@davidxto:

[quote][b]davidxto[/b] - Maybe a different story with a different meaning now that the context has changed.[/quote]

We can only hope it's not the same story that unfolded at the Kroger down the street a few years ago.

@davidxto:

[quote][b]davidxto[/b] - Why, that's all in the first chapter.[/quote]

It's a great science fiction plot, but anyone who ever sat in on one of our meetings would understand the underlying humor here: in fact, I can finish it for you. A few of us decide to adjourn down to street-level to examine the lack of mulch, the stale beer odor and the shards of broken concrete. The former Mayor objects to the motion, accuses us of holding an illegal meeting, and storms off toward City Hall, where she's panhandled on its very steps. Meanwhile, our minutes will reflect that for the twelfth time in as many months, assurances were made by our Commissioner board member that it will all be taken care of "soon." Predictably, next month's meeting will be consumed with conversations about social media, walkability studies and branding.
Ad infinitum.

@davidxto:

[quote][b]davidxto[/b] - Other property owners are paying taxes so that their downtown competitors can enjoy all those benefits for a pittance.[/quote]

Surely you have some proof of that...?

[quote][b]davidxto[/b] - Many parts of the city, let alone county, haven't seen sidewalk repair since Reconstruction days.[/quote]

I think we can agree that county-wide infrastructure repair and maintenance is a better investment than feral cat shelters, master plans and subsidized housing, etc., etc.

@snarkydude:

[quote][b]snarkydude[/b] - the "original charter"? You mean, like the one that was going to provide water, sewer, and trash collection to all residents of the old unincorporated county[/quote]

No, not that one: the Downtown Athens Development Authority was established in 1978 (GA House bill 463) to rehabilitate downtown Athens following the mass exodus to the then-new mall, predating the city-county merger by many years.

@Minion:

[quote][b]Minion[/b] - You're forgetting something... the Authority, is apart of the "government mishandling businesses."[/quote]

Not on my part, it wasn't. And since the Commission has now seen fit to rid the ADDA board of any retail store representation, it will no doubt be that much easier to mishandle us without interference.

[quote][b]Minion[/b] - I should purchase a downtown business... the mayor and commission jump when called... [/quote]

Perhaps you'd have more luck than the rest of us when you inquire as to why the sanitation & landscaping services are so insufficient, and why the sidewalks & planters receive little-to-no maintenance & repair.

[quote][b]Minion[/b] - the average ACC homeowners have half the representation the downtown business owners enjoy (I'm a Clarke County proper, business owner.. so no need to lecture me on commerical taxes)[/quote]

Paying an extra mil in commercial property tax, logically, entitles business & property owners a seat at the table in development plans: hence the requirements re: the Downtown Athens Business Association. And I'm not lecturing anybody, just attempting to better inform a few of you who don't know all the facts.

@makeitso:

[quote][b]makeitso[/b] - any business owner who signs on to an increase in fees should have their head examined. [/quote]

Good point.

The size of the new parking deck is attributable to the A-C Commission, who, after a field trip to Greenville decided to alter the voter-approved SPLOST-funded $5.2 million project into a $20 million project: their stated legacy. Not the choice of the ADDA board, but a political decision.

In April of 2011, the ADDA board (on which I sat at the time) unanimously voted down Mike Hamby's recommendation of increasing the on-street rate by $.25/hr., because of the worldwide recession which had begun to affect downtown business, and thus sales tax revenue (the stated justification for the increase). Nonetheless, at the May 2011 Commission meeting, Hamby--in direct contradiction to unanimous ADDA board instruction--produced a document purporting to represent a “recommendation” by the ADDA to increase on-street parking rates to the current $.75/hr., which was approved and adopted by the Commission. Not the choice of the ADDA board, but a political decision, and not a general tax-fund drain, but quite the opposite, as actual parking didn't begin until the opening in late September. To my knowledge, this is the first time an increase has been implemented independently of the assembled governing board and outside public meetings. This maneuver effectively bypassed the ADDA's authority to regulate parking, and I would argue illegally converted the usage of parking regulation machinery into mere tax revenue collectors.

Recent and ongoing efforts by the Commission to sever the founding relationship between the ADDA and the downtown business organization it arose from (formerly ADC, now DABA) threaten the state-level charter and its intent to partner the ACCUG with business and property owners: in doing away with that relationship, it also threatens to eliminate the justification for levying the additional 1 mil property tax that all downtown property owners pay. I leave it up to your own speculation as to where the county government might look to fill that gap, but would merely suggest that every property-owning voter might want to express their support for the original charter and help keep businesses free of government mishandling.

@davidxto:

[quote][b]davidxto[/b] - And Eberhart wasn't panhandling, he was set loose from the incompetent professionals in Augusta's mental ward to return home and wield a knife in public.[/quote]

He was, in fact, panhandling. He'd already been ushered out of a bank and two other businesses downtown, but still wasn't arrested for public nuisance, loitering or panhandling because our ordinances are insufficient to protect the public. And off-duty security jobs have nothing to do with where on-duty officers are stationed, downtown or otherwise.

@davidxto: The advantage of having an improved panhandling ordinance is that it would make a difference county-wide, and not just downtown where the bulk of it occurs. I do know that many panhandlers have moved elsewhere, and see them in shopping center parking lots regularly, so it's a problem for every business and every customer. If there had been a better ordinance in place in 2007, then panhandler Steven Anthony Eberhart would've gone to jail instead of migrating to Alps Road where he stabbed an off-duty APD officer. Over and above customer inconvenience, it's avoiding future incidents like this one that should motivate the responsible parties to work proactively. If county officials are going to act or not act out of fear of liability, I suggest it would be better to err on the side of law-abiders rather than law-breakers.

@davidxto: The biggest target is students who either naively assume they're helping out someone in need (and who don't know about the multiple free meals the homeless are eligible for), or who are intimidated into shelling out. There have also been reports of elderly visitors being ganged up on by teams of panhandlers. Since I've observed the efforts we've all made at correcting the situation (to no avail), and since it's our businesses that suffer as a result, I don't think your slight re: karma has any particular truth to it. It's the government that refuses to make improvements, whether it be ordinances or physical maintenance to infrastructure, despite the fact that Downtown is a 24/7 tax revenue generator. If you want to blame someone, put it where the real negligence lies.

This round makes the third concerted attempt by the downtown business community at improving panhandling enforcement, and the third time that the Commission has been given bad legal advice by the county attorney. Anyone with a finger can Google "Tacoma panhandling ordinance" and discover that this ordinance and others derived from it have already been adopted, challenged and retained in larger cities than Athens over the past few years. It doesn't ban free speech, but instead outlines the appropriate places & times the community says it's OK to ask for a handout. Since the worst offenders are "the usual suspects," and are frequently obstreperous & violent as well, the greater liability may lie in the fact that the county government has been handed multiple opportunities to more effectively deal with violent offenders, and bungled every one of them.

This is great: congrats, A-C! And though it will involve a bit of a drive, this will no doubt provide a lot of good jobs for Jackson Countians.

"Workforce housing?" Hmm.
"At Kinman’s request, objectives were added calling for a downtown master plan..." It will be interesting to see how taxpayers feel about spending $100K to half-a-million on a study for which no one can articulate the value-per-dollar. I know of no retail shop owners who think this is a good idea--just bar & restaurant owners who envision a vast pedestrian mall to make Downtown even more like New Orleans. It seems to me that a far more practical approach would be to devote those dollars to making the repairs & improvements we already know we need, instead of on a plan that tells us we need them.

Commissioner Jared Bailey's past expressions of support for spending tax revenues on jail art have been an embarrassment to many downtown businesspeople, and any more of it ought to raise the question of his fitness to serve as president of the Downtown Athens Business Association.

"Walmart will not use "tapas night" as an excuse to sell you one hard boiled egg for $6.00, delivered to you by a waitress who looks like a praying mantis."

Delightful and hilarious...this is going up on our store bulletin board.

Why not use both? Keep the real books you're particularly fond of, and/or will re-read, and use the e-reader for mindless pap or textbooks. We don't have to be purists one way or another. The downside is that when you realize you've wasted umpteen hours of your life reading crap, you can't hurl your e-reader across the room like you can a real book!

[quote][b]madTea-bagger[/b] - Oh Keith, if you lived in Athens, people might begin to take you seriously.
You are so CLUELESS.[/quote]

And speaking of being taken seriously, at least one commenter here belongs to an organization calling itself the Washington Street Liberation Army, which generously donates its time and efforts to (ironically) "saving Athens from itself." All while wearing berets and snapping self-portraits carrying toy firearms. If you have some time that needs wasting on clueless jargon, find them on Facebook at...

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117601216301

As downtown business owners, my wife & I were perhaps the first to make our support for the free market (and Selig's development in particular) known, as we have always known that improving the local economy and providing jobs far outweigh any perceptual "cool" factor A-C might want to tout. Unfortunately, A-C is plagued by a particularly acidic minority who ostentatiously claim to be looking out for everyone's best interests in opposing any and all development, especially downtown. From our perspective, they are the latter-day pitchfork-wielding mob that descended on Castle Frankenstein, except the monster they're after now is the free market. No one--be they activist or elected official--has the right to deny anyone or any entity the opportunity to open shop, especially when it involves enabling even a few who are willing to work the chance to do so. Wal-Mart isn't obligated to pay any employee more than minimum wage (any more than UGA is), but sometimes a financial leg up is all anyone needs, if only in the short term. The madTea-baggers and DanielleRobarges simply lack enough real-world perspective to be entitled to inflict their limited views upon the greater Athens area: their strategy is to funnel millions of taxpayer revenues into unsuccessful education initiatives. Kudos to our politicos and businesspeople who understand and vocalize in advocacy of freedom and common sense.

@garynoffke: If the choice is a multi-use development that serves the need for a grocery store downtown (amongst others) and brings actual jobs with it, versus another non-tax-paid classroom to train students for jobs that don’t exist…hmmm…let me think… (A four hundred seat class taught by a grad assistant? Wow, what a deal!)

@garynoffke: The latest on-street parking rate increase occurred despite the unanimous vote of the Downtown Development Authority (and the near-universal will of merchants) to keep it the same. Commissioner Mike Hamby took it upon himself to craft an increase proposal to submit to the Mayor and Commission the day before the vote, and in so doing subverted not only a state Legislature-established board, but the mission and purpose of that board to regulate parking. His rationale was to collect more revenues to apply to the new parking deck, but that has never been the basis for establishing parking rates: at least not until the spring of this year.

So if you’re going to blame anyone’s greed, don’t assume it’s that of either the ADDA or the downtown merchants. The entire credit is due to Commissioner Hamby, and to the other Commissioners who voted in an increase that only they wanted. Anyone who’s of a mind to correct the situation might want to consider starting a recall petition, instead of blaming the businesses which had nothing to do with it.

[quote][b]garynoffke[/b] - the good old days when you could park on the street in downtown Athens?[/quote]

The parking rate was undervalued for about twenty-five years, so now you get to pay only slightly more than it's worth. It's still cheaper than most towns the same size, so hush yer bytchyn.

[quote][b]garynoffke[/b] - Athens was a kinder and more beautiful place to live before everyone started talking about growth with some sort of perverted gleam in their greedy little beady eyes.[/quote]

You mean like overpriced artisan metalwork beads?

[quote][b]ChrisManganiello[/b] - Niche or not, beyond coverage in this week's Flagpole, what do downtown business and property owners think about the size and scale of this project?[/quote]

I can only speak for myself (and I believe I'm very much in the minority), but I've posted some observations at...

http://www.athenstalks.com/downtown-wal-mart-and-other-thorny-matters

http://www.athenstalks.com/cry-me-river-0

[quote][b]ribbet[/b] - There is no way they can possibly get enough traffic through that area to keep a Walmart in business - and Walmart's corporate planners will see that immediately. It is a natural choke-point, bounded by the river on one side and the University campus on the other. It is already hopelessly congested at peak times, and there is no hope for remediation because of the river and the University. East-side residents are not going to walk there to get their groceries. They would try to get in their cars[/quote]

The pending verdict regarding the Selig development’s traffic impact will be, I expect, highly illustrative of how seriously we should take the Comprehensive Plan’s Vision Statement, and its stated goal (amongst many others) to “relieve traffic congestion” along the downtown’s business corridor. Ignoring the inevitable dissuasive effects upon downtown commerce, the study advocates traffic calming in the interests of alleviating traffic congestion while at the same time accommodating anachronistic bike lanes (“…auto-centric development forms…are identified as negative qualities…”). The question to be decided is whether or not that same calming effect will be used as a pretext to override Selig’s conformity with existing zoning requirements in the interest of generating tax revenues. You can’t have it both ways: you cannot relieve traffic congestion by “calming” it with fewer lanes, nor can you champion the creation of congestion on the one hand as a positive, while simultaneously using it as a stick to chase off business. Most relevantly, you can’t use street planners to enforce your own particular cult’s attitudes about “auto-centric development forms.” Traffic engineers should avoid taking that ill-considered leap into social engineering.

http://athensclarkecounty.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=3993

[quote][b]snarkydude[/b] - the leadership in Jackson County understands that people have to have a job to make a living before they can buy anything or pay their taxes.[/quote]
As I say, the smart ones.

[quote][b]snarkydude[/b] - Jackson County says: "Sure! Come on in. We're glad to have you. How can we help?"[/quote]
That's because Jackson County is where all the smart people live.

@Username Required: Exactly right.