Concerns about the Greenbelt Portion of the Land Use Plan

The Guiding Principle on Land Use, according to the Guiding Principles, Objectives, Strategies, And Policies for the Athens-Clarke County Comprehensive Plan, is "To enact land use policies that avoid urban sprawl." The Guiding Principle on Growth and Economy is "To support growth that protects community resources and sustains the high quality of life we want in Athens-Clarke County." The Athens Grow Green Coalition fully supports these goals. The Guiding Principles was created by the citizens and elected officials of Athens-Clarke County. We appreciate the hard work and creativity they put into this visionary document, and want to do whatever we can to ensure that it is implemented. It is our belief that neither of the zoning proposals currently before the Commission achieves the goals of the Guiding Principles, because neither adequately protects greenspace. We have not, as a county, yet developed the mechanism to accomplish these goals. One of these mechanisms, Transferable Development Rights (TDRs)* is not part of either proposal, because the Georgia State Legislature will not be able to amend the TDR enabling legislation to make it truly effective until February. Therefore, we suggest:

• Leaving the Agricultural-Residential (AR) zones as they are under current zoning, which does a better job of preventing sprawl than either of the two proposed zoning ordinances**;
• Passage of a current zoning proposal (with minor changes to accommodate density concerns relating to implementing TDRs) with the exception of the section dealing with AR zones.

*TDRs preserve greenspace while allowing landowners to realize a financial benefit from their land as they would if they were to sell it to a developer. A landowner in the greenbelt can, instead of selling the land itself, sell the rights to develop that land to a developer who can use those rights to build at a higher density in a designated area in town. For more information on TDRs, see http://www.athensgrowgreen.com/tdr.htm.

**The current AR zoning regulations allow for limited subdivision of lots. A lot can be divided in two (with a minimum size of 1 acre) only once every two years. The two options currently before the Commission have similar provisions, but unlike the current system also encourage rapid development of subdivisions in the greenbelt:

• Option A allows subdivision of an entire parcel into lots at an average density of 1 unit per acre, as long as 50% of the total acreage is retained as "open space."
• Option B allows subdivision of an entire parcel into lots at an average density of 1 unit per 2.5 acres in certain parts of the AR zone AND 1 unit per .6 acres in the other portion, as long as 50% of the total acreage of the parcel is retained as "common open space" in both. These types of subdivisions, that cluster housing and preserve open space, are referred to as "conservation subdivisions," and are effective tools for protecting the environment when used in the right circumstances. The greenbelt, however, is not an appropriate place for ANY kind of high-density subdivision. Developing the greenbelt in this manner will lead to increased traffic, increased air and water pollution, greater expenses for extending city services - in short, sprawl.