACC Planning Commission, which had recommended approving the special use in an 8-1 vote.
Commissioners also voted unanimously to raise rates in downtown parking decks to $2 an hour, up from the previous rate of $1.50. Going forward, the first hour of parking will be free, but even so, this change is estimated to provide an additional $313,000 a year in parking revenue. The Athens Downtown Development Authority, which proposed the parking rate increase to avoid spending $80,000 on new equipment that accepts coins, will continue to receive 40% of parking revenue to fund its operations, with the other 60% going into the local government’s general fund.
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