ATHENS, Ohio — Despite neighboring residents’ concerns over a blind curve, a narrow road with no sidewalks and loss of a green belt, Athens City Council voted 5–0 Monday during a special session to rezone 5 acres on Hooper Street from R-1 and R-2 — single-family and duplex housing — to R-3, multifamily residential.
The vote, with members Micah McCarey and Solveig Spjeldnes absent, was a key step for developer Hill Tide Partners of South Carolina to advance with plans to build an affordable housing project of up to 80 units on five acres — part of 18 acres that includes plans for homes on property outside the city limits.
In other business, council heard
- first reading of an ordinance that would nearly double the city’s expense for a public safety training facility on Kenny Drive;
- first reading of an amended ordinance for construction of a shared use path on Columbus Road that increases ODOT’s — and the city’s — financing for the project to an estimated $1.8 million; and
- second reading of an ordinance that will appropriate $932,000 from several sources to cover final payment on the city fire headquarters on Stimson Avenue.
Controversial rezoning
Council member Alan Swank, 4th Ward, said the rezoning of eight parcels at 111 Hooper St. through Ordinance 0-56-25 is just the first step toward approving an affordable housing project of up to 80 units spread over 5 acres. The heavily wooded area is along a slope across the road from Monticello Village Apartments. The property is owned by Sean White, co-owner of Little Fish Brewing Company in Athens.
Taylor Koch, a partner with Hill Tide Partners, informed council that the company plans to proceed with a July application to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which involves a competitive process. Those projects selected for LIHTC awards should receive notification by Thanksgiving, he said. LIHTC projects must create housing for people living on 50% or 60% of the area median income.
The project would need to go through the city’s site plan approval process.
Strong opposition to the project has come from Nottingham Drive residents, including Diana Marvel, who said she moved to Athens from Washington state and learned about the rezoning proposal after she had closed on her home in early May. She has spoken twice against the project, including at a June 2 public hearing, when she said the proposed project would ruin the experience of homeowners like herself who want to live in a quiet area zoned for single family homes.
In a letter emailed to city council on June 9, Marvel said the project would “destroy an existing area that helps make Athens a special place to call home.” She said there are areas along Columbus Road much more suited to mixed-use residential development because that area has access to health services, public transportation and easy highway access.
“Changing the zoning is not just akin to a breach of contract; it is unethical for the city to approve this change,” said Marvel, who works for Ohio University. “This proposed rezoning will pave the way for a significant multifamily housing development across not five, but eighteen acres of land, much of which is currently a green belt. This development would ostensibly put a business in our backyards and deprive current residents of their way of life.”
During the June 2 public hearing, Nottingham Drive resident Aaron Romero said a narrow road with a blind curve near the proposed project site is “incredibly dangerous.” He asked council members to visit the location before making a final decision. A creek by the site also may be impacted by the project, he said.
Cost of public safety training facility soars
Council heard first readings of two ordinances related to construction of a public safety training facility on the city’s southwest side —one of which more than quintuples the city’s share of the project.
The original ordinance appropriated $2.9 million for the project, nearly all of which came from the 2024 state capital spending bill. At that time, the city allocated only $400,000 from the city’s coffers. However, the ordinance stated that “there will be future water and street appropriations requested for this project in order to connect the water line and road from the end of Kenny Drive to EIIiotsviIIe Road in order to increase access and redundancy in the water system.”
The amendment under consideration increases the project budget by nearly $2.2 million, to a total of $5.1 million. Additional funding included additional $800,000 from Street Fund 220; $600,000 from Water Fund 740; $400,000 from Sewer Fund 750; and $381,000 from Storm Sewer Fund 755.635.
Deputy Service-Safety Director Andrew Chiki told the council that the city split the project into two contracts: one for the road, water and sewer work and the other for construction of the facility itself.
The contract for the road work will go to York Paving, Chiki said, whose low bid was well under the engineer’s estimate of just over $2 million.
“We checked and double-checked and triple-checked to make sure that was legitimate, because it was a bit surprising,” Chiki said. “But it did check out.”
Between the low bid and a $200,000 grant from the ODOT Office of Jobs and Commerce means the road extension cost is nearly $1 million below estimate, Chiki said.
“It’s really exciting from that end,” Chiki said.
Acceptance of the ODOT grant was the subject of the other ordinance related to the project.
The facility construction contract will go to Pepper Construction, Chiki said. Pepper’s $1.6 million bid was slightly higher than the engineer’s estimate, but bids that are within 20% of the estimate are acceptable.
Chiki said the project involves installation of a prefabricated burn tower to be used for fire and police training exercises for scenarios including active fires, forced entries, confined rescues and other scenarios. An additional shared- use storage building will be constructed with a secure outdoor lot for police and public works.
The storage building will allow the city to consolidate multiple spaces currently used for storage, freeing those spaces for other use, said council member Jessica Thomas, representing the city and safety services committee.
ODOT increases shared use path funding
Council also discussed a proposed 1-mile shared use path on Columbus Road.
ODOT will cover 90% of the cost. Member Jeff Risner, 2nd Ward, reported that the agency has agreed to increase the cap on its share from just over $1 million to $1.38 million. That allows the city to increase its share of the project by $75,000, to a total of $425,000. Of that amount, $160,000 was previously authorized for engineering and design, with $260,000 coming from Street Fund 220.
Total cost of the project is budgeted at $1.81 million.
The combined pedestrian/bicycle path will help improve pedestrian and bicycle safety on Columbus Road, with proponents recently appearing before council to voice support.
The amendments to the budget sent the ordinance back to first reading.
Final fire headquarters payment
With no discussion or changes, council heard second reading of an ordinance authorizing a final payment of $932,000 to Pepper Construction for the new fire station on Stimson Avenue.
The lion’s share of the payment covers the nearly $722,000 the city thought it sent to Pepper Construction in November 2024. The payment was actually requested by email scammers who directed the funds to a fraudulent account at a bank in Kentucky.
Funds for the makeup payment include $52,000 general fund accounts for fire and other administrative services; $150,000 in bond interest accrued during construction; and $200,000 from an insurance claim payment.
The remaining $210,000 is for add-on projects including extra parking, an art walk and a fitness court. At previous council meetings, member Michael Wood, 3rd Ward, criticized the city for not presenting those projects to the council for approval.
City Service-Safety Director Andy Stone said that the projects were part of the initial plans for the project.
Athens City Council’s next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, June 16 in Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also streamed online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays.
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