Monday, December 17, 2007

A Tale of Two Cities

One thing Auburn residents share is a desire to protect something of a most intangible nature: the small-town feel that makes Auburn the “loveliest village on the Plains.“

March 18, 2007

Ask people around town what their biggest concern with downtown development is and you are likely to get as many answers as you make acquaintances. Everyone will have their own idea of how best to preserve and protect downtown Auburn.

But as the Urban Core Task Force found as it worked through a series of public hearings over the course of five months, one thing Auburn residents share is a desire to protect something of a most intangible nature: the small-town feel that makes Auburn the “loveliest village on the Plains.“

Tapped by the Auburn City Council to address and assuage citizens’ concerns over how looming development might forever change the city’s quaint downtown area, the task force was charged with studying city ordinances, policies and procedures and “formulating a community vision for the Urban Core which will assure the economic viability, aesthetic integrity, and reflect sensitivity to the historical importance of our downtown by retaining the ’Auburn Character.’“

How, then, to convert such an ethereal goal into action?

The result was the creation of the College Edge Overlay District and changes to regulations governing the Urban Core and University Service districts, which the Auburn City Council approved this week. But while supporters hail the move as a forward-thinking measure to protect downtown, some developers say they are restrictive to the point of possibly discouraging investment in the area.

The recommendations

Former Auburn Mayor Jan Dempsey, who chaired the task force, said that as the group gathered information about what Auburn residents thought was important and special about their city, they found that a sense of place and the scale of the downtown area were foremost in the minds of citizens.

“(The recommendations) intend to address as much as possible those characteristics that we spent a lot of time trying to define, which is the ’loveliest village,’ the emotional attraction to this very important place in Auburn’s history as it goes forward,“ she said.

Five months later, the Auburn Planning Commission and City Council were presented with the task force’s recommendations. Provisions for the new College Edge Overlay District (CEOD), which encompasses parcels fronting College Street between Thach and Mitchum avenues, cap at 66 feet building heights while allowing an additional two feet for decorative cornices. Among other things, they require that first-floor uses be retail, office, commercial or institutional, to encourage the pedestrian nature of downtown, Dempsey said. There is an expanded parking requirement, to 1.5 spaces per residential unit, to address concerns about the availability of parking in the area.

Perhaps most controversial is the CEOD’s so-called “step back” provision, which requires that, beginning with the third floor after the first 24 to 36 feet, upper floors be situated 15 feet back from the building front. This requirement directly addressed citizens’ distaste for tall buildings that can create a “tunnel effect,“ Dempsey said.

Many of the other provisions are “very prescriptive,“ Dempsey admitted, but they are necessary to accomplish the task force’s mission. Some of these changes include specific glazing provisions; the incorporation of certain building materials; requirements limiting the size, lettering and mounting of signs; and types and sizes of building awnings and canopies.

Objections

Questions were raised about the ordinance at the Planning Commission meeting in January and before the City Council on Feb. 20. Developers’ concerns centered on the prescriptive nature of the ordinance, permitted uses that the ordinance made conditional and reduced utility of downtown property due to the step back provision.

With regard to the specific guidelines of the CEOD, commercial developer Tom Hayley noted that there is a “line between design standards and architectural review” and encouraged the council to keep its actions practical. Councilman Robin Kelley noted that under the CEOD provisions, if Toomer’s Corner or some similarly historic business was to burn down, it would not be able to be rebuilt as it currently exists.

Auburn Planning Director Forrest Cotten explained that the conditional use change is part of an ongoing process the Planning Commission is undertaking to overhaul the special development standards governing permitted uses.

“The intent of the Planning Commission in making that recommendation was that it would be an interim measure while special development standards were being developed for specific uses that, once in place, would allow certain uses to revert back to permitted from conditional,“ Cotten said, adding that he hopes to have that process completed by late July to early August.

The step back provision caused the most stir, drawing comments from developers that it constituted a “taking” of property without compensation which could lead to lawsuits against the city.

Jack Burkhalter said that the CEOD might have had its genesis in a “fear of too many student condos” and urged that the council “rethink regulations made in reaction” to such concerns.

“What was feared is perhaps not in play anymore because of the market,“ he said, adding that the council should consider compensating downtown property owners for the new, more stringent requirements.

Hayley agreed.

“The step back hurts property values. The sixth floor made up for that, and now there are only five allowed,“ he said, referring to the floor-to-area ratio in the CEOD of five.

Hayley asked the council why it would matter if a building had six floors as long as it still met the height requirements prescribed in the ordinance.

“Give us back the utility of our buildings,“ he said. “That would handle the financial concerns I have.“

Councilman Gene Dulaney noted that the setback provisions - one to 10 feet - remain unchanged in the Urban Core and that the step back provision only applies on College Street; therefore, he said, the two would never coincide.

Possible test cases

On the books just a few days, it may not be long before the CEOD is put to its first tests. Auburn businessman Ed Lewis has been purchasing property on the west side of College Street and plans some redevelopment there. And the members of the First Baptist Church of Auburn, which sits within the CEOD, announced last month their plans to sell their three acres because of the prohibitive cost of refurbishing and renovating existing buildings.

FBC Auburn Senior Pastor Jim Evans said that although church representatives were wrapping up their study about whether to move as the task force was beginning its work, church officials have reviewed the changes and are not concerned.

“Our determination was we didn’t see anything there that would deter someone from wanting to buy the property,“ he said. “We didn’t see anything in there that dissuaded us one way or the other about what we were thinking about.“

Evans acknowledged that the church will seek at least $10 million for its property, and while church leaders have chosen not to engage in conventional marketing, they already have prospects.

“We’ve had three nibbles, and what I assume is happening is that they are doing the research right now. We are not negotiating quite yet,“ Evans said.

He added that he expects that a hotel or something similar will end up where the church is now.

“I think that (the zoning changes) can probably change (Auburn) for the good,“ he said. “I think that it could lead to a visually aesthetic, attractive piece of property and help commerce.“

Going forward

Dempsey said that she understood and expected concerns to be raised about the task force’s recommendations, but that it was impossible to achieve complete unanimity among interested parties. She noted that throughout the task force’s process, most, if not all, owners of property downtown were contacted to participate and that most expressed their satisfaction with the proposed changes.

“I feel positive about it going forward,“ she said. “There’s nothing that a City Council ever adopts that can’t be, through a period of time, amended for improvement.

“I’ve always said the enemy of better is best … if through a construction project or as we address other issues, we see that things could be changed for the better, there would be no reason not to do that.“

Planning Commission Chairman and task force member Brenda Rawls echoed Dempsey’s sentiments.

“I am satisfied with (the new regulations), because even though you get a group of people together and there’s not 100 percent agreement, there was consensus that this was the best thing to do, that this was the fairest thing to do, and that the majority of the people agreed with it,“ she said.

Council members agreed that as time passes and development projects come before them for approval, it will probably be necessary to make changes to the CEOD. Kelley expressed concern about the glazing requirements affecting the city’s ability to attract retail downtown and noted that if it is shown to be negatively impacting the city’s efforts, that provision will need to “go away immediately.“

Councilman Dick Phelan said that the step back provision, although controversial, was what he liked best about the CEOD. Regarding potential litigation, Phelan said, “If it comes up, it comes up,“ knowing that the council will see changes to the CEOD in the future.

Auburn Mayor Bill Ham said that the council was admittedly “plowing new ground” and that it would be essential for members to maintain a “common-sense approach” when considering future changes to the CEOD regarding new materials and uses that may become acceptable.

“I, for one, would be open minded for what makes sense,“ he said.

Councilman Bob Norman noted that “although we asked for cold medicine and got chemotherapy,“ he believed the CEOD ordinance would be a “living document,“ like the U.S. Constitution, and could be amended to reflect changes as necessary.

Dulaney said that the task force found that what made Auburn’s downtown special was a “sense of place.

“The task force did a great job in suggesting how to keep that sense of place,“ he said. “We have repeatedly said that this is a starting point.

“But you have to start at some point, and this ordinance is a good starting point.“