City Council decides to keep housing ordinance

     Rental properties in the historic district around GCSU were on the agenda at the public hearing conducted at the Feb. 27 City Council meeting. Over 35 people gathered in the Council Chambers to give and listen to arguments for and against a special-use zoning designation for District 4.
     The new motion would allow owners of homes in District 4 to get their homes approved for special “group use.” This is in response to the “definition-of-family” ordinance passed  November 2006 which would limit residents living in houses in the District 4, or the downtown Milledgeville area, to three non-related people.
     At the hearing, John Alton, chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission, spoke in opposition of the new measure. While he was speaking to the Council, Alton referred back to the passage of the prior ordinance.
     “In November 2006, the Council and the city formulated a good compromise to use single family homes as rental property,” Alton said.
     After many speakers and debate among the council, the motion was denied with a 4-2 vote.
     The argument of people for both sides was that families do not want to move in next door to a house full of college students. Robert Hattaway, a property owner, used this argument to point out why the Council should approve this measure.
     “Families do not want to live in close proximity to students,” Hattaway said. “Liberty Street and other places should be preserved, but areas right around the college – what are you going to do with them? They are not suitable for single families.”
     On the other side, John Alton, chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission  and South Liberty Street resident, cited that under the approval of this designation, 90 percent of the houses in District 4 would be eligible to be rezoned for multi-family or “group” use with the only restriction being parking.
     Another piece of information used by members of the opposing side was the fact that there are so many existing places for students to live like the University Dorms, The Village at West Campus, The Grove, Magnolia Park, and other smaller complexes around the college. It was said that there is no need for the passage of this measure.
     Betsy Thornton, a resident of West Greene Street, stated that she has been in education for many years. She told the council that it is “unhealthy” for students to live in “unsupervised living situations.”  
     “The less opportunity we give them to live unsupervised the better,” Thornton said.
     Council member Steve Vance commented on the statements made. He said that the question of need or want does not matter because renting is here to stay in Milledgeville.
     “There has been a tremendous history of rental properties in the downtown area,” Chambers said. “There has to be coexistence. Rental property is not going away in downtown Milledgeville.”
    With the rejection of this motion, the planning and zoning code for District 4 stays the same and the “definition-of-family” ordinance and will go into effect this November.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 7 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry