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PRINCE AVENUE AND BIKE SAFETY
ALL we want for NationaL Bike Safety Month
is bike Lanes on Prince Avenue.
The Governor's Office of Highway Safety,
Athens-CLarke County and bike advocates
marked the occasion with a press conference
May 20.
No bicycList has been kiLLed in Athens
since 2010, though there were 18 deaths
statewide Last year and severaL recent cLose
caLLs in Athens. For exampLe, Acworth coL-
Lege student EmiLy Bowman suffered severe
brain injuries when an aLLegedLy drunk driver
dipped her whiLe she waLked aLong the Oak
Street shouLder earLy one morning in February.
With Bowman's father standing behind
him, University of Georgia traffic researcher
James BarLament identified the Oconee/Oak/
Lexington corridor between Peter Street and
Barnett ShoaLs Road as one of the 18 most
dangerous in the state.
TyLer Dewey and Brent Buice, the executive
directors of BikeAthens and Georgia Bikes,
respectiveLy, caLLed for more bike infrastruc
ture. There is safety in numbers: PeopLe don't
ride because they don't feeL safe; bike Lanes
make them feeL safer, and more bikes on the
road Leads to fewer accidents because drivers
become more aware, they said.
"It's not about cycLists versus cars," Dewey
said. "It's about making roads we can aLL use
together."
Commissioner Mike Hamby highlighted
what ACC is already doing to improve bike
safety: implementing a CompLete Streets
poLicy that gives bicyclists and pedestrians
the same priority as cars, restriping roads with
bike Lanes (though not Prince Avenue), build
ing median refuges, adding countdown timers
to intersections and the Safe Routes to SchooL
program. But he acknowLedged that more
needs to be done.
"We do need to improve bicycLe safety here
in town, and we've got a mayor and commis
sion that's committed to doing that," Hamby
said.
OK, so Let's get started. Here are some
other roads BarLament said are especiaLLy dan
gerous for cycLists and pedestrians:
• CoLLege Station Road from the intramuraL
fields to Barnett ShoaLs Road.
• The entire University of Georgia campus,
but especially the Baxter-Lumpkin Street
intersection near the Tate Center.
• Prince Avenue between Oglethorpe
Avenue and Pulaski Street.
PRINCE AVENUE: At a May 20 town hall meet
ing on the Prince Avenue corridor study that
drew about 75 people to the UGA Health
Sciences Campus, residents continued to ask
for transportation to be considered along
side proposed zoning changes. (ICYMI, see
John Huie's May 15 story at FLagpoLe.com for
background.)
Suspicion still runs deep. "I think we need
to see numbers, we need to see pictures,
we need to see more details," Boulevard
Neighborhood Association President Dan
Lorentz said.
BikeAthens Chairman Elliot Caldwell lobbied
to apply Complete Streets to Prince Avenue
sooner rather than later. (Oak and Oconee
streets are first up to bat.) "It's a lot of work
to happen at once, but they can both be done
at the same time," he said. "It doesn't have to
be one or the other."
Cobbham resident Amy Andrews fretted
that the zoning-first approach won't protect
historic resources, in spite of ACC's toothless
demolition delay ordinance. "There's nothing
to stop anyone from demolishing any of those
structures," she said.
And several people expressed concern
about why St. Joseph's Catholic Church, which
is moving from the corner of Prince Avenue
and Pulaski Street to Epps Bridge Road,
isn't included in the proposed Commercial
Neighborhood-Established zoning category.
CN-E would allow small grocery stores, restau
rants and bars, which the current Commercial-
Office zoning doesn't. A grocery store is pretty
high on the list of neighborhood wants.
Officials left the C-0 zoning in place
because they want a developer to bring them
an idea for approval, ACC Senior Planner Bruce
Lonnee said. "It was considered to be prudent
to kind of let that be something that comes to
us," he said.
The next step is for the corridor study rec
ommendations to go to back to the Planning
Commission Thursday, June 6, then to the
Mayor and Commission.
BOULEVARD WOODS: On a brighter note for
Prince Avenue neighborhoods, a resident-
driven pocket park on Barber Street across
from Boulevard got a big boost last week.
The Riverview Foundation, a Chattanooga,
TN-based nonprofit that funds land trust
acguisitions and educational and cultural
activities, has donated $75,000 to fund con
struction of Boulevard Woods.
The two-acre passive park on donated land
won Mayor and Commission approval last
July, but plans will have to be approved again
before moving forward. More money is needed,
too, but Lorentz called it "a big step forward."
OCCUPY ORDINANCE: About 20 citizens-
including Occupy protestors holding signs—
filled a City Hall meeting room last week as
five ACC commissioners who serve on the
Legislative Review Committee discussed an
ordinance to limit nighttime access to the
grounds around county-owned properties
downtown.
"Obviously, this [ordinance] was inspired
by the presence of Occupy members"
who camped beside City Hall last spring,
Commissioner Kelly Girtz told Flagpole. "That
calm, peaceful act," he said, "led to ques
tions," like what if future protests lasted "for
months" or were less peaceful?
Last year's tent-in at City Hall lasted only
a few days, because the protesters—who were
demanding more public input on the proposed
Selig development—were roused out by police
in the early morning hours. Police said they
were blocking access to City Hall (although
it wasn't obvious they were doing so) and
marking up sidewalks with chalk. The county
may have had scant legal authority to make
them leave, prompting Mayor Nancy Denson to
assign the ordinance to the LRC.
The proposed ordinance drafted by ACC
Attorney Bill Berryman would set specific
hours for public access for the "campuses"
around City Hall, the county courthouse and
the Dougherty Street government building, but
it would not apply to streets or sidewalks out
side those areas. Berryman suggested barring
access from 11 p.m.-6 a.m., but Commissioner
Allison Wright was skeptical of closing "all the
greenspace in downtown" at times of night
when many businesses are still open.
"If you just wanted to sit under a tree
and catch your breath," that would become
illegal at City Hall, she said. Girtz countered
that street benches would still be avail
able. The ordinance would apply only to the
grounds—including the breezeway beside the
courthouse—and not to parking lots, which
are regulated separately.
Both Wright and commissioner Doug Lowry
said they needed more time to consider such
an ordinance; it was tabled until June 18.
[John Huie]
HISTORIC PRESERVATION: At the same time,
another committee, Government Operations,
was discussing changing the process for des
ignating a neighborhood historic in the wake
of the extremely divisive Buena Vista Historic
District fight. Widespread misinformation—
like homeowners falsely believing that ACC
could force them to paint their houses—and
disputed facts nearly scuttled the district.
The solution: In addition to Historic
Preservation Commission and county com
mission meetings, hold a town hall meeting
so residents can informally ask questions and
voice concerns earlier in the process.
Commissioners were concerned that his
toric district opponents didn't have accurate
information, and that they were hearing more
from staunch opponents than less-enthusiastic
supporters. "That's just the nature of folks,"
Planning Director Brad Griffin said. "If you
get something in the mail that doesn't make
you mad, you set it down. [You] might send it
back, but it's not a high priority."
The committee also recommended that
ACC pick up the tab for printing and mailing
notices and surveys to residents, and taking
out mandatory legal ads in the paper. Those
cost an average of about $750; neighborhood
residents would still be responsible for hiring
a consultant to write a designation report,
which runs around $2,000. Buena Vista resi
dents held bake sales and yard sales to raise
money, Commissioner Kathy Hoard said. "Some
of our low income neighborhoods could never
afford" the expense, she said.
Planners will run the changes by the HPC
before they go to the full commission for a
vote.
PARTNER BENEFITS: As expected, Chancellor
Hank Huckaby gave UGA President Michael
Adams the go-ahead last week to offer "soft
benefits" like dental, life and accidental death
insurance (which are not subsidized by tax
payers) to the domestic partners of unmarried
UGA employees in committed relationships.
Health insurance is a bit trickier, since it's
partly taxpayer-funded and the state constitu
tion prohibits gay marriage and civil unions.
Adams said that issue "unfortunately, requires
further study."
Huckaby, in a letter to Adams, suggested
that, if UGA uses "truly private" dollars to pay
for health insurance for domestic partners, the
Board of Regents couldn't say no. Janet Frick,
the pyschology professor who's been a driving
force behind partner benefits, said she's hope
ful the UGA Foundation can raise money to
make it happen.
Blake Aued news@flagpole.com
It’s 11 p.m. Do you know where your Occupier is? Protesters filled a meeting room at City Hall while commissioners discussed a controversial curfew on public property.
4 FLAGPOLE.COM-MAY 29, 2013
BLAKEAUED