Newspaper Page Text
Public Involved In
Big SPLOST Projects?
Local-option, one-cent sales taxes allow
communities like Athens to pay for capital
projects that might not otherwise be built.
Boosters note that the money comes partly
from out-of-town shoppers, not just county
residents. But do the chosen projects,
approved by voters and then, typically,
designed in detail by county staff and inter-
. ested "user groups," get enough input from
the wider public before they are built?
Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation direc
tor Amy Kissane, who is involved with historic
preservation in Athens, isn't sure they do.
"The process could be a lot better," Kissane
told Flagpole, citing decisions made about
the planned downtown parking deck that
will surround the Georgia Theatre, as well
as questions about whether the abandoned
"Murmur" railroad trestle—planned to support
the elevated rail-trail from downtown—can
in fact be used for that purpose, or will even
preserved at all.
"There doesn't seem to be as much effort
to get public input and get information out to
the public in a timely fashion as I .think there
should be," Kissane says. "User groups"—
citizen advisory committees—are appointed
But the chosen design is "based on inter
pretations" of downtown design guidelines
and historic district guidelines, Crellen says,
even though the project lies just outside
downtown's protected historic district. The
county "requested a design that would fit into
the fabric of downtown Athens, recognizing
that... there would be a challenge to 'hide'
the deck portion and provide a scale to the
facility that would be pedestrian-friendly." The
deck's progress was approved at various points
at regular commission meetings, Crellen says.
Public input is taken at those meetings. And
planning for the deck (or lack of it—it's two
years behind schedule) has also been covered
in Flagpole and the Athens Banner-Herald.
ACC Leisure Services Department divi
sion administrator Mike Wharton defends the
county's planning for projects like the rail-
trail or the planned Pulaski Creek Park (which
could be significantly downsized if the railroad
declines to sell its land to the county). "It's
truly a struggle, because how much do you
secure before you actually start the project?"
he asks. "Do you have to have the land first?"
For the rail-trail, he says, "five years ago, from
the best we could tell lacking a professional
. The planned mixed-use parking deck is a big project coming to downtown, and it’s been years in the making—
but does the public at large know what’s on the way 7
by the mayor for each specific project to help
design it. But for the rail-trail, "the user group
for that is five people, two of whom are staff.
I don't think that's a very broad representa
tion of the community," Kissane says. (In fact,
three members of that group are ACC staff
ers.) "You say you're taking public input, but
there's really a point of no return," she says,
once decisions have been made on the design
of projects. And it is true that commissioners
sometimes reach consensus on decisions and
recommendations—without formal vote or
public input (which will come later)—at work •
sessions and committee meetings which are
little attended by the public.
Kissane acknowledges that she has missed
a couple of public meetings on the park
ing deck, and says, "I really haven't had an
opportunity to get a good look at the plans."
At this point, SPLOST project manager Ken
Crellen told Flagpole, the parking deck's design
has substantially been decided. Square foot-
ages and budgets have been approved; "you're
not going to take that red brick and make it
black," he says, although the appearance of
the ground-level storefronts could change,
depending on what the retailers who lease
them want.
study, the trestle looked good." Trains were
running on it in 1999, and initially there was
no money for engineering studies. "You're hav
ing to make guesses," he says, about things
like how well the trestle has been maintained.
But Wharton is unsympathetic to citizens
who have not involved themselves in planning
and then criticize the result. "There's so many
different points at which an interested indi
vidual from the public can make suggestions,"
he says. "Every project that I was associated
with that went forward, there were not deci
sions made ahead of time. We did not know
what those decisions were until the citizens'
advisory committee wrestled with it and made
a recommendation."
Meanwhile, Kissane is asking that the deck
plan be run by the ACC Historic Preservation
Commission for comment. "I simply believe
that public projects involving historic proper
ties—or potentially affecting historic proper-
ites—should have multiple opportunities for
public input," she said in an email. "While the
deck is not a historic structure, its potential
to affect the historic downtown, positively or
negatively, is huge."
John Huie johnphuie@gmail.com
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