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Backyard Chickens:
Still Got a Chance?
Not only is keeping backyard chickens ille
gal in Athens' residential zones (unless you
live on a lot larger than one acre), so is grow
ing fruits or vegetables in some single-family
districts, at least as the zoning ordinance
presently reads. But "we're not telling people
they can't have gardens," says John Spagna of
the ACC Community Protection Division, which
enforces "quality of life" ordinances. "The
vegetable thing is not something that's been
on our radar."
And the zoning ordinance should probably
be rewritten so that it more clearly allows
gardens, ACC Commissioner Kelly Girtz told the
Federation of Neighborhoods
early this month. The ordi
nance bars production of
"plants and animals includ
ing but not limited to...
fruits of all kinds, including
grapes, nuts and berries"
and "vegetables"—along with crops and
livestock—on many residential lots.
So that means that chickens are barred
from residential lots. That part of the ordi
nance is enforced when complaints are
received, Spagna says; there have been seven
chicken cases this year. But to some (includ
ing Commissioner Girtz), keeping chickens
for fresh eggs is just the sort of "small-
scale agriculture" that the county ought to
be encouraging, or at least allowing. Girtz
researched chicken ordinances in other cities,
and distributed the results in July to fel
low commissioners. "The issue's on the shelf
right now," he said. "I don't think it's dead.
It's at the point where, if there's going to
be some advocacy, it has to come from the
“The vegetable thing is
not something that’s
been on our radar.”
public." For some commissioners, the issue
with keeping chickens is the cost of enforce
ment. (Girtz suggests allowing six or eight
birds per household in secure coops, away
from other buildings.) Girtz found that many
cities (especially out west) have no ordinances
against chickens. But it's in cities with newer
ordinances—typically limiting the number of
birds, and specifying coop construction and .
placement—that chickens seem to draw the
fewest complaints, he said.
Meanwhile, Girtz believes, the chicken
controversy gave county managers "cold feet"
about another proposal that would have
allowed animals in the
city (at least temporarily).
County staffers investigated
hiring some local sheep
(or at least their owner) to
"mow" an overgrown area
along the Greenway trail (as
reported in Flagpole in September). But "the
interest in the chicken ordinance scared some
of the folks in the management structure, and
they wanted to back off," Girtz said.
Other factors were involved in the decision,
ACC Landscape Division Administrator Roger
Cauthen tells Flagpole. "We just couldn't pull
it off' before winter, he says; and he expects
a grazing project to go ahead eventually. "We
weren't even sure that we wouldn't be in vio
lation of our own animal control ordinance, or
in violation of our own zoning ordinance," he
says. But "it's not over with the sheep. We're
still very much interested in the livestock as a
part of invasive [plant] control."
John Huie jphuie@athens.net
A Closet look at SPLOST
with a Tight Badget Coming
ACC Manager Alan Reddish echoed some
critics of sales-tax projects earlier this month:
"I think we're going to have to be very care
ful about SPLOST projects, as it relates to
operating costs," he said. The special-purpose,
local-option sales tax (SPLOST!), which funds
the construction costs of selected projects,
doesn't touch the ongoing
costs of operations. The new
fire station, airport termi
nal, tennis center and East
Athens park will all need to
be staffed once they've been
built. The work-release (or
"diversion") center for quali
fied jail inmates could cost
$500,000 a year to operate,
including counseling and intensive over
sight—though it may save money in the long
run through reduced recidivism and lower jail
costs. But most other SPLOST projects—green-
ways, parks, sidewalks, stormwater and road
improvements—won't add to annual operating
costs, SPLOST administrator Don Martin says.
Meanwhile, the downturn in construction
is favoring the taxpayers in one way: cheaper
costs for county construction projects. "We're
getting some good prices on our construction,
and we're getting a lot more folks interested
in bidding than we have in the past," Reddish
told commissioners at this month's work
session Nov. 11. A private
construction company's
recent bid for reconstruc
tion of Gospel Pilgrim
Cemetery came in about a
quarter below its expected
cost, according to the ACC
Finance Department. The
new entrance road to East
Athens Community Park was
estimated to cost $2.3 million, but was bid at
$2.0 million. Other road and bridge projects
have also come in below county estimates—
bucking the recent trend of rising construction
costs due to high concrete and fuel prices.
John Huie jphuie@alhens.nel
“I think we’re going
to have to be very
careful about SPLOST
projects, as it relates
to operating costs.”
Commish Looks Big-Picture
Before Budget Knives Drawn
With the story of the Athens streetlight
debacle of 2008—a cautionary tale of local
government budgeting if ever there was one—
only a few months cold, the ACC Mayor and
Commission embarked last week on the first
leg of their journey toward developing next
year's budget. In reality, the Nov. 18 "budget
goals" work session was—as it is every fall—a
venue in which the group could discuss wide-
ranging objectives, some of them tending
toward the idealistic given the state of things,
financially speaking. The state of things, of
course, is not expected to be good when the
rubber hits the road next spring in terms of
drawing up the budget in concrete terms. The
ACC Manager's office and Finance Department
are asking county department heads to show
this year how they would enact a budget cut
of 5 percent, rather
than the 3-percent-
cut scenario they usu
ally ask to see.
The Mayor and
Commission, though,
still used the initial
budget goals session
as a way to step back and discuss various
projects of interest, both new and ongoing.
They started with in-progress efforts at energy
and water conservation. On the former,'said
ACC Manager Alan Reddish, "We think we're
somewhere around 5 or 6 percent" in reduc
ing in energy use within the government
over the past year. The goal is to continue
over the next two years to get that figure
to a previously-stated goal of 15 percent.
Commissioner Kelly Girtz raised the question
of whether -the government should consider
making larger investments from its capital
budget in the short term to renovate facilities
in order to see long-term reductions in energy
use and energy costs, and Mayor Heidi Davison
wondered further if, down the road, there
might be a mechanism whereby money saved
through energy conservation could be. used to
"seed" other energy-saving projects.
On water conservation, Reddish reminded
commissioners that, "We're still doing the
work internally to make sure that we as a gov
ernment set the best example." Commissioners
and Deputy Manager Bob Snipes also won
dered how countywide water use will look
once water restrictions are no longer in place.
Said Reddish, the concern is that "you really
haven't changed behavior long-term" through
the water restrictions of drought periods.
"But we're looking for long-term change,"
he said, over the next five years or so. That
prompted Commissioner Carl Jordan to once
again raise the question of increasing water
rates to keep the books balanced while water
consumption goes down. ("We have bonds to
pay," Jordan said.) "I think that's probably
wise," Commissioner Alice Kinman responded.
But Reddish said the county's bond issues (for
things like drinking water and wastewater
treatment and infrastructure) "anticipated rea
sonable conservation in our community."
• Meanwhile, Girtz said that he'd like to see
greater efforts at helping residents conserve,
"particularly in some of those areas where
education needs are strong and where infra
structure needs are strong," or (for instance)
expanding availability of low-flow appli
ances in low-income
neighborhoods.
Commissioners
agreed with Reddish
that keeping govern
ment employees' pay
competitive is always
a priority. "We cer
tainly don't want to back away from this, I
don't believe," Reddish said, and Girtz regret
ted that last year's budget didn't allow for
better staff compensation.
Commissioners reviewed a small list of
thus-far unfunded projects, too. Improving the
ACC website and increasing its interactivity is
still a goal, and may have to be outsourced if
it's to get done, they agreed. Among the new
objectives which the Mayor and Commission
proposed, Commissioner Jordan and Mayor
Davison both suggested that implementation
and further review of the ACC Bike Master Plan
should move forward; Jordan said he wanted it
kept in mind as a "component" of transporta
tion planning "that we haven't looked at very
aggressively recently."
Girtz, meanwhile, wanted to explore
working against the recent wave of property
crimes by instituting youth employment
programs, possibly in conjunction with the
school district. That idea caught the ear of
his colleagues, especially since UGA's Human
Resources department has lately started
a similar program with teenagers gaining
work experience on campus, a product of the
OneAthens anti-poverty effort, said Mayor
Davison.
Ben Emanuel ben@flagpoie.com
Commissioners also agreed
with Reddish that keeping
government employees’ pay
competitive is always a priority.
6 FLAGPOLE.COM • NOVEMBER 26, 2008