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Downtown
Preserve & Protect?
When city officials proposed a downtown
historic district back in the 1970s, "I thought
those people were going to be hung from City
Hall," Athens-Clarke County Commissioner David
Lynn told Flagpole. "You'd have thought Stalin
was knocking down the door." Merchants and
property owners didn't want to be told what to
do with their buildings—and they still don't, he
said. "They'd rather see this go away. I'm sure."
But Lynn said, "it hit me in the gut" to see
a turn-of-the-century building-front on Jackson
Street "gutted" just to add a few tables to a bar.
(The bar then went out of business, Lynn added.)
"Those are the kinds of
mistakes that we can
avoid, and not inhibit
profitable business to
occur."
For three years, Lynn
has chaired a 13-member
committee of downtown
property owners, pres
ervationists, builders
and architects designing
rules for a downtown
historic preservation
district. "We see downtown as not only individual
properties—which it is—but it's also a commu
nity value," he said. Downtown businesspeople
have been involved "at every step," Lynn said,
and a representative of the Athens Area Chamber
of Commerce sits on the committee.
Lynn outlined the group's recommendations
to fellow commissioners at a work session last
week. "We want to preserve our architectural his
tory, but also maintain the economic vitality of
downtown," he told them. "It's a fairly complex
balance." The intention isn't to freeze develop
ment of downtown, Lynn said, but to provide
"blueprints for development" that still retain a
sense of place for the area.
The proposed historic district consists of a
"core" area that lies mostly between Broad Street
and Hancock Avenue, and Lumpkin and Jackson
streets. That area will be the most strictly pro
tected, and building owners who want to make
exterior architectural changes will have to get
permission from Athens-Clarke County's Historic
Preservation Commission—just as they do in
Athens' eight existing historic districts, which
are all in residential neighborhoods. (Paint color
is unregulated.) "It would be extremely difficult"
for a property owner to get permission to demol
ish a historic building in the preservation zone,
Lynn told Flagpole.
Among the compromises made by committee
members was "a much smaller district than was
originally proposed" for the protected core, ac
cording to Lynn. Most new development will oc
cur in the parts of^Jown-
town outside that core;
there, less stringent
guidelines will specify "a
rough outline" for new
building designs and
renovations. Property
owners can follow those
guidelines as written, or
ask for consideration of
an exceptional design by
a proposed new "urban
design committee." Such
a board would be like "a ;eparate planning com
mission for downtown," Lynn told commissioners.
It could also plan actively for downtown's future
and "energize" county planners about downtown
concerns, according to other committee members
who attended the work session.
The committee's own deliberations haven t al
ways been smooth, said Jim Warnes, a downtown
property owner who serves on the committee.
"We've had some right healed discussions some
times." He praised Lynn's leadership, which en
couraged committee members to reach decisions
by consensus rather than by voting.
David Lynn, whose committee has worked ’
more closely with Winter, said some committee
members would have liked for the $80,000 con
sultant to take a more customized approach to
Athens' particular needs.
The Athens-Clarke County Historic
Preservation Commission will hold a public
hearing on downtown historic district designa
tion and guidelines at 120 Dougherty St on
Wednesday, June 28 at 7 p.m.
John Hule jphuie@$peedfadory net
Mixed On Use
Bonlevard In Qnandary
Residents of the Boulevard neighborhood at
this month's (June 8) ACC Planning Commission
meeting voiced both support and opposition for
the proposed rezoning of a building on Chase
Street at Boulevard, in the Boulevard Historic
District. Owners Patrick O'Brien and John
LaFlamme (who also live in the neighborhood)
have already made extensive renovations to the
old wooden structure, which was an addition
to an earlier building—the
Young Harris Memorial
Methodist Episcopal church—
that stood at the corner on a
now vacant lot. The building
shows up on an old fire-in
surance map from the late
1940s, Amy Kissane of Athens-Clarke Heritage
Foundation told Flagpole, but it is not shown on
a 1926 map.
O'Brien and LaFlamme haven’t decided how
the building will be used, and that concerns
some neighbors. Citizens who attended the meet
ing appeared about evenly divided between sup
porters and opponents. A half dozen residents
spoke in favor of the proposal, saying it would
be a pedestrian-friendly improvement to the
neighborhood. Others were wary of noise, traffic,
trash and parking problems that business uses
might bring.
Buildings along Chase were zoned residen
tial to protect the Boulevard neighborhood in
1986 at the request of residents. Boulevard
resident Mary Porter said. She asked for a "truly
low-intensity" business on the site—and not
a restaurant. Twenty-year resident Cindy Pope
was skeptical of having any business there. "It's
about the Boulevard neighborhood that we have
fought to have," she said. "People are not going
to be staying if this goes the route of going so
commercial."
One permitted use under the proposal would
be a restaurant with up to 56 seats, although the
quarter-acre lot has room for only seven park
ing spaces. That means customers would have to
park along nearby streets, opponents said, and
some residents don't even have driveways to park
in. And while a locally-owned restaurant might
seem acceptable now, that could allow a chain
eatery to move in later, residents said, since the
county can't legally discriminate.
A restaurant, Planning Commissioner Lucy
Rowland said, "may work financially, but it
isn't going to work for the neighborhood."
Planning Commissioner Jerry Nesmith said park
ing problems in a similar Atlanta neighborhood
where he once lived had become "worse than
we could have imagined at the time." Planning
Commissioners voted to table the proposal for
30 days to give the neighbors and developers
more time to talk. "I don't think they're that far
apart," commissioner Paul Dellaria said.
John Hule )phuie@speedfadory net
Build It
And They Will Shop
Despite a good bit of enthusiasm from nearby
residents for a 322-acre residential and com
mercial development proposed for US 29 (beyond
Athens Tech, on both sides of the road), some
planning commissioners wondered at their June
8 meeting how soon—if ever—the commercial
part would be built. That's the part that's most
attractive to the county (for
tax reasons) and to many
nearby residents (for shop
ping), but developers said the
residential part would have
to be built first. "If you build
homes before you build com
mercial, it is costing the county" for services like
schools and fire protection. Commissioner Jerry
Nesmith said.
But the developers said they can't force
retailers to rent commercial spaces, and that
building the homes first would draw more busi
nesses by providing them with customers. "You
present your site to the major retailers," said Jon
Williams, who represents the Atlanta developer.
"When they want to come in, they come in."
Commercial development of the area has been
slower than anticipated, nearby business own
ers said. "We had a great vision for what north
Athens was going to become," said Chris Brewer,
co-owner of Fresh Air Barbeque. "It's been a
little slower than we anticipated." Others said a
planned sewer line will soon speed commercial
development along US 29. The proposal will re
turn to the Planning Commission in August.
John Hule jphuie@speedladory.nel
Join The Navy
And See The Campns
The Naval Supply Corps School on Prince
Avenue will open its doors to the public
Thursday, June 29 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Visitors can take guided tours of the base and
its historic buildings. The open house will marks
the first time the public has been allowed on the
base since access was restricted following 9/11.
THIS MSBIIH WSILB
CONSERVATIVE
by TOM TOMORROW
fairrt^
THE SCARY THE DRUG
BLONDE ADDLED
PUNDETTE HOST*
The Athens-Clarke County Historic
Preservation Commission will hold
a public hearing on downtown
historic district designation and
guidelines at 120 Dougherty St. on
Wednesday, June 28 at 7 p.m.
“If you build homes before
you build commercial, it is
costing the county...”
6 FLAGPOLE.COM-JUNE 21,2006
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