Atlanta Highway development
At an agenda setting meeting Tuesday night, the Athens-Clarke County mayor and commission lingered over a zoning change that, if passed, would increase housing stock on the West side.
Several commissioners hinted that they would not support a planned development on Atlanta Highway that would bring nearly a thousand new units to the area. At an April 3rd meeting, the planning commission recommended denial of the zoning change that would allow the development to move forward.
Commissioner Melissa Link of the second district opposes the development and read a statement from that commission during the meeting:
“Desperation for affordable housing should not cause the people of Athens to accept projects that are not designed to meet community expectations, and that sometimes it is worth waiting for the right project to come along.”
The Planning Commission noted the lack of greenspace and aesthetic qualities in their decision to recommend denial.
School Resource Officer funding
The county’s agreement to partially fund the salaries of school resource officers in the Clarke County School District also sparked controversy. The district board is set to vote on whether to fully fund those officers on Thursday.
District 6 Commissioner Stephanie Johnson, whose husband is a member of the Athens Clarke County Police Department, called for transparency on how the funding was allocated.
“There’s just a lot of numbers that are unexplained, the responsibility of our unified government, especially when we’re hearing at every other meeting that we’re operating at a deficit, and the school district is not.”
The Saye still in limbo
The Commission also discussed the fate of the historic downtown Saye Building. The county’s Planning Commission decided earlier this month to recommend denial of a permit that would make it possible to replace the building with a parking lot. District 8 Commissioner Carol Myers pointed out that the county may be legally required to approve the permit, however, because of a mediation agreement previously reached between the government and the building’s owners.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, the Mayor and Commission also extended its contract with acting county manager Bradley Griffin until early June, after the county’s budget is passed. The Mayor and Commission will hold their next voting meeting on Tuesday, May 6th.
