Athens City Council met Tuesday to discuss a letter addressed to the council from Sandstone Family Apartments, as well as the recent ruling on the paper bag ban.
Sandstone Family Apartments, located at 100 N Plains Rd, sent a letter to the council Aug. 20 regarding the construction of apartments with Frontier Community Service.
City Council President Sam Crowl said as the Council has been notified of this intent to build, any objection to this project must be submitted.
“We have the right, City Council, to submit comments regarding the proposed project's impact on the community,” Crowl said. “Any objection to the project must be submitted in writing and signed by a majority of the voting members of this body.”
The Council should receive comments within 30 days from the mailing date of the letter, Aug. 20.
Crowl noted the need for more housing and development in the Athens area.
“We all talk often about the need for housing, so I think we’re probably all on board with this,” Crowl said.
The next topic of discussion was the recent Athens County Common Pleas Court ruling against the City of Athens regarding the plastic bag ban.
City Council Law Director Lisa Eliason discussed what the ruling entails for Council.
“We do have an appeal as of right if we didn’t get a favorable decision in the court’s appeals,” Eliason said. “We certainly could try to appeal to the Supreme Court, but you have no absolute right to appeal. You do appeal, but they don’t have to take the case.”
Eliason said the other options would be for Council to repeal the ordinance or simply not enforce it at this time.
Other counties in Ohio, such as Bexley and Cuyahoga County, have also passed a plastic bag ban; however, Athens has been the only community sued for doing so.
“It’s my understanding that they’re not actively enforcing theirs,” Eliason said. “We weren’t actively enforcing ours. There were no citations that were issued. Ours was more of an education.”
The council has 30 days from the date that the ruling came out, Aug. 29, to reply.
“We’re going to circle back around with all those partners that we had in the case, so we’re not alone,” Eliason said. “It’s important enough that we’re not.”
Mayor Steve Patterson spoke about how the city must fight this ruling for the good of the community.
“Take this up a level, and we keep going…I think it’s important for us as a community to hang on to every house-of-home rule that we have,” Patterson said.
The council decided to appeal the decision that was ruled.
Mayor Patterson also discussed the implementation of electric vehicle charging stations at the new fire station headquarters and other areas throughout Athens, due to a Department of Transportation Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant.
The next topic of discussion was the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Areas, or DORA, hours of operation.
Jessica Thomas, Councilmember At-Large, introduced changing the dates DORA is operational to include OU’s graduation weekend and removing homecoming and mom’s weekend.
It was emphasized that the city can enforce its autonomy and change DORA guidelines regardless of whether the university is comfortable.
Athens resident Rob Delach referenced other cities and college towns with DORA enforced all year round.
“I think it makes sense to maybe take a baby step here,” Delach said. “This is a very small baby step and opening up graduation, but it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to try and sort of re-think this when there’s a lot of examples out there where it's already working.”
Another Athens resident Brittany Anderson spoke about the possibility of extending the hours in which DORA runs.
“I think it should go till two o’clock, not like 11,” Anderson said. “At graduation, I don’t think that would be a good idea for them driving when they’re drunk.”
DORA typically runs between May 6 and Aug. 18, Monday through Saturday, 12 pm to 11 pm, and Sunday, 12 pm to 8 pm.
Last on the agenda was a resolution affirming the city's respect for the indigenous history of Athens.
Micah McCarey, Councilmember At-Large, spoke about this at length.
“This is truly an ongoing community effort to demonstrate sincere commitment to supporting the diverse populations that comprise our community and respecting our history,” McCarey said.
The resolution was passed by the council.
