City Council delays vote

Daniel McDonald
The Union-Recorder

October 29, 2008 10:14 pm

— Georgia College & State University students and Historic District residents regaled city council Tuesday with two disparate views of students’ relationship with the home of their alma mater.
But despite the night and day realities presented by the different city residents, council was unable to cast a vote, and thus resolve, the fight over how many unrelated people will be able to occupy houses in the Historic District once the three-unrelated-persons ordinance goes into effect next month.
About 60 people filled the pews and spilled into the hallways outside council chambers during a public hearing in which 17 people provided council with community input on a proposed special-use zoning designation to allow group residences in the Historic District abutting Milledgeville’s downtown.
The proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance would allow a special-use designation in the Historic District for group homes that could be occupied by more than three unrelated persons, provided that the property owner meets parking requirements, annually certifies occupancy and has the property inspected by the city building inspector and the fire department on an annual basis.
Milledgeville realtor Robert Binion, who owns the Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA) sorority house at the corner of North Columbia and McIntosh streets, said he has caught flack from other local landlords for supporting a designation that puts so many requirements on property owners to be able to rent larger homes as group residences, but he said his affected houses already meet and exceed the standards set forth in the designation. ZTA Local Housing President Jenny Webster told council that the sorority would welcome another set of eyes ensuring the quality of life of their students.
But other people speaking in favor of the special use tried to stress how the three-unrelated-persons ordinance will upset the social fabric students enjoy in the Historic District.
Evan Karanovich, speaking for the GCSU Student Government Association, said the enforcement of the ordinance will impact the well-being and livelihood of those affected.
“The potential displacement will affect the everyday life of thousands of students,” he said.
Karanovich said student relocation will result in increased stress on the city’s already dire parking situation as more students will be commuting to class.
Other speakers touted the student body’s impact on the community through service, stressed the affordability of group residences, and said it was a relative minority of students who were causing problems such as vandalism, littering and noise violations.
SGA Senator Adam Whittaker said that 90 percent of students act responsibly and don’t contribute to the negative perceptions some residents have about students. Whittaker also told council about an anonymous vandalism reporting initiative SGA is sponsoring and a monthly night-of-service called “Students Servin’ the City,” in which students will provide some watchful eyes on the city’s night life and help with the clean up.
But most of all, the people speaking in favor of the special use stressed that students are learning who they are as people in a community that will remain close to their hearts whether they leave after college or stay on as residents.
“This is a historic city and it must remain that way,” said Lauren McDonald, a ZTA member and SGA Senator. “There are groups who deserve an exception. If we continue to keep up the community, we have showed ourselves worthy of living in a house.”
But speakers who opposed the special use painted a much different picture of the student presence on Historic District streets.
Wearing badges displaying a Georgia license plate imploring residents to “preserve Georgia,” opponents of the special use described a situation they feel is quickly snowballing out of control.
“I have never seen such a blatant disregard for community,” Martin Vazquez said, describing the mornings he leaves his house to find the remnants of last night’s party strewn across his yard.
One vocal opponent of the special use, Hunter McComb, said that the quality of life is being intruded upon by a number of things going on in the Historic District.
McComb also spoke about a story in the GCSU student newspaper, The Colonnade, concerning the special use in which SGA Senator Joel Graham was quoted as saying: “I would even fear a possible rise in vandalism cases due to the increased foot traffic to and from outlying apartment complexes.”
McComb said that maybe there was something he didn’t understand.
“I didn’t know that in a college town we didn’t have to respect the rule of law,” he said.
William McComb read a letter on behalf of Historic District resident Ray Olivier that pointed to recent issues of The Colonnade, which printed stories about the rampant theft of street signs on and around campus and a number of recent vehicle break-ins.
Sandra Jones said she represented the people who had given up on living in downtown because of the disruptive nature of the group
residences.
“Milledgeville dropped the ball in adequately planning for the college’s expansion,” she said. “We’re not going to have downtown grocery stores and movie theaters unless single families are there, and single families won’t move in unless we stop the encroachment of transients in the neighborhood.”
Milledgeville Historic Preservation Commission Chair John Alton told council that the root of the problem is the dismantling of single-family neighborhoods by allowing de facto multi-family residences in single-family-zoned districts.
But opponents peppered their criticism of the students with some encouragement.
Mary Moore Jones, a Historic District resident who works in the GCSU library said she didn’t want the students leaving the meeting thinking that the residents hated them. She said she was depending on the students to among other things pay her Social Security, a benefit they won’t get to enjoy when they grow older.
With all the community input council could handle, District 6 Councilman Steve Chambers motioned that council disregard the Planning and Zoning Commission’s negative recommendation and approve the special-use designation as written. But silence took the place of a second, and the motion died for lack of action.
Despite Mayor Richard Bentley’s comment that Planning and Zoning’s recommendation stands, council is procedurally forced to take the issue up again at its next meeting Nov. 18.

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