discussion-l Mailing List: BikeAthens Discussion: Kelly Girtz & Selig

[Melissa Link (melissajlink2000]

I've been informed that Kelly Girtz will be proposing a Commission-Defined Option for passage of Selig's binding site plan at Tuesday night's Mayor & Commission voting session. Girtz asserts that his option properly interprets the rail-trail concept mandated by the Transportation Corridors Concept Map, but this is in no way a viable interpretation. Selig's road demands the TCC map be changed. By definition rail-trails exist on rail beds. No matter what lengths Kelly's compromise goes to to accommodate bikes, it is no longer a rail-trail & is thus drastically altering the map in eliminating the rail-trail. This is a matter of code-mandated policy & procedure that cannot be bypassed according to adopted law. People For A Better Athens is in consultation with a land-use attorney as well as a traffic engineer to discuss likely next steps should the commission allow this plan to move forward without following proper procedure. Below see Kelly's explanation of the option he plans to present, and below that see my response to him, all commissioners and many ACC staff and involved community members were copied on this. I hope Bike Athens will stand united in fully supporting the true concepts of the TCC map to ensure sustainable transportation options for the entire Athens community. Please feel free to contact me off-list if anyone would like to discuss this one-on-one.

From Kelly Girtz:

There will be a Commission-Defined Option that I will present on Tuesday that will do two things in regard to bike access:

1) In the version of the plan that went before the Planning Commission last month, the plaza connection was clearly problematic.  A series of switchbacks and a raised plaza would have rendered the connection symbolic at best.  On Tuesday, there will be a requirement added to the plan that indicate that Selig must meet the Firefly Trail at the plaza area via a 10 foot connection that reaches the finished elevation of the trail via no more than a 5% grade.

2)An additional condition on Tuesday will be that Hickory will accommodate bike travel via a two-way 10 foot path between the sidewalk and on-street parking on the east and north sides of the two legs of that road - so that bikes will not have to tangle in the same lanes with vehicular traffic at all.

 

I believe that the enhanced bike requirements noted above, force Selig to meet the intent of our Corridor Plan and Complete Streets Policy.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Melissa Link <melissajlink2000 [at] yahoo.com>
To: Kelly Girtz <kgirtz [at] yahoo.com>; 

Kelly, 

It baffles me as to why you are bending over backwards to accommodate a plan that clearly deviates from the concept of two separate corridors connecting on level grade into campus when there is a clear code-mandated tool to make this a better project. Especially when there are other viable alternatives to ensure the TCC concept can be fully achieved. Does this community not deserve the best possible project our adopted policies & codes can encourage?

At the very least, this configuration must go before hearings board as per ACC Code 9-29-5 B: 

"The hearings board may modify the location of a required transportation corridor right-of-way dedication to account for practical difficulties in implementing this title, as long as the general intent of providing safe transportation from one point to another is ensured."

Your piddling requirements do not solve the corridor completion issue. This is part of a corridor--NOT a cut-through and bike lanes separated by parked cars are NOT a rail-trail. This is still a drastic reinterpretation of the TCC & demands a map amendment. The agenda report states that Selig's Hickory St is meant to serve the purpose of both the TCC Hickory St & rail-trail, but ACC has not amended the TCC map to ensure right-of-way to complete the corridor. At the very least, a binding agreement must be made w/ UGA to complete the corridor w/in a certain time frame. Your option also does not address concerns about Selig Enterprises plans to function as private owners of a public road that the TCC mandates as a portion of a public corridor. This issue is also extremely troubling.

Your capitulation to the whims of a corporation that has continually ignored and ridiculed concerns from this community will not bode well for you at the ballot box.... This is not about those big, ugly buildings, but for the thousands of Athenians sitting stuck in traffic in their shadows every day, those big, ugly buildings will be a constantly looming reminder of who let this happen.... It is extremely troubling that you would sell out the serious concerns of so many of your most civicly dedicated constituents so this carpetbagging corporation can squeeze a couple dozen more parking spaces out of a project from which very few actual voters will benefit.

Melissa