Athens Grow Green Coalition
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State Senate
Overall Scorecard
Questionnaire + Answers

District 46:
Haines
Kemp

ACC Commission
Overall Scorecard
Questionnaire + Answers
Incumbent Voting Record
Key Vote Analysis

District 1:
Carter
Garland

District 3:
Maxwell
Robinson

District 5:
Logan
Lynn

District 7:
Bushnell
Hoard
Vaughan

District 9:
Chasteen

Mayor:
Davison

Charles Carter (Democrat, Incumbent) - District 1

Candidate Questionnaire - Voting Record

Please note that the opinions expressed in this section are not those of Athens Grow Green Coalition, Inc., but are those of the candidate to whom they are attributed.

1. In 1999, the Commission unanimously approved our anti-sprawl Comprehensive Land Use Plan, a document created with widespread community support. This plan calls for preservation of the environment, responsible development, alternatives to automobile transportation, and the prevention of sprawl. It designates the outer fringe of the county as a greenbelt, with only low-density residential development allowed there. In 2000, however, the Commission passed a zoning ordinance that allowed suburban development at one unit per acre in the greenbelt, despite public outcry for an ordinance that more closely followed the Land Use Plan. Many agree that it is now even more important to address the impacts of sprawl development, such as declining air quality, rapid loss of forested land, and poor water quality, all of which have figured prominently in ACC news reports in recent months.

  1. Do you believe the current zoning ordinance adequately protects Athens-Clarke County from sprawl? NO
  2. Would you support implementation of a Transferable Development Rights program to protect open space and direct growth? YES
    "The problem I see with TDRs is having receiving zones or areas."
  3. Do you think trees need stronger protection in ACC? Would you support a tree canopy protection ordinance to prevent clear-cutting of lots for development? YES
    "We have trees grown on farm and forest land that are grown as crops and need to be harvested. There comes a time this must be done by clear-cutting and re-establishing."
  4. Do you think ACC needs to do more to enhance alternative transportation options - such as more and improved sidewalks, bike lanes, public transit - to reduce traffic congestion? YES
  5. Do you think that protecting greenspace helps or harms our local economy? HELPS

What else might local government do to combat sprawl?

N/A

2. Over a year ago, Enron Corp. proposed building a natural gas-fired power plant in Athens. While it is highly unlikely that Enron will be able to undertake such a project, other energy companies may be interested in the location because of its confluence of natural gas and electric transmission lines. Many citizens have raised concerns about the potential environmental impacts of such a project, including degraded air and water quality, and a projected doubling of ACC's consumptive water use. Proponents of the proposal touted a positive impact on our tax base (an increase of about 1.5%)

  1. Do you think a natural gas-fired power plant would be good for Athens? Would the benefits outweigh the costs? NO
  2. Would you support such a proposal? NO
  3. Do you believe that protecting environmental quality is incompatible with protecting jobs and tax revenue? NO
  4. Would you support development of a long-term water management plan for Athens-Clarke County? YES

3. The eviction of nearly 500 Garden Springs residents focused attention on the issue of affordable housing in Athens. Athens-Clarke County has large low-income and student populations, presenting very different housing challenges to our community.

  1. Do you think that current planning and development in the county adequately address the housing needs of these two populations? NO
  2. Do you believe that Athens has plenty of low-income housing? NO
  3. Is preserving low-income residents' access to affordable housing a priority of yours? YES
  4. Is growth management a priority of yours? NO
  5. Do you think that preserving affordable housing and growth management are incompatible goals? NO

What might local government do to increase affordable housing options?

"Allow more mobile home parks and allow expansion of the ones we have."

4. Sembler Corp. recently sued the Georgia EPD to be allowed to pipe a stream on a piece of property it plans to develop for a new Target store, in direct conflict with Athens-Clarke County's 75-foot stream buffer ordinance. Those who supported Sembler's lawsuit argued that Athens-Clarke County cannot afford to lose a business that might choose to locate elsewhere if required to conform to our environmental regulations. Others contend that many communities have held developers to strict standards without losing businesses, and that these standards ultimately protect the economy as well as the environment of our community.

  1. Are you willing to risk losing a business or development in order to protect the health of our local streams, rivers and drinking water supply? YES
  2. Do you believe that Athens-Clarke County's environmental regulations are at odds with business development? NO

Charles Carter (Democrat, Incumbent) - District 1
Voting Record

Votes on Land Use Issues

 AGGC position Carter (D,I)
Moratorium on Rezoning - Motion to enact a temporary moratorium on rezonings. The moratorium was suggested by Ken Jordan to curb inappropriate rezonings during the Commission's protracted debate over the zoning ordinance. 
y n
75' Riparian Buffer - Motion to apply 75-foot buffers to perennial lakes and streams. Some Commissioners wanted 25 foot buffers - the least allowed by state law. y n
Oak Grove (Denny Hill) Rezoning  - Motion to approve rezoning 61 acres in the midst of the greenbelt on Jefferson Road from AR (Agricultural Residential) to single-family residential for the "Oak Grove" subdivision. The ACC Planning Commission recommended denial by an 8-1 vote.  n y
AR Zoning Option A - Allowed an average density of one unit per acre development throughout the county's AR zone as part of the ACC zoning ordinance, in spite of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan's call for 1 unit per 5 - 10 acres in AR zones. n y
Zoning Ordinance Veto Override
Motion to override Mayor Eldridge's veto of the zoning ordinance and Option A. 		n y
Carter Amendment to Ordinance - Motion to adopt Charles Carter's amendment to the new zoning ordinance giving the Commission the power to review "conservation subdivisions" before they may be constructed in the AR zone. y y
Bloomfield Rezoning - Motions to rezone 3 properties in this single-family historic neighborhood from single-family to multi-family, despite numerous neighborhood complaints about code violations by nearby multi-family unit renters. n y
Mixed-Use Fire Station in Five Points - Motion to reject the concept of a mixed-use fire station in Five Points (which had been proposed by UGA School of Environmental Design Dean Jack Crowley as a public-private partnership with potential to save millions of dollars in construction costs.) n y
Olympic Dr. Rezoning from Employment-Industrial to Industrial - Motion to rezone this area from EI, which allows only light industry, to I, which allows heavy industry n y
Amendment to Definition of Family in Single-Family Zones - Motion to redefine family and reduce from 2 to 1 the number of unrelated individuals allowed to live with a family in single-family zones, in an effort to protect the integrity of single-family neighborhoods. y y
Enron Partnership - Motion to enter into partnership with Enron Corp. to explore the feasibility of locating a natural gas-fired power plant in Athens along the North Oconee River. n y
Barnett Shoals Road Widening - Motion to approve the concept of a 5-lane road (4 travel lanes with a center turn lane) with no parking lot access road, sidewalks, bike lanes, or center median - even though the deletion of these from the plan would result in the loss of about $3 million in funding from GA DOT because they felt that such a design would result in an unsafe roadway. n y
Approval of Bicycle Master Plan with Prince Avenue Deleted - Motion to approve the Bicycle Master Plan but only with all reference to Prince Avenue removed. n y
Robert Hardeman Road "Conservation Subdivision" Rezoning - Motion to approve the rezoning of 125 acres in the AR zone and Airport Overlay district for a subdivision, despite lack of adequate infrastructure (roads, fire protection, sewer treatment plant at capacity.) n y
Donation of $2 Million to the Classic Center for Foundry Street Warehouse Renovation - Motion to donate the proceeds from the sale of the Wray-Nicholson House, rather than lend the money and set up a Historic Preservation revolving loan fund. n y
Multi-family Building Permit Moratorium - Motion to implement a temporary moratorium on issuing building permits in RM zones, and authorizing a study of affordable housing in ACC (with the added opportunity to slow down the eviction process at the Garden Springs Mobile Home Park.) y n
  total: Carter
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