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Athens is a great community because of our neighborhoods. Their health will largely determine the health of our community. Everything from future economic development to a strong school system depends on healthy neighborhoods. It should come as no surprise that if we lose our middle class to suburban counties, existing businesses and future commercial opportunities will follow them. Unfortunately, our neighborhoods are under threat. Incompatible industrial development in some cases, multi-family rezoning in single-family areas in others, threaten both low- and high-income neighborhoods. Even some of our most respected institutions have sought to grow in residential areas rather than in available commercial areas. Many residents are
frustrated because our nuisance ordinances aren't often enforced. This
is a problem especially in areas that are changing from mostly owner-occupied
to rental property - and can even drive that change. I refuse to demonize
renters. Many renters are excellent neighbors. Yet I am also firm in my
belief that the violation of the single-family ordinance has resulted
in excesses that can seriously compromise and de-value a neighborhood.
Neighborhood protection ordinances must be supported and strengthened.
Increased resources should be directed to the Marshal's office; and the
process of obtaining relief from nuisances should be streamlined and made
more effective. ACC Comprehensive Land Use Plan The message of the Guiding Principles of the Athens-Clarke County Comprehensive Land Use Plan is clear: "Our community will use land effectively to avoid the costs and problems associated with urban sprawl." This forward-thinking document was developed by a broad and representative spectrum of citizens, and adopted unanimously in 1999. The Plan's Guiding Principles are quite specific on how citizens want growth in Athens to occur and what shape it should take. The Guiding Principles reject policies that create urban sprawl and encourage preservation of a rural greenbelt, infill and mixed-use development, and the adoption of design standards. Unfortunately, little of that clear anti-sprawl message was incorporated into the zoning ordinance created to implement the Plan. Subdivision development continues in our rapidly disappearing greenbelt and there is little emphasis or insistence on mixed-use development. Without question, growth will occur and will have to be accommodated, but it does not have to be in the form of haphazard sprawl. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan was created to direct our growth, and our zoning ordinance should reflect that. I support the Guiding Principles of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and will use them to guide my own decision-making on the commission. Quality of Life and Economic Development Preserving what is best about Athens is in itself an economic development strategy. Industries and businesses that would be assets to our community are going to be more attracted by our beautiful neighborhoods, outstanding cultural and recreational opportunities, and the creative spirit of a college town than by more traditional economic development incentives. I support policies and programs that preserve and enrich our quality of life and contribute to community spirit. Our approach to a multitude of interconnected and inseparable issues - maintaining the integrity of neighborhoods, preserving green space and rural areas, improving transportation options, protecting our air and water quality, providing a diversity of housing, preserving historic structures - will be key to promoting a healthy business community and maintaining a solid tax base. Our Commission must change how it views and accepts public input. Most of our recent public policy problems have occurred because of either a failure to communicate effectively with the public, or outright disregard of public opinion. From the Civic Center controversy of the early 1990s to the gutting of the Land Use Plan in 2000, our leaders have repeatedly failed to understand that the public has a limited tolerance for inaccessibility. All citizens deserve a voice in the processes and decisions that affect them. Community input and policy education must be seen as an asset and a requirement instead of as an afterthought or hindrance. Decisions and policies will have a far greater chance of being embraced by the community if public input is integrated at the beginning of any new initiative, rather than tacked on as an afterthought. Innovative methods for informing our citizens must be implemented and new procedures for receiving public comment accommodated. One means of achieving this goal is through the use of a neighborhood planning unit system, as outlined in the Guiding Principles. With this type of structure in place, our neighborhoods will have a place at the table when decisions that affect them are being made.back to top The housing situation in Athens-Clarke County is complicated. We have the rising housing costs associated with being a desirable place to live; we have a university which houses only a small percentage of its students on campus; and we have a wide range of income levels to be accommodated. We are seeing the lowest-paid workers being forced out of their formerly affordable in-town neighborhoods to the fringes of the county, where they have no access to transit or other services that they need. We also have a stated goal of preserving open space. How are we to meet all these needs? First, we must recognize that land use and housing are integrally related. Growth management does not automatically cause a shortage of affordable housing. And we can't solve our affordable housing shortage without looking at our zoning and development regulations. There are a whole variety of tools for protecting and promoting affordable housing, including a requirement for moderately priced units in large new developments and density bonuses for affordable housing. There are also sources of federal and state dollars for affordable housing that Athens has not yet tapped. With such resources, we can create a policy that integrates our affordable housing and growth management needs, for the benefit of the entire community. The ACC Planning Department estimates that by the year 2020 we will require approximately 11,000 new housing units. Already across the county we are seeing a significant loss of our tree canopy. This is an alarming trend. Trees contribute to our quality of life not only by enhancing the beauty of our environment, but by filtering pollutants out of our air and water, and providing shade that helps keep our electric bills lower in the hot summer months. We should not allow developers to persist in the clear-cutting of trees. I support policies that would provide reasonable protection for trees and result in a more sustainable and attractive community. The establishment of the Community Tree Council in 2000 and the creation of the position of County Arborist in 2001 were steps in the right direction. These dedicated individuals should have a strong voice in the establishment of future programs, policies, and ordinances. We should provide incentives for a creative use of previously developed land to prevent outward sprawl at the expense of existing commercial centers. We should encourage a broader use of conservation easements. And we should seriously explore a transfer of development rights program to help preserve and maintain the beauty of our remaining rural environment. We can no longer depend on the traditional solutions of widening roads and building large, expensive parking decks to accomplish our transportation goals. We must look at options that calm and disperse traffic, that make our roadways safer, and that incorporate new ideas to improve the choices that people have for commuting to their workplaces, and to schools, shopping centers, and recreational venues. Better transportation choices require the development of a safe and useful biking network to encourage bicycle commuting and help reduce traffic congestion. We must expand our transit system to include more frequent and flexible routing patterns, and we should encourage cooperation between ACC and the UGA campus transit system. We also need to improve the plight of the pedestrian in Athens by upgrading sidewalks and crosswalks, particularly on the major thoroughfares, where sidewalks are frequently non-existent and the crossings few and dangerous. Increasing the use
of alternative transportation will benefit our entire community, not just
those who choose to use transit, walk, or ride bicycles. Reducing the
number of automobiles on our roads will have positive impacts on our air
and water quality and on public health. Air pollution from auto exhaust
is linked to increased rates of respiratory diseases such as asthma. Every
additional square inch of impervious pavement worsens our water quality,
by sending polluted runoff directly into our rivers and streams. Encouraging
people to walk, cycle, and use transit is truly in everyone's best interests. The historic resources of Athens-Clarke County play a leading role in economic development. Just as private enterprise strives to create the best public image, ACC must protect and promote our heritage resources, which attract business to our county and strengthen our tax base. We proudly show off our special historic assets to visitors and potential businesses, but we have not made a comprehensive effort to ensure their continued viability. We cannot take the continued strength of our downtown and historic neighborhoods for granted, but must work to inform our citizens about the necessity of safeguarding the historic fabric of our community. Past generations of Athenians have given us a rich legacy of buildings that reflect our unique history. These buildings have served many uses and housed many citizens who have played important roles in our community. We, as today's citizens of Athens, must make a commitment to protect our legacy for the benefit of future generations so that they will continue to call Athens "The Classic City." The Comprehensive Land Use Plan and supporting Guiding Principles are the products of wide community input. These documents are clear about how Athens should grow and where our growth should occur. The spirit of the Guiding Principles is to avoid urban sprawl and to encourage infill and mixed-use development. Another goal of the Guiding Principles is to reduce densities in rural areas in exchange for higher densities within the urban area. This is a policy I support. As an intown resident I feel strongly that increased density in our urban areas requires good design standards. Any new intown development must fit into the fabric of existing neighborhoods and shopping areas. With such a clear and widely-accepted document in place, rezoning should become increasingly rare. If our zoning ordinance is a hindrance to a policy of the Guiding Principles - protection of affordable housing or the preservation of our greenbelt, for example - then the zoning ordinance should be changed. I will never support a rezoning that is contrary to the spirit of the Guiding Principles and the Land Use Plan. It is time to make some decisions to conserve our natural resources and to protect our air and water quality. We need look no further than Atlanta to see what will happen if we don't. We have become accustomed to thinking of water as an infinite commodity, but even with Bear Creek Reservoir our water supply does have limits. We must be aware of those limits in all our planning decisions. As to water quality, every square foot of land that is paved over has an adverse effect, increasing our drinking water treatment costs by increasing the amount of polluted runoff into streams. Erosion is one of our greatest sources of pollution, yet we are not adequately enforcing the erosion control ordinance we already have. Air quality in Athens could soon reach "nonattainment" status, meaning that we have more pollutants in our air than the EPA deems safe for human health. Increased rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases are directly linked to poor air quality. In addition to the public health cost, nonattainment status means a significant financial impact on the ACC government, through automatic loss of federal highway funding. We must devise and
implement a natural resources management plan to conserve and safeguard
our air and water. First, we need a strategy for the allocation of water.
We must decide how much water can be safely withdrawn for industrial and
residential purposes without harming the health of our rivers. We must
limit the amount of polluted runoff. And we also need a strategy to protect
our air quality. Planning ahead for management of air and water quality
is essential to achieving the kind of growth that benefits us all. The Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax provides significant revenues to build critical infrastructure and to construct or renovate cultural and recreational facilities. Used as matching funds, SPLOST dollars can also provide valuable leverage to help obtain a wide range of available state and federal funding for local projects. Without SPLOST revenues, ACC might be required to issue bonds and take on unwanted debt. The main challenges before us are a more careful management of SPLOST resources throughout all phases of a project, and better consideration of the public's desire and vision in bringing a project from conception to reality. The future challenge is to very carefully choose the programs to be funded, avoiding those that may become financial sinks for long-term maintenance and operation costs. Police
and Fire Protection
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[In the News] [Endorsements] © 2002 Committee to Elect David Lynn, All Rights Reserved. If you have any problems with this site, or comments, please contact the Webmaster. Paid For and Authorized
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