Politics & Government

What Did the Commission Approve Last Night?

Here's a copy of Kelly Girtz's Commissioner Defined Option for Selig's special use permit.

After almost two hours of comments and debate, the Athens Clarke County Commission voted Tuesday night to give Selig Enterprises a special use permit for its development on the Armstrong and Dobbs property. So now, the development that was touted as a "done deal" in 2012 can move forward.

The permit allows the company to put 15 residential units on the ground floor of one of four buildings on the site. The building is on the Southeast side, close to Wilkerson Street. Allowing this means there isn't a curb cut on Wilkerson, a street too narrow to support commercial traffic.

What the commission approved by an 8 to 2 vote--with Commissioners Jared Bailey and George Maxwell voting no--was a document prepared by Commissioner Kelly Girtz. It allows the 15 units to be built, when local ordinances say the first floor of a mixed use building needs to be dedicated to commercial use.

Girtz also specifies various features the development must have, ones related to bike and pedestrian access and flow and to connectivity. At Commissioner Jerry NeSmith's request, Girtz tacked on a measure saying that the Rails to Trails Committee and the Greenway Commission need to be consulted before the commission votes on the Firefly Trail connection.

What follows is Girtz's

COMMISSIONER DEFINED OPTION 

            AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CODE OF ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, GEORGIA, WITH RESPECT TO SPECIAL USE APPROVAL IN THE C-D (RIV) (COMMERCIAL-DOWNTOWN, RIVER DOWNTOWN DESIGN AREA) DISTRICT ON 9.873  ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT 0, 710, 780, 786, AND 790 EAST BROAD STREET; 251, 315, 319, 327, 335, 357 AND 367 OCONEE STREET; 0 AND 190 WILKERSON STREET; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

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            The Commission of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia hereby ordains as follows:

            SECTION 1.  The currently existing C-D (RIV) (Commercial-Downtown, River Downtown Design Area) District on approximately 9.873 acres of land located on sixteen parcels of land at 0, 710, 780, 786, and 790 East Broad Street; 251, 315, 319, 327, 335, 357 and 367 Oconee Street; and 0 and 190 Wilkerson Street is hereby amended to provide for Special Use approval to permit the construction of multifamily dwellings arranged in a manner not permitted within a Commercial zoning district by waiving the requirement of Section 9-10-2-L(1) of the Code of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia limiting multi-family uses to the second story and above or in the basement level of structures and requiring that at least fifty percent of the ground floor shall be leasable commercial space not used for parking or self-service storage, to permit the construction of up to fifteen residential dwelling units on the ground floor of Building 300 to be constructed on said parcels.  The affected parcels of land are more fully described as follows: 

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All that tract of land as described in the drawing entitled “Mixed Use Development; Athens, GA; Reference Site Plan,” dated May 3, 2013, prepared by Niles Bolton Associates, on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department.

Said property is also known as parcel numbers 171B4, C003B, C004, C002, C003, C001, C007, C008, C008A, C009, C010, C011, C012, C015, C016, and C014 on the Athens‑Clarke County Tax Maps being on file and available for inspection in the office of the Athens‑Clarke County Planning Department, 120 W. Dougherty Street, Athens, Georgia.  The date of this amendment to the Official Zoning Map of Athens-Clarke County as shown by Attachment A hereto shall be noted on said Official Zoning map in the Clerk of Commission's Office and duly noted in the minutes of the Commission meeting.

SECTION 2.  The binding site plan associated with this ordinance, incorporated herein by reference, consists of 7 sheets, Sheet 1 of which being entitled “Mixed Use Development; Athens, GA; Reference Site Plan,” dated May 3, 2013, prepared by Niles Bolton Associates, and being stamped “Binding Site Plan 6/10/13,” Sheet 2 of which being entitled “Mixed Use Development; Athens, GA; Ground Level – Building Use,” dated May 3, 2013, prepared by Niles Bolton Associates, and being stamped “Binding Site Plan 6/10/13,” Sheet 3 of which being entitled “Mixed Use Development; Athens, GA; Residential Level - Typical,” dated May 3, 2013, prepared by Niles Bolton Associates, and being stamped “Binding Site Plan 6/10/13,” Sheet 4 of which being entitled “Mixed Use Development; Athens, GA; Building 100 Exterior Elevations,” dated May 3, 2013, prepared by Niles Bolton Associates, and being stamped “Binding Site Plan 6/10/13,” Sheet 5 of which being entitled “Mixed Use Development; Athens, GA; Building 200 Exterior Elevations,” dated May 3, 2013, prepared by Niles Bolton Associates, and being stamped “Binding Site Plan 6/10/13,” Sheet 6 of which being entitled “Mixed Use Development; Athens, GA; Building 300 Exterior Elevations,” dated May 3, 2013, prepared by Niles Bolton Associates, and being stamped “Binding Site Plan 6/10/13,” and Sheet 7 of which being entitled “Mixed Use Development; Athens, GA; Building 400 Exterior Elevations,” dated May 3, 2013, prepared by Niles Bolton Associates, and being stamped “Binding Site Plan 6/10/13,” all said sheets being on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department. 

The binding written report associated with this ordinance and incorporated herein by reference consists of  two pages, being entitled “Application Report, Special Use Permit Request, 315 Oconee Street and Adjacent Parcels” being stamped “Binding Report 6/10/13” and being on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department.

SECTION 3.  The conditions of zoning associated with this ordinance are as follows:

1.     A recombination plat shall be submitted and approved prior to the release of any permits. Said plat shall indicate the mandatory dedication of future rights-of-way along all adjacent streets.

2.     Ground-floor residential dwellings, not to exceed fifteen total units, shall only be located in Building #300 as indicated on the binding site plans.

3.     A transit stop shall be installed along Oconee Street, to be funded at the developer’s expense, the exact location of which to be determined the by Athens-Clarke County Transit Director.

4.     The architectural elevations shall be revised so that the entrances to the parking decks along the new section of Hickory Street shall be a minimum of fifteen feet in height at the lowest point.

5.     Bicycle parking shall be accommodated in accordance with the zoning and development standards.

6.     Trees shall be required along East Broad Street, Wilkerson Street, Oconee Street, the new section of Hickory Street, and the Firefly Trail in the number indicated on the plans, with species, size, and location to be determined in accordance with the Athens-Clarke County Community Tree Management ordinance and approval of the Athens-Clarke County Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

7.     The Plaza area shall be redesigned to provide a 10-foot wide bike and pedestrian connection from Hickory Street Extension to the eastern property line to provide a straight and direct connection to the center line of the existing rail bed at a grade not to exceed five percent.  The two 5-foot bike lanes on Hickory Street Extension shall be placed between the on-street parking areas and the sidewalk.  These bike lanes shall be separated in such a manner that parked cars will not impede the path. 

8.     Should the applicant seek use of Athens-Clarke County property for a slope easement toward the Firefly Trail or for other purposes, such application shall include a design for the trail interconnection.

9.     The site plan shall be revised to correct the proposed overall square footage of the development.

 

SECTION 4.   All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.



 


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