Commission will rule on off-campus homes
By Blake Aued |
blake.aued@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:48 PM on Thursday, August 3, 2006
University of Georgia officials on Wednesday criticized the Athens-Clarke Commission's passage of new rules regulating where fraternity and sororities can build houses off-campus.
The commission unanimously voted near midnight Tuesday to make fraternities and sororities a "special use," giving itself the power to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to allow them to build in areas zoned for multi-family residences and commercial businesses. Fraternity and sorority houses were allowed in those zoning districts without special approval before a temporary ban passed in February.
UGA released a statement Wednesday criticizing the vote. "Like the university, our students strive to be good citizens and are proud to be a part of the city of Athens, making numerous contributions to its welfare and quality of life," the statement said in part. "That is why we find it disappointing when the city takes actions that appear to be anti-student."
The commission passed the new rules in response to the UGA fraternity Kappa Alpha's plans to move from South Lumpkin Street - where the university is taking back five fraternities' land for an unspecified future use - to West Hancock Avenue, and the Sigma Nu fraternity's plans to replace its partially burned house with one off Prince Avenue. Residents there said Greeks will bring noise, traffic and parking problems, and in the case of the Old South-themed Kappa Alpha, possibly racial conflicts.
Kappa Alpha will not be affected by the new rules because it's already filed for permits to build its house, but Sigma Nu will have to get approval from the commission before it begins building.
About a dozen people spoke in favor of the restrictions Tuesday night, but at least one UGA student said she felt like a second-class citizen.
"I have 100 sisters just like me who donate their time and efforts to this town, and I think it's unfair we're not being treated like citizens," said Gwendolyn Boone, a member of the Delta Gamma sorority.
In a rare move, Athens-Clarke Mayor Heidi Davison spoke up at Tuesday's meeting to respond to claims that the county government is anti-student.
"It's not whether we like you or not, it's not whether we think you do good work," Davison said. "It's a zoning and land-use decision."
Two UGA student leaders met with three county commissioners in April to complain about the moratorium on new Greek houses, but they appeared to drop the issue after that meeting.
Pat Allen, UGA director of community relations, and Rodney Bennett, vice president for student affairs, attended several meetings with residents in the neighborhoods where Kappa Alpha and Sigma Nu want to locate, and meetings of the Athens-Clarke Planning Commission where the special-use proposal was discussed. Allen and Bennett declined to comment Wednesday on the commission's action.
University administrators did not weigh in before Wednesday on the proposal to make Greek houses a special use, Davison and Commissioner David Lynn said Wednesday, though UGA President Michael Adams criticized the moratorium in February.
"The university, to my knowledge, hasn't proposed an alternative solution or a compromise solution," said Lynn, who represents the Cobbham neighborhood where Sigma Nu bought land and originally asked for stricter rules regarding where fraternities can build houses.
Many residents of intown neighborhoods where fraternities might want to come have said UGA isn't doing enough to keep Greeks on campus.
The university has offered land on River Road to the five fraternities that must leave South Lumpkin Street by 2008 and continues to try to convince them to take the offer, UGA spokesman Tom Jackson said.
"Our intention is to make a situation where the fraternities don't have to leave campus," Jackson said.
But UGA could do more, Lynn said.
"If they were serious about controlling student behavior and that type of thing, they'd have offered these guys a sweetheart deal on River Road," Lynn said.
Other college towns - including Auburn and Tuscaloosa in Alabama; Oxford, Miss.; and Chapel Hill, N.C. - either ban Greek houses off campus, or the university offers incentives to keep them on campus.
Jackson would not discuss details of any incentives UGA might offer the Lumpkin Street fraternities, but said he might know more by the end of the week.
The disagreement over fraternities isn't likely to harm the county's long-term relationship with UGA, Davison said.
Even fraternity representatives conceded Tuesday that the special-use rules would pass and elected not to fight it.
"Our position has always been that we can peacefully coexist with the neighborhood," R. Michael Barry, an Atlanta lawyer representing Sigma Nu, said Tuesday.
Barry and others did raise concerns about the planning department's proposed parking requirement for fraternities and sororities, which they said was too high.
Commissioners spent about an hour Tuesday night debating the parking requirement, but eventually decided to stick with the planning department's proposal.
UGA's response
The University of Georgia released a statement Wednesday criticizing the Athens-Clarke Commission's Tuesday night vote to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to allow UGA fraternities and sororities to locate off-campus:
The University of Georgia has been in this community more than two centuries, and its fraternities and sororities have been part of Athens for 150 years. Like the university, our students strive to be good citizens and are proud to be a part of the city of Athens, making numerous contributions to its welfare and quality of life. That is why we find it disappointing when the city takes actions that appear to be anti-student. The university places great emphasis on communicating with city leaders and has a full-time person in charge of this, who has kept community leaders informed regarding the fraternity relocation matter at every turn. Since November, we have told city leaders that the university is committed to finding a solution to the relocation of fraternities from Lumpkin Street that is acceptable to all involved - the fraternities, the university, the local government and the neighborhoods. We remain committed to that goal and are continuing our detailed discussions with the fraternities along Lumpkin Street regarding property and construction options that will keep them on the campus.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 080306
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