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Frat House Proposal
Still Faces Resistance
of Milledge Neighbors
Chi Phi fraternity, pressed by UGA to move
from its Lumpkin Street house, wants to build
a new house on Milledge Avenue. Last week,
the fraternity continued a year-long odyssey
of meetings with neighbors (many opposed)
and local government boards to build on
land it bought at the corner of Milledge and
Rutherford.
A new frat house on Milledge requires a
special-use permit, which the ACC Planning
Commission OK'd, pending approval of the ACC
Mayor and Commission Nov. 3. But because
Milledge recently became a protected historic
district, Chi Phi's house design must also be
approved by the ACC Historic Preservation
Commission, which last week tabled it for the
second time, deferring a decision until next
month.
Several neighbors spoke in opposition to
the frat house which (along with a large rear
parking lot) will take up most of the two-acre
lot. An existing house, dating to 1903 but
renovated in the 1930s, would remain on the
lot; the rest is now in large trees, most of
which would be removed, although trees in
the front yard would be saved.
Chi Phi's landscape architect, Jon Williams,
said the fraternity had hoped to incorpo
rate the older house into the new building's
design, but neighbors and the Athens-Clarke
Heritage Foundation didn't want to see such
an extensive addition to the historic building.
At last week's commission meeting, neigh
bors and some commission members criticized
the 22,000-square-foot building's scale and
visual bulk, and a report prepared by county
staffers recommended denial, saying the build
ing design doesn't meet guidelines for the new
historic district for scale and massing. For that
reason, neighbors urged denial.
"It's too huge," said Cathy Padgett of the
28-bedroom house.
"The applicant has admitted that it has not
got its act together," said Susan Field, after
Chi Phi's architect acknowledged, "We failed
the first time around."
Opponents had come back "many times" to
speak at meetings, said neighbor Rosemarie
Goodrum: "They didn't do their homework."
But staff and commission members pointed
out that some design requirements are subjec
tive and unspecific, forcing the fraternity to
keep guessing what will gain their approval.
"They're not given any quantitative guide
lines," said commission member Smith Wilson.
"We don't do that in this sort of forum... But
should the project be rejected just because
their ideas are not in tune with our ideas as
more experienced preservationists?"
"It's pretty obvious to me what it should
look like," said member Benjamin Rossetti.
"Unfortunately, I don't think it's appropriate
for me'to sketch it and hand it to them."
The commission voted unanimously to
table the application, giving the fraternity a
chance to redraw its plan.
"Pretty much everything, architecturally,
is on the table with us," said Williams. "Roof
lines and the front porch could change, and
the house can get a little smaller, possibly...
It takes time to get it right... Given a client...
who's willing to spend the time and money it
takes, we can usually come to a consensus."
John Huie
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6 FlAGPOIE.COM • OCTOBER 27,2010
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TED TILL AROOWD
Stagnation: Frankly, I'm not iri the mood to
write the polemic I intended. With a week
to go before the election, I've realized that
regardless of who wins, it won't be anything
on the ballot that gets us out of our decades-
old muddle. What it will take is us changing
our story.
I could debunk the narrative that SPL0ST
is a "garbage bag" of projects, when the real
ity is that those seemingly haphazard projects
are all part of a concerted and holistic effort
to catch Athens up with the country's other
economically competitive communities. I
could talk about which mayoral candidate is
most likely to move this city forward towards
a more livable built environment, and which is
showing they are clearly unaware of what we
really need by talking about non-issues like
bike racks. There's also the problems arising
from the relationship between county staff
and elected representatives. However, none
of these conversations would cut to the real
heart of our lingering stagnation.
mayor system of the unified government's
charter, the balkanization of Garke and
Oconee counties back in the Reconstruction
era, and the university's original charter have
just as much to do with where we are now and
where we're going as which career Democrat is
the next mayor.
This may seem like a fluffy sort of column:
light on construction and plans, and heavy
on the touchy-feely stuff. After countless
debates and candidate forums, we know that
everyone loves recycling and cares about jobs.
Candidates and moderators both have been
tentative about touching on these real issues.
However, we cannot have real progress until
we address some of these unspoken issues
that underlie our more concrete efforts to
move Athens forward.
Back to Basics: To move back to SPL0ST as an
example, can we really settle the issues sur
rounding that funding mechanism until we get
our hands dirty and really get to the bottom
. ‘r,''.' v * ;
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While some candidates focus on superficial issues like bike racks, bigger issues are creeping up from below the
surface.
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This is a community where everyone is
backed into a comer. Take SPLOST: the anti-
sales-tax crowd's last-minute reactions sound
an awful lot like the months of public outcry
and wrangling over the tennis center. Town
versus gown. Intowners versus suburbanites.
Business interests versus ecological interests.
Football versus rock and roll. Regardless of
the conversation, a reactionary stance cur
rently rules, with little room for proactive
collaboration.
The Vision Thing: Regardless of who wins the
election, a real and holistic way forward, one
that addresses poverty, public safety, the local
environment, traffic, education, the economy
and so many other issues, won't be created by
a new mayor and commission. It won't come
out of any referendum's success or failure.
What it wHi take is the recognition by aU of
us as individuals that we are all responsible
for helping to move this city forward in a
visionary way. Every time we react to some
issue, the onus is on us to put out a better
alternative. A purely negative reaction is use
less and only slows us down, while other com
munities move forward.
In a way, it is decades and centuries old
pieces of paper that have hamstrung our^
current agendas in so many ways. The weak
of the relationship between UGA and Athens,
and how it affects taxes, quality of life and
everything else? That 200-year-old issue is a
big one, and we need to get it out in the open
and really explore it Euphemistic concerns
about public safety, schools and poverty like
wise point to deeper issues that the South as
a region still hasn't come to terms with.
The story of Athens, though, isn't any one
of these things; it's all of them. Athens' suc
cesses have come in spite of aU these prob
lems. Can we find a way to integrate aft of
these facets of this town's complex personal
ity into a strategy that really works? Nov. 2
isn't a referendum on anything; any changing
on the guard or paradigm shift in this town is
going to come from somewhere else.
More than ever, Fm convinced of the pure
magic and potential of this place. Beautiful
rivers with sublime industrial relics, a stately
university, a charming downtown, the
music your ears ever heard, wonderful weather,
shady streets of historic homes, the m^st weU-
known college mascot and so much more. If
we can have some sober conversations over
those big issues that permeate everything
else, then this city's creative and feisty
spirit will take off.
Kms Williams atasrising®fia$pote.com