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ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
The political terrain surrounding the
apparent demise of the Blue Heron river
district project and speculation about the
possible redevelopment of the Armstrong &
Dobbs property just keeps getting rockier.
In the wake of the Athens-Clarke County
Commission's moratorium on development
on the outskirts of downtown—a move
designed to buy time to deal with the infra
structure demands of impending development,
specifically of a reported mixed-use project
at A&D that was rumored to include a small,
"urban" Walmart—the Athens Banner-Herald
reported that a representative of the retail
giant denied the company was planning such
a move at this time. (In the meantime, the
ABH editorial page had bemoaned the "unin
tended consequences" the moratorium might
bring, and pointed out that there had been
little vocal concern about "infrastructure"
among supporters of the Blue Heron project-
ignoring, amazingly, the fact that the entire
proposal had hinged on the tailoring of
infrastructure improvements to planned
development.)
Despite a company spokesman's statement
to the ABH that he's "not aware of any spe
cific discussions" regarding Walmart's interest
in the A&D development, there remain mul
tiple local sources who say they are. And the
one person in the local government who pur
ports to have had substantive discussions with
representatives of the developer that's working
on the project, Mayor Nancy Denson, has cited
a promise of confidentiality to the developer
in declining to reveal what she knows of
the specifics of the plan. While Denson says
she hasn't signed a binding confidentiality
agreement, as has been widely speculated, she
clearly sees some conversations she's had on
the matter as beyond the scope of the public's
right to know.
That view may be put to the test by an
open records request by local attorney Bill
Overend (who is also the chair of the Clarke
County Democratic Committee and a former
Flagpole staffer) that was delivered last week
to Denson, ACC Manager Alan Reddish and
Matt Forshee, president of the ACC Economic
Development Foundation, which had shep
herded Blue Heron until its abrupt decision
last month to effectively ditch the project.
Overend is asking for access to records of all
communications pertaining to proposed
development at or near the A&D property
on the part of any ACC government officials
or EOF representatives, including "personal"
emails. According to indications by
Forshee and Denson, the EOF and
the county will comply.
Specifically included in
Overend's request is an audio
recording of the EDF board's closed,
90-minute "executive session" of
Sept. 12, during which Denson
reportedly shared information that
convinced the board not to hire a
project manager for Blue Heron—a
position for which the EDF's human
resources committee, at the full
board's request, had already con
ducted interviews and chosen
a candidate to recommend for
formal approval that day. Denson
requested the closed session on
the grounds that it was to discuss
"personnel"; Overend contends
that information shared pertaining
to whether or not to hire a consul
tant—particularly when that information has
no bearing on the candidate himself—does
not meet the standards of sensitivity required
to conduct talks in secret.
Keep in mind that it was Denson who
publicly aired "legal and ethical issues" with
commissioners' having conversations outside
public meetings during the EDF board member
ship dustup earlier this summer, despite the
fact that those discussions never involved
public policy decisions being made based on
secret information. Even if the records request
doesn't yield any useful new information
about A&D, Blue Heron or Walmart, it's bound
to help clear the picture as far as what our
local officials' priorities are for the immediate
future of downtown development—and what
the mayor sees as the boundaries for our
public discourse on the matter. [Dave Marr]
Authoritative Development: After vetting
proposals from 41 different consultants to
create a long-range "master plan" for how
downtown should grow, the Athens Downtown
Development Authority has done nothing
more on the project since January. Mostly,
that's because of its cost, ADDA Director
Kathryn Lookofsky says: a "visioning process"
to assess public input could cost $100,000,
and a nuts-and-bolts plan for implementing
that vision—specifying possible ordinances,
sidewalk widths and the like—could cost
$250,000. Lookofsky maintains that a master
plan may be "even more of a priority" among
newer ADDA board members, but "trying to
figure out how it would be funded—that's the
big holdup."
Master plans have been drawn up for many
U.S. cities, including parts of Atlanta and
Savannah. The proposals for Athens typically
would conduct traffic and marketing studies
of downtown, and make suggestions on land
uses, likely retailers, "wayfinding" for visitors,
traffic calming, landscaping and public art.
And while the downtown authority cel
ebrates the opening of its new parking deck,
some accuse it of caring about nothing but
parking. The ADDA's mission statement tasks
it with "revitalization and redevelopment" of
downtown, but Lookofsky could point to no
activities besides parking (from which the
authority derives its revenue). And despite
four public downtown parking decks, there is
some concern that visitors still don't know
where to park. A 2007 consultant's study said
the four decks aren't well marked, so visitors
may "circle the block" hunting for parking.
We don't mean to rain on the ADDA's cel
ebration of its*new parking deck. Downtown
merchants who must compete with outlying
retailers offering lots of free parking consider
the 540-space deck long overdue. Car park
ing rates for no-hassle deck parking are only
$1.50 an hour; bicycle parking is free.
But the ADDA is missing a bet if it fails
to involve itself in downtown's future. At a
recent committee meeting, where ACC com
missioners discussed limiting the numbers
of bars downtown, ADDA wasn't represented.
Neither were any bar owners—"I don't think
anybody knew about it," says
downtown attorney Regina Quick,
who did attend. That discussion
continues; but Quick says, "If they
want to attract retail to downtown,
they need to focus on beautifica
tion of downtown." She points to
deteriorating downtown sidewalks
as an example of the problem.
Does it really have to cost
$100,000 to engage the public in
a discussion about downtown?
Certainly, consultants are stand
ing in line with offers, but we've
already had parking studies, build
ing design guidelines, the recent
Blue Heron study... there's comfort
in hiring consultants, but it can
also be a substitute for really
doing anything. Athens citizens
have always shown themselves
willing to do their own studies—
the OneAthens antipoverty team made many
recommendations; so did the Charter Overview
commission—and one of the most imaginative
local planning studies has been the home
grown, zero-cost "Community Approach to
Planning Prince Avenue."
Consultants can bring expertise, but they
can't make our derisions for us. The Blue
Heron study warned that the Armstrong &
Dobbs property near downtown will become
just more student apartments [or, apparently,
a Walmart] unless a plan is put forward. Once
again, we've paid a consultant to tell us what
to do, and then done nothing. Is there a bet
ter way? [John Huie]
Dave Marr & John Huie news@flagpole.com
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