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
|
Alvin Sheats (Democrat, Incumbent) - District 3
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.
- Do you believe the current zoning ordinance adequately protects Athens-Clarke
County from sprawl? YES
- Would you support implementation of a Transferable Development Rights
program to protect open space and direct growth? NO
- 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? MAYBE
"Trees need protection in some areas. Ordinance to prevent clear
cutting in certain areas."
- 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
- Do you think that protecting greenspace helps or harms our local economy?
N/A
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%)
- Do you think a natural gas-fired power plant would
be good for Athens? Would the benefits outweigh the costs? MAYBE
"Depends on the number of jobs it brings."
- Would you support such a proposal? MAYBE
- Do you believe that protecting environmental quality
is incompatible with protecting jobs and tax revenue? see
comment
"There should be balance."
- 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.
- Do you think that current planning and development in the county adequately
address the housing needs of these two populations? NO
- Do you believe that Athens has plenty of low-income housing? NO
- Is preserving low-income residents' access to affordable housing a
priority of yours? YES
- Is growth management a priority of yours? YES
- Do you think that preserving affordable housing and growth management
are incompatible goals? NO
What might local government do to increase affordable
housing options?
"For me to answer this,
I would need to study other communities."
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.
- 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? see comment
"Each case would stand on its own."
- Do you believe that Athens-Clarke County's environmental
regulations are at odds with business development? YES/NO
"Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. To everything there is a
season."
Alvin Sheats (Democrat, Incumbent) - District
3
Voting Record
Votes on Land Use Issues
|
AGGC position |
Sheats (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 |
n |
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 |
n |
| 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 |
n |
| 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 |
n |
| 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 |
y |
| |
total: |
Sheats
3/16 |
|
