Monday’s Athens City Council meeting kicked off with a public hearing about shifting the zoning requirements modifying setbacks for porches, terraces and other similar improvements to homes.
During the hearing, Athens City Council President Sam Crowl shared an email he received from fellow citizen Rob Delach. Online version of the story includes a copy of the ordinance that was approved by council.
In the email, Delach expressed his staunch support for the ordinance and highlighted the benefits to the housing market it may bring to Athens.
“The city has a well known housing shortage, especially for family type residences,” Crowl read from Delach’s email. “This proposal will also make it easier for infill development in our residential zones that will encourage gentle densification to provide much needed additional housing. This proposal is an excellent common sense first step toward helping to address the housing shortage in Athens, and I encourage the city council to adopt the proposed changes to the city’s zoning code.”
No other citizens or council members stepped forward to share their thoughts, which prompted the close of the public hearing. Later in the meeting, the third reading of this ordinance was approved.
In other business, Crowl convened a committee of the whole to address a possible street closure on the section of W. Union Street which hosts Cool Digs, located at 13 W. Union Street.
Cool Digs, a gemstone and crystal shop, will host an annual gem show October 19, Swank said. Usually, the event is held outside their location on the east side of Athens, but the store hopes to host it outside their uptown location this year, he added.
“We talk about being business friendly and bringing people in the city for various opportunities and interestingly enough this is a thing that’s, actually an event, that is going to take place and attract people,” said Council Member Alan Swank (4th Ward). “It doesn’t require a car and for families, I think that’s a pleasant change.”
Swank emphasized the impact that Cool Digs is experiencing due to the construction of the Lostro building right next door to their business.
“We’ve seen four different occasions where the road in front of our shop was shut down; only one of them was on the city list of approved road closures,” SaraQuoia Bryant, the owner of Cool Digs, said.
She emphasized her business’s lack of visitation or visibility due to the Lostro construction and this event’s ability to help remediate those effects. The event will feature gem and rock showcases, live music and food trucks. Later in the meeting, the council suspended the rules and passed the business’s request to host the festival uptown.
In other business, during the citizen comment portion of the meeting, the council heard from Chris Miles, a member of Appalachia Indivisible, who shared the group’s request for the council to pass a resolution in support of Issue 1 on this November’s ballot. Issue 1 proposes a new format for redistricting in Ohio, which would create a citizen-led board to vote on and create such districts.
Additionally, the council discussed purchasing the solar grid outside the Athens Community Center and heard from a representative from Ostroh Academy.
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