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Mayor & Commission
Looking at Corridor
Studies, Master Plan
Prince Avenue's future continues to be a
flashpoint for controversy, with local officials
at pains to deny that any changes are immi
nent as a result of the Planning Department's
'corridor studies' for both Prince Avenue and
Oak/Oconee Street "There is no new zoning
district' for Prince, ACC Planning Director Brad
Griffin assured the Athens-Clarke County Mayor
and Commission at their monthly agenda
session last week, but the study does sug
gest that commissioners might want to put
medical buildings under
the same requirements
as other professional
offices (which currently
are limited to 10,000
square feet).
Local real estate and
medical developers 'are
eyeing this very closely,'
ACC Senior Planner Bruce
Lonnee told Flagpole.
"They're envisioning a very vibrant future on
Prince Avenue for future medical development,
as well they should... What we're trying to do
is get out in front of that a little bit; lay the
groundwork for how that should be done so we
don't end up with a development that's com- *
pletely incompatible.' That could mean raising
size limits for professional offices, he said, but
applying the limits to medical offices as well.
Given complaints about smells and noise
from restaurants and drive-thrus along Prince,
new standards might be developed for them
as well. Apartments or townhomes might be
permitted as buffers between commercial and
other residential uses, as well, Lonnee said.
Public comments on the studies have
included many concerns about fast traffic and
walking safely across both Prince and Oconee/
Oak; a wider bridge is recommended where
The planning department
has backtracked on
suggesting that ACC might
want to take over portions
of streets from GDOT.
Oconee Street crosses the North Oconee River
(to accommodate sidewalks and bicycle lanes).
But the planning department has backtracked
on suggesting that ACC might want to take
over portions of the streets from the Georgia
Department of Transportation in order to
improve pedestrian crossings or to add street
trees—the sort of "complete streets' ameni
ties that the state agency has resisted in the
past, but seems now "at least open to talking
about' Lonnee said. The studies also suggest
better accommodating bicycles and relaxing
the county's parking requirements for new
developments.
Meanwhile, the need for a downtown mas
ter plan, seems increasingly on commissioners'
radar. They will vote next week on lowering
residential density limits downtown (since a
consultant's study sug
gests that existing water
and sewer pipes may not
be able to handle allow
able densities in down
town's eastern portion).
But without an overall
master plan, 'we can
only look at the pieces,"
said Commissioner Alice
Kinman last week. Such
a plan would take a year or more, Griffin said,
and cost $100,000-$200,000. Commissioner
Kelly Girtz suggested that commissioners
might find the money; the Athens Downtown
Development Authority has discussed funding
a downtown master plan, tot despite soliciting
proposals from consultants has not done so.
John tfeie
Crosswalk Safety
a Priority for ICC
Traffic Engineer
'People don't stop for pedestrians in cross
walks," ACC Traffic Engineer Steve Decker said,
although in marked crosswalks, pedestrians
have the right-of-way. ACC Police run "stings'
to catch violators, and "they write a lot of
citations' to drivers, Decker told Flagpole.
But, many drivers are not used to midblock
crosswalks (or don't know the law), and 'that's
what we have to work on; educating a genera
tion." That's how long it took to teach people
to use seat belts, he said—although some
people stiU don't, which accounts for most
local traffic fatalities when people are thrown
from their vehicles.
So far, Decker says, injuries at local cross
walks have been minor: "Close calls, yes—a
lot of close calls." The law requires drivers in
all lanes to stop once a pedestrian has entered
a marked crosswalk; and they should not
resume until he or she has reached the curb.
(Pedestrians also have the right-of-way when a
car is making a right turn.) New amber strobe
lights—like the one marking the crosswalk
at The Grit on Prince Avenue—are becoming
standard in Athens, Decker says. He plans an
education campaign, like the one that's now
underway to make school zones safer, to teach
drivers the law about crosswalks.
Too many drivers don't slow down at school
zones, either: ACC Police wrote 8,600 citations
last year, "which told me that school zones
weren't safe," Decker said. "We shouldn't be
writing that many." Now, with more consis
tent signs and enforcement, more drivers in
Athens are slowing down. And to slow down
the through traffic that afflicts some neigh
borhoods, Decker said, radar speed signs work
as well as speed humps, and cost less. "Speed
humps do work," he said, 'but the problem is
the noise factor."
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local and sustainable
OPENING DAY
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MARCH 28,2012 • FLAGPOLE.COM 5