Newspaper Page Text
The old Navy Supply Corps School will now be the national campus for training Old Navy store supply managers. Kudos to the
Local Redevelopment Authority.
But other commissioners weren’t
ready to give up the vision of
the neighborhood outlined in
the county’s land-use plan: a
walkable area where commercial
uses are mixed with residential.
borhood outlined in the county's land-use plan:
a walkable area where commercial uses are mixed
with residential.
"We said that we are interested in mixed-
design components in this community,"
Commissioner Kelly Girtz said, "design compo
nents that encourage walking, that encourage
a lifestyle in a neighborhood that didn't just
involve sleeping somewhere and then leaving and
going somewhere else for every other function
in life." Nothing he's heard, Girtz said, has con
vinced him that commercial uses can't succeed
on Carr's Hill, as they have in other in-town resi
dential areas, for example the Leathers Building
or Big City Cafe. The area is close to downtown,
and eventually the nearby greenway trail will
continue southward along the river right beside
the proposed development. (The county has
already secured a 30-foot wide swath along the
river, and Williams said he will give the county
additional "multiple
acres" if his development
is approved.)
Commissioners were
sympathetic to the finan
cial needs of the Boys &
Girls Club, and of finan
cially troubled ACTION (a
nonprofit that adminis
ters federal anti-poverty
grants). Commissioners
Kathy Hoard and Harry
Sims said they have served on the boards of the
respective organizations, and Maxwell said the
children's club "is busting at the seams" and its
planned Fourth Street facility will be closer to
the children who need and use it.
But county attorney Bill Berryman said com
missioners aren't legally allowed to decide a
zoning matter based on its financial benefits to
those groups. The ACC Planning Commission has
recommended denial of the Boys & Girls Ciub re
quest (although no citizens spoke against it) and
also denial of the ACTION request, which was op
posed by local preservationists because it would
necessitate tearing down the run-down but
historic school building (most of the structure
dates to the 1890s) on the site. The two zoning
Adopt mo. ..
ATHENS AREA HUMANE SOCIETY
399 Beaverdam Rd. • 706-353-2287 * athenshumanesociety.com
He’s in the middle of an
oh-so-good earscratching
here. MacDonald is a big
’ol friendly kitten with
endless reserves
of love.
Three amazingly mellow and sweet beauties below
are each petite young girls looking for homes. Rainy
Day is a silvery, gentle belle with eyes bright and
golden. Fiona has prettify dark lined eyes (and lips)
and loves attention. Gentle Fluffy has a luxurious
coat, soft, cuddly nature, and is not averse to a
diva lifestyle.
3*
ATHENS AREA HUMANE SOCIETY
'STcta! Cars Reccved
.8 Cats P'aced r
0 Aaoptab-e Cats Eutha- zed
ACC ANIMAL
CONTROL
24 Dogs Receded
24 Dogs Placed
From
March IS to
March 21,2007
On Oconee Street
Redevelopment in Limbo
Although sympathetic to the financial needs
of two local community organizations that want
to sell their existing facilities on Oconee Street,
Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Commissioners were
divided last week on whether to allow zoning
exemptions that would make their land worth
more money. The two organizations—ACTION,
Incorporated and the Boys & Girls Club of
Athens—are located beside each other, and local
developer Jon Williams is working with two sepa
rate buyers who want to build 25 townhomes and
86 apartments on the 16 acres of the two sites.
But while the land is zoned for commercial
and "mixed use"—that is, residential mixed
with retail stores or offices—Williams is more
interested in building
residential than commer
cial spaces. "[Commercial]
tenants just aren't going
to rent in that location,"
Williams told Flagpole.
Part of the land lies in
the floodplain of the
North Oconee River, so
any office or retail spaces
would have to face the
portion of Oconee Street
that runs up Carr's Hill and away from the main
drag (which is technically Oak Street). That's not
enough public exposure to attract commercial
renters, Williams said.
At their agenda-setting session on Mar. 22,
some commissioners agreed. Even along the
nearby commercial corridor, several businesses *
have changed hands repeatedly. Commissioner
George Maxwell said, like the former Wayne
Edwards Pharmacy, and the restaurant that's now
Mama's Boy. "These places would not be chang
ing hands so much," he said, if the area were
thriving commercially. "Instead of creating empty
big-box [stores], we are creating empty little
boxes," Maxwell said. But other commissioners
weren't ready to give up the vision of the neigh-
requests are on the agenda for the commission's
voting meeting Tuesday, Apr. 3.
John Huie jphuie@alhens.net
Beer From Here
Terrapin to Brew in Athens
Athens' own Terrapin Beer Company an
nounced last week that its beers will finally be
brewed locally within the year. Terrapin, which
introduced its Rye Pate Ale at Athens' Classic City
Brew Fest in the spring of 2002, started small but
quickly won national acclaim. Back then, found
ers Brian "Spike" Buckowski and John Cochran
had the hope and the intention, but not the
money, to brew their beer locally. For the past
five years, the company has operated as a con
tract brewery, using other breweries' equipment
in Atlanta and in Frederick, MD. (And for those
who don't know, the name has nothing to do with
Maryland or with the University of Maryland mas
cot, the terrapin. The guys are from around here
and the company's always been based in Athens;
the name is a Grateful Dead reference.)
But Terrapin reported with some excitement
last week that the company has signed a lease
on a 45,000 square-foot building at 255 Newton
Bridge Rd. The building formerly provided both
office and warehouse space to local non-profit
Kelley Diversified, Inc., and before that served
as a distribution point for a jeans maker. Its
size will allow Terrapin's brewing operation
to grow, and the company is excited that the
building's layout will make it easy to hold tast
ings and eventually host parties, concerts and
other events. Terrapin Sales and Marketing Vice-
President Dustin Watts tells Flagpole, "We're go
ing to do a lot of stuff with the community that
we haven't been able to do so far."
When it moves in, hopefully this summer,
Terrapin plans to be able to brew 20,000 barrels
of beer per year at the new brewery. What's more,
Watts says, Brewmaster Buckowski will likely be
able to do create more styles than he's been able
to so far, even to the point of brewing single
UGA Professor Andy Herod won the Mar.
20 special election for the 8th District seat
on the ACC Commission with 720 votes (61
percent) to opponent David Hamilton's 456
(39 percent). Voter turnout was at a lower
than expected 20.5 percent
batches for special events. "We can get more and
more creative with beer," Watts says. "Let's make
a neat beer for June. Why not?" Buckowski's first
idea, which will celebrate the new brewery, will
be an India Brown Ale combining the mellow,
calm flavor of a brown ale with the strong, hoppy
backing of an India Pale Ale and some of the
vigor that Terrapin is known for. "The number of
beers that we have ideas to do—the list is pretty
long," Watts says. "It's exciting, you know?"
The equity group that came together to fund
the new brewery includes local real estate devel
opers Wes Rogers and James Whitley of Landmark
Properties, developer Russ Crump, and attorney
Spence Johnson. Local investment advisor Derek
Imes helped with the deal, too. The company
currently has 10 employees and, according to
cofounder John Cochran, might employ 20 or 30
within a few years as its brewing output grows
to 40-50,000 barrels per year. The company's
size—and its local origins—make it a perfect
example of the kind of locally-grown economic
development that has been emphasized more
and more in recent civic discussions, from last
year's election campaigns to the Partners for a
Prosperous Athens initiative to a push that's cur
rently in progress for Athens to earn the state's
"entrepreneur-friendly" designation. "It's just
good all the way around," .says Athens Economic
Development Foundation President Drew Page.
And for Terrapin, the step is a big one. Says
Watts, "The game's about to start."
Ben Emanuel ben@tlagpole.com
Energy & Emissions
Checking Up on UGA
More stringent federal air pollution rules for
industrial boilers are prompting UGA to install
a "scrubber" to reduce acid gases released from
its coal-fired boiler. UGA's physical plant uses
four boilers—one coal and three natural gas—to
produce steam that's piped to heat most campus
buildings, for cooking at dining halls, and to
produce hot water. That's more energy-efficient
than having separate heating units in each
building, UGA Associate Vice President Ralph
Johnson said at a public hearing Mar. 20. The
newer East Campus buildings do have separate
heating units, UGA's Ken Crowe told Flagpole, but
might eventually have steam piped to them, too.
And being able to burn both coal and gas makes
the system more reliable. For example, gas sup
plies were lost after Hurricane Katrina, so only
coal could be used.
And while thermostat settings are now de
termined by people in each building, "we are
>• continued on next page
IN THE 8th
NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS MARCH 28, 2007 • FlAGP0LE.C0M 5
APRIL F001E