BY SHARON HOGAN
The Auburn City Council will consider the adoption of an overlay district for the downtown area at its October council meeting.
Auburn City Planner Larry Lucas (C) shows a drawing for the downtown Auburn area to the council at Thursday’s work session. Photo by Sharon Hogan
Auburn considers downtown overlay district
The council discussed the overlay district ordinance and the rezoning in the overlay district at its work session on Thursday night, Sept. 18.
The next step is a review by the planning and zoning commission at its meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Auburn City Planner Larry Lucas and Stephen Causby presented the ordinance and the rezoning plans to the council on Thursday.
The document provides the necessary controls for the development, design and use categories in the downtown overlay district.
It defines the area that is going to be downtown Auburn. It gives the architectural guidelines, design elements and the placement of buildings for the downtown area.
The proposed styles for the downtown overlay district include Victorian, arts and crafts and art deco.
Lucas recommended that all the lots in the overlay district be zoned to C-2.
Lucas presented a layout of the downtown area reflecting the railroad as the overall theme. “Rooftops are all Auburn red in the downtown area,” Lucas said.
Lucas said, “We are currently working on concept plans.”
In addition to the downtown overlay district ordinance, the stakeholder committee will continue developing an addendum guidebook of architectural design standards to ensure compatibility of buildings and consistency with the character and purpose of the downtown district.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Thursday’s work session the council discussed:
•the creation of a Downtown Development Authority for the City of Auburn. Auburn City Administrator Ron Griffith said he proposed appointing the members to serve on the DDA at the October council meeting. Each member will serve a term not to exceed four years, Griffith said. Each member has agreed to attend classes and receive training to serve on the DDA. The DDA meetings will be held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month beginning in November, Griffith said. Auburn Mayor Linda Blechinger said the idea was to get people who either own businesses in the city , live in the city or own a large portion of land in the city to serve on this authority. The members need to show a commitment to work together, Blechinger said.
•three annexation requests. Lucas said Harold and Rae Simpson are seeking to have 49.4 acres annexed into the City of Auburn. The land is undeveloped and is currently zoned AG (agricultural) in Barrow County. Lucas said the Simpsons gave no immediate plans for development of this property. Apalachee Baptist Church is seeking the annexation of 4.181 acres. The site currently has a cemetery and parking lot located on it. The land is currently zoned R-1 in Barrow County. Lucas said upon approval of the annexation the zoning will be changed to AG according to Auburn zoning codes. Lucas said the city has received an annexation request from Auburn Station by Sweet Apple Development, LLC for 150.45 acres for the development of a mixed use development located on Highway 8. The original zoning proposed for this project was PSV for the entire site, however, since the commercial node on the north side of Highway 8 will not contain any residential uses, it will be designated C-3-C (Central Business/Heavy Commercial-Conditional). These annexation requests will come before the council for approval at the council meeting on October 2.
•renovation bids for city hall and the old library. Auburn Public Works Director David Hawthorne said he recommends A Cut Above for the city hall renovations at a cost of $53,200 and Old South Traditions for the old library renovations at a cost of $41,975. The city received four bids for the work on each building. Council members Sally Brown and Dorissa Shackelford voiced concern with putting this much money into renovating the old library. Brown asked, “How much is the old library worth?” The council agreed the value lies in the land, not in the building. Shackelford said, “Do we really want to put this much money into a building that is really not sufficient for our needs, and will we have to address this again in a year or two?” The council will vote on this at the October council meeting.
•an application by Ingle’s Market to divide its current property into three tracts to create out parcels. This is just a rearrangement of the land and will not change the uses, Lucas said.
•cutting some trees on Carl Cedar Hill Road near Starlight Academy. Hawthorne said Barrow County contacted him about a letter that was received from the Academy concerning a traffic problem in that area. The trees have grown and are obstructing the view of people leaving the Academy, Hawthorne said. The county is looking for the City of Auburn to share the cost of removing the trees since Auburn city limits abut the Academy’s property. Hawthorne said he has asked for the project to be re-bid with just removing the large trees and Auburn employees removing the smaller trees. This cost will be $4,000, Hawthorne said.
•an inter-governmental agreement with Barrow County to handle Auburn city elections. This falls under House Bill 489. The county will take care of the elections and Auburn will handle qualifying and ethics commission paperwork that has to be filed, City Clerk Rafael Avalos said.
The regularly scheduled Auburn City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 2, at city hall.
The next step is a review by the planning and zoning commission at its meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Auburn City Planner Larry Lucas and Stephen Causby presented the ordinance and the rezoning plans to the council on Thursday.
The document provides the necessary controls for the development, design and use categories in the downtown overlay district.
It defines the area that is going to be downtown Auburn. It gives the architectural guidelines, design elements and the placement of buildings for the downtown area.
The proposed styles for the downtown overlay district include Victorian, arts and crafts and art deco.
Lucas recommended that all the lots in the overlay district be zoned to C-2.
Lucas presented a layout of the downtown area reflecting the railroad as the overall theme. “Rooftops are all Auburn red in the downtown area,” Lucas said.
Lucas said, “We are currently working on concept plans.”
In addition to the downtown overlay district ordinance, the stakeholder committee will continue developing an addendum guidebook of architectural design standards to ensure compatibility of buildings and consistency with the character and purpose of the downtown district.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at Thursday’s work session the council discussed:
•the creation of a Downtown Development Authority for the City of Auburn. Auburn City Administrator Ron Griffith said he proposed appointing the members to serve on the DDA at the October council meeting. Each member will serve a term not to exceed four years, Griffith said. Each member has agreed to attend classes and receive training to serve on the DDA. The DDA meetings will be held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month beginning in November, Griffith said. Auburn Mayor Linda Blechinger said the idea was to get people who either own businesses in the city , live in the city or own a large portion of land in the city to serve on this authority. The members need to show a commitment to work together, Blechinger said.
•three annexation requests. Lucas said Harold and Rae Simpson are seeking to have 49.4 acres annexed into the City of Auburn. The land is undeveloped and is currently zoned AG (agricultural) in Barrow County. Lucas said the Simpsons gave no immediate plans for development of this property. Apalachee Baptist Church is seeking the annexation of 4.181 acres. The site currently has a cemetery and parking lot located on it. The land is currently zoned R-1 in Barrow County. Lucas said upon approval of the annexation the zoning will be changed to AG according to Auburn zoning codes. Lucas said the city has received an annexation request from Auburn Station by Sweet Apple Development, LLC for 150.45 acres for the development of a mixed use development located on Highway 8. The original zoning proposed for this project was PSV for the entire site, however, since the commercial node on the north side of Highway 8 will not contain any residential uses, it will be designated C-3-C (Central Business/Heavy Commercial-Conditional). These annexation requests will come before the council for approval at the council meeting on October 2.
•renovation bids for city hall and the old library. Auburn Public Works Director David Hawthorne said he recommends A Cut Above for the city hall renovations at a cost of $53,200 and Old South Traditions for the old library renovations at a cost of $41,975. The city received four bids for the work on each building. Council members Sally Brown and Dorissa Shackelford voiced concern with putting this much money into renovating the old library. Brown asked, “How much is the old library worth?” The council agreed the value lies in the land, not in the building. Shackelford said, “Do we really want to put this much money into a building that is really not sufficient for our needs, and will we have to address this again in a year or two?” The council will vote on this at the October council meeting.
•an application by Ingle’s Market to divide its current property into three tracts to create out parcels. This is just a rearrangement of the land and will not change the uses, Lucas said.
•cutting some trees on Carl Cedar Hill Road near Starlight Academy. Hawthorne said Barrow County contacted him about a letter that was received from the Academy concerning a traffic problem in that area. The trees have grown and are obstructing the view of people leaving the Academy, Hawthorne said. The county is looking for the City of Auburn to share the cost of removing the trees since Auburn city limits abut the Academy’s property. Hawthorne said he has asked for the project to be re-bid with just removing the large trees and Auburn employees removing the smaller trees. This cost will be $4,000, Hawthorne said.
•an inter-governmental agreement with Barrow County to handle Auburn city elections. This falls under House Bill 489. The county will take care of the elections and Auburn will handle qualifying and ethics commission paperwork that has to be filed, City Clerk Rafael Avalos said.
The regularly scheduled Auburn City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 2, at city hall.
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