News
The Planning Commission approves rezoning for an Athens neighborhood to expand business and housing opportunities
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A plan to rezone part of an Athens neighborhood to encourage business development and expand housing is moving forward after changes were made to address residents’ concerns about more density and traffic.
Under the proposal, a stretch of Columbus Road near the intersection of Lancaster would be changed from residential to business. And a stretch of road where Lancaster flows into Columbia, now zoned for single-family homes only, would be changed to allow duplexes as well.
The Athens Planning Commission approved the changes on Wednesday, sending them to the City Council for final approval.
The rezoning plan grew out of discussions about what to do with the old and now empty fire station on Columbus Road. It has commercial potential but where it sits and much of the area around it is zoned residential.
City Planner Meghan Jennings, who headed up the rezoning effort, saw potential for a walkable neighborhood commercial district if some of that area were rezoned for business use.
She organized a meeting in June to get input from people who live in the area to find out what they wanted to see done.
Many of the residents who attended said they welcomed more small-scale businesses, at least in some areas, but worried about congestion with the possibility that zoning changes could lead to more multifamily housing.
The proposal was consistent with the city administration’s goals of promoting business development and more affordable housing, which is in short supply.
But it received a cool reception from many neighbors, several of whom spoke against it at a Planning Commission meeting in August.
They didn’t like the prospect of increased noise, traffic and parking that would come with the types of businesses and apartments that would be allowed.
Jennings agreed to take another stab at it. She met with residents again and came back with a new map at Wednesday’s meeting. This time, most of the zoning along Columbus around the fire station would be for smaller neighborhood businesses. And the multifamily zoning along Columbia was changed to allow for single-family homes and duplexes, but nothing more.
Some residents were still concerned about the proposed neighborhood business zoning along the short stretch of Lancaster between Columbus and Columbia. They worried that multifamily housing might still be located there, which could be an allowable use under that business zoning.
In particular they were concerned about the large, multistory building on that stretch of Lancaster that now houses the Athens County Public Defender’s office. The building is owned by Capstone, a property management company that owns many rentals in the area, and some neighbors worried it could someday be converted into apartments if the zoning allowed for this.
The commission agreed to change the zoning on that side of Lancaster to allow for nothing more than a duplex and then voted to approve the revised rezoning map.
The council can approve or reject the proposal with a majority vote, but if it makes any changes to the commission’s recommendations it will require a super-majority vote to pass.