ATHENS, Ohio — Athens City Council’s meeting on Monday, Feb. 3 was dominated by a public hearing on a request for a zoning change by a Columbus-based developer’s request for a zoning change for a proposed affordable housing project on the city’ south side.
Spire Development is asking the city to rezone an 8.2-acre site on Pomeroy Road from R-1, single family housing, to R-3, multifamily housing, so it can build a three-story, 50-unit affordable housing project. Because the project would use the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits program, residents could earn no more than 80% percent of area median income and could not be full-time students.
The site is near the intersection of Pomeroy Road and Coventry Lane, just off Richland Avenue.
During Monday night’s hearing, which lasted more than an hour, a group of residents organized as the LaMar Heights/Pomeroy Road Community Task Force offered a report outlining their specific objections to a proposed zoning change.
Flooding
Speaking for the group, Canterbury Drive resident Jerry Miller described the proposed site as the last and “least desirable” tract of land left from a once-large farm property. The property is known for flooding in heavy rain, Miller said, because of runoff from Coventry Lane and creeks alongside the property.
Sean McMickle, vice president of Spire Development, said the development will use the critical storm method to capture and retain runoff to mitigate flash flooding. The project’s civil engineering firm, Pickering Associates, has an Athens office, he noted.
Aaron Leatherwood, of Coventry Lane, said he does not believe Spire will be able to contain all the impact of storm runoff with dirt and containment as proposed. Mayor Steve Patterson said an underground storm tunnel is needed to better divert rainwater into the Coates Run watershed.
Traffic and safety
According to the task force, building on the Pomeroy Landing site would not only remove a buffer zone between businesses and single-family homes on Pomeroy Road, but also create an abrupt change to high density not suited for the area, Miller said. He added that the lack of a “transitional” space will affect the south side of the Richland Avenue corridor, which already has 3,000 beds of high-density housing.
Miller also noted a “blind curve” near Athens Veterinary Clinic at 16 Pomeroy Road, which has seen even crashes in 10 years.
“The owner has requested guardrails to protect his property, but that has been ignored,” Miller said, with the owner rebuilding the fence numerous times and replacing the storage shed.
In addition, the task force reported, Pomeroy Road at Richland Avenue is just 31 feet wide and has no sidewalks. Pedestrians along the “Canterbury, Coventry, and Richland triangle,” Miller said, are “always cautious because of the lack of pedestrian safety,” he added.
Adding 55 more vehicles at Pomeroy Landing to a South Y Richland area that is already congested with businesses and homes is not good planning, Miller said. The Pomeroy Landing site area is not served by public transit.
“You’re setting yourself up for a dangerous situation,” Miller said.
Demetrios Prokos — whose family owns a 52-unit building behind Debbie’s Dispensary at the Richland/Pomeroy Road intersection — said his tenants already have difficulty turning onto Pomeroy Road during peak traffic flow hours. A new 50-unit complex will make it worse, he said.
Leatherwood predicted that the city of Athens would need to make more than $1 million in traffic improvements to provide better flow for traffic that exists in the area.
McMickle countered that Pomeroy Landing would add only 25 vehicle trips in the area during peak morning work hours, and that the project could involve sidewalks.
Crime
Pomeroy Road resident Sharon Walker said the Kershaw Greene complex on SR 682, which has 191 units, received close to 350 police calls in a year. McMickle said Spire Development has “a history of working with police,” and can evict tenants who cause problems.
Councilor Alan Swank, 4th Ward, also addressed potential crime with such a project, noting that Kershaw Greene and its 348 police calls within a year’s time was far more, per unit, than the one-level Sandstone Apartments in The Plains, which has 50 units.
“Is this the kind of development we want?” Swank posed, adding that profits for such projects as the proposed Pomeroy Landing continue to benefit out-of-town developers.
But council member Solveig Spjeldnes, 1st Ward, noted that the former Carriage Hill Apartments off of Richland Avenue accounted for 2% of Athens City Police calls last year, and Kershaw Greene only 1%.
McMickle said the project would add much-needed housing to Athens, with 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments served by an elevator and 36-inch wide door openings spacious enough to accommodate disabled persons on all three floors. Because the site is flat, he added, it lends itself to accommodating tenants who have disabilities, and several units will be retrofitted to accommodate their needs.
Councilor Beth Clodfelter, At Large, said she was impressed that the developer would provide elevator access so that disabled persons can reach all three levels of the Pomeroy Landing complex.
An ordinance authorizing the proposed zoning change had its second reading Monday. It will have a third and final reading at the council’s next regular meeting on Feb. 18.
Ordinances passed
Council passed three ordinances unanimously upon their third and final readings.
One authorizes spending up to $880,000 for an East State Street Signal Improvement Project. About half of the total project amount is covered by a Small Cities Congestion Mitigation Grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation, with the rest coming from Street Fund 220.
Patterson said the traffic pattern technology learns as it progresses, figuring out when peak flows and slow traffic flows require adjustments in length of red lights.
Spjeldnes said the project will involve much better coordination of red lights on East State, which will create better traffic flow. She added that other traffic signal patterns in the city could use such improvement in the future.
The council also approved spending just over $2 million from the Welcome Home Ohio Grant Program through a public-private partnership with Community Building Partners, LLC. Through the agreement, the city and Community Building Partners will identify and develop a site or sites for eight new homes. The completed homes will be sold to qualified buyers, who must occupy the property for at least five years.
Swank said he benefited from a similar plan 42 years ago, when prospective buyers camped overnight to be first in line to purchase a home with just 5% down. He was second in line.
The third ordinance passed authorized spending $65,000 annually for the operation of the Athens County Economic Development Council. The contract extension, increased from $60,000 previously, runs through December 2027. Either party may cancel the contract upon 120 days prior notice.
Ordinances on second reading
- Increase the allowable size of political signs to 432 square inches from 350 inches;
- Authorize up to $5.3 million for engineering services related to rehabilitation of the Stimson Avenue Bridge. Most of the cost is covered by the Small Cities ODOT Fund, with the remainder to come from Street Rehabilitation Fund 572;
- Solicit bids and entering into contracts for just over $500,000 for maintenance and additions to the Richland Avenue Bridge over the Hocking River and the Strouds Run Road Bridge over US 33, both to be paid from Street Fund 220;
- Authorize expenditure of $300,000 from the APR Income Tax Fund 273 for a new restroom facility at West State Street Park;
- Authorize expenditure of up to $350,000 to improve Tennis and Pickleball Courts, paid from APR Income Tax Fund 273 and ARPA Fund 286; and
- Authorize sale of obsolete or unneeded municipal property via internet auction.
Ordinances on first reading
- Authorize the bid and purchase of up to $190,244 for softening salt for the Water Treatment Plant, paid from Water Plant Fund 740.637;
- Authorize raising two Diversion Coordinator positions in Municipal Court from three-quarter positions to full-time positions;
- Raise pay for the newly promoted Diversion Coordinator from $19.89 to $22 per hour, retroactive to the beginning of the year;
- Authorize a request from Ohio University’s International Student Union to close East Union Street from Court Street to University Terrace for the International Street Fair on April 5; and
- Allow for the vending, peddling, and soliciting of items at the International Street Fair.
- Athens City Council’s next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18, in Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also available online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays.
