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CITY PA GES
WE’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN
The connector came off the land-use map. Does that signify nothing?
For the last year or so. as Athens has
struggled to define how its land will be
zoned and used in the future, the battle
against sprawl has taken place in board
rooms, library auditoriums and school cafe
terias as the people told the government
what they wanted: a greener, cleaner, pret
tier city.
But last Tuesday, Feb. 16. in a large-scale
show of concern that the Athens-Clarke
County Commission wasn’t paying atten
tion. dozens of protesters convened on the
steps of City Hall to cheer on a little ‘60s-
style street theater.
Just minutes before the meeting in which
the Commission would discuss the compre
hensive land-use plan — a blueprint for
totally overhauling Athens' approach to
planning and zoning matters — a shady,
cigar chomping character in a suit who
introduced himself as “Dee Velop" ascended
the stairs, flanked by a ridiculous cadre of
cell-phone waving, make-believe wheeler-
dealers. He came to tell the protesters
exactly what they didn't want to hear.
The crowd was there to protest the idea
of the east-west connector, a road outside
the current perimeter that would stretch
from Georgia Highway 72 to the Atlanta
Highway near the mall. Even though John
Fregonese. the planning consultant hired by
the city, said in January that the road would
not significantly reduce traffic problems on
Atlanta Highway or US 129, he recom
mended that the city consider purchasing
the right-of-way for the road anyway in case
they decided they needed it in the future.
And some commissioners continue to push
for at least some of the road to be built as
soon as possible.
Environmentalists and neighborhood
activists say the connector will encourage
sprawl and pass through sensitive wetlands.
Dee Velop made it clear that he would have
none of this.
“We've heard a lot about birds and
trees,” Velop boomed in a Hollywood bad-
guy basso. “But who will speak for the
asphalt? Who will speak for the sprawl?"
The crowd jeered. “You little people,"
Velop continued. “Imagine a mall as far as
the eye could see, with plenty of parking...
yes, free parking!"
The ersatz developer lit his cigar. “We
need less discussion, and more construc
tion!" he yelled, promising that the road
would bring better shopping: “I guarantee
you can buy all sorts of plastic imported
crap!"
Inside the Commission cham
bers. Mayor Doc Eldridge
immediately made an
announcement in an
apparent attempt to
quell the crowd’s more
dramatic impulses. As
connector opponents
jammed the aisles
and hallway. Eldridge
announced that the
Commission would
unanimously take the
connector off of the
land-use map.
But many opponents of
the road are now more ner
vous than ever, because the con
nector shows up elsewhere in the compre
hensive plan as part of the Transportation
Improvement Program (or TIP) of ACORTS,
the Athens-Clarke-Oconee Regional
Transportation Study.
When District 4 Commissioner John
Barrow brought this up, Eldridge attempted
to play down the impact of the connector's
presence in the ACORTS document, stating
that it has been on the books since 1985. He
has since reminded opponents that even
though the road is recommended by
ACORTS, choosing whether to build a road
is a decision for the Commission. But ACC
Planning Department documents show that
the road's presence in the ACORTS docu
ment has real consequences. In fact a “pre
liminary engineering" study for the con
nector was scheduled for this year, at a cost
of $250,000 in federal and state tax dollars.
John Stockbridge, head of the planning
department, says he just learned last week
that funding for the study will be delayed at
least one year. But the request for the tax
dollars remains on the books.
What really troubles opponents of the
road, however, is the fact that discussion of
the road and its impact will now be shunted
off to a smaller venue, the sparsely-attended
ACORTS Policy Committee meetings.
“They're passing the buck in a big way," said
Stephanie Brown, director of the Athens
Land Trust and a leading opponent of the
connector. “It's a system that has not given
us much chance for public input. We’re
going to have to be extra vigilant."
Commissioner Barrow, who.
like Brown, opposes the
road or any attempt to
even purchase a right-
of-way, says that even
though taking the
road off the land-use
map is a good sign,
it’s just as easy for
the Commission to
change its mind at
any time. With his
trademark, dizzying,
mile-a-minute diction, he
put it thusly: “The
Commission really hasn't said
we don 7 want to do it. We’re not
sayir.g yet that we do want to do it. That’s
not the same as [saying] we don’t want to
do it. / don’t want to do it. But Doc ain’t
saying — and some of the other commis
sioners aren't saying — whether they want
to do it or not — yet."
So what exactly does Doc — the
Commission's sole representative to the
ACORTS Policy Committee — want to do
about the road?
"I don’t know," the recently-elected
mayor said in an interview last week. “I
haven't been to an ACORTS meeting yet."
The next meeting of the Policy
Committee is tentatively scheduled for April
14; Eldridge is working to familiarize himself
with the body and how it works.
OK, but what about the road? Eldridge
said his stance will be contingent upon what
the Commission decides to do about the
land-use plan’s proposed greenbelt, a
25,OOOacre anti-sprawl area ringing the city
that was originally meant to be rezoned to
ensure a very low housing density. The orig
inal proposition — that the area would only
allow one housing unit per 10 acres — was
met by opposition from farmers and other
landowners. Planner Stockbridge said
they’re now considering offering one unit
per five acres as a compromise.
“If it gets off track and we start letting
that rural zone develop, we're gonna need
that road," Eldridge said. “If it develops at
one per five or 10, that’s a whole different
ball game."
Barrow doesn’t think this is the way to
look at it. “I wouldn’t think the road was a
good idea even if we allowed uncontrolled
sprawl on our side of the county line," he
said. “I still think it would be important that
we use the bypass as our primary east-west
connector, and concentrate our investment
on how to handle that increased traffic by
developing spokes on the wheel" — i.e.,
more routes in aod out of the city — “rather
than developing a new wheel."
It looks like diluting the greenbelt with a
one-to-five ratio is extremely likely — law
makers from the centrist Doc to the green
Barrow to District 1 Commissioner Charles
Carter (whose quasi-rural constituents
would directly feel the impact of the plan)
told Flagpole it’s a density they could prob
ably live with. Though this may seem like a
defeat for environmentalists, it’s better than
the current ratio of one unit per acre, and it
means that Doc Eldridge might have to
make good on his promise. That is, he might
have to come out in opposition to the con
nector and work to take it off the ACORTS
schedule.
At their March 2 meeting, the Athens-
Clarke County Commission will vote to
send the current draft of the comprehen
sive land-use plan to state bureaucrats for
their input. However, they won’t vote to
approve it until June. Until then, they’ll be
soliciting input from residents. Anyone may
view the current draft of the plan at the
Planning Department's 120 Dougherty St.
building during normal business hours.
(Richard Fausset)
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EX FLAGPOLE FEBRUARY 24, 1999