OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission Voting Meeting - February 3, 2026

Mayor and Commission — Tuesday, February 3, 2026
BodyAthens, Georgia
SessionMayor and Commission
DateTuesday, February 3, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:33:26

Transcript — Verbatim
5:04

Welcome everyone.

5:05

It is Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026, and you're here for the monthly voting meeting of the Athens Clark County Mayor and Commission.

5:13

We'll go ahead and begin with a roll call from the clerk.

5:16

Davenport here.

5:17

Link here, Taylor.

5:20

Here.

5:21

Right.

5:21

President Fisher.

5:23

Here.

5:24

Johnson.

5:25

Here.

5:25

Copper.

5:27

Myers.

5:28

Here.

5:29

Thornton.

5:30

Here.

5:31

Hambi.

5:32

Here.

5:32

We have a core.

5:33

All right.

5:34

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

5:35

We'll begin with a civility pledge provided to us by the Georgia Municipal Association.

5:39

And that indicates that as we work, we'll govern ourselves so that we recognize the importance of the decisions that we are making, that our collective decisions will be better when differing views have had the opportunity to be fully vetted and considered, that all people have the right to be treated with respect, courtesy, and openness, that we value all input and we commit to conduct ourselves at all times with civility and courtesy to one another.

6:07

Because we don't have all the appointments necessary for the uh land bank authority board members.

6:14

And so I just uh asked for a motion to revise the agenda to remove item 15, which you'll see again in just a couple of weeks.

6:22

Second, mayor.

6:23

All in favor, please say aye.

6:25

Aye.

6:25

Aye.

6:26

Any opposed?

6:27

Hearing none, motion carries.

6:29

All right, uh, Madam Clerk.

6:30

Uh I believe we have uh minutes for the meetings of Tuesday, January 6th, Tuesday, January 20th, and non-voting meetings of Tuesday, January 13th, Tuesday, January 20th, and Friday, January 23rd.

6:44

There are any amendments to these minutes.

6:46

Yes.

6:47

Commissioner Johnson would like to amend the minutes of January the 6th and hold them for the March voting meeting if possible.

6:57

Do I hear a motion to that effect?

7:01

I motion.

7:02

I so moved.

7:03

All right, so uh motion is to hold uh the minutes until the next meeting.

7:06

Is there a second?

7:07

Second.

7:08

All right, all in favor, please say aye.

7:09

Aye.

7:10

Aye.

7:11

All right.

7:14

Yeah, that was my question.

7:17

I I've noticed some errors or typos, and I just wanted to bring them to her attention, and I didn't get a chance to review them until late.

7:27

And it was just gonna it would have put undue burden on her to do it, you know, on the day of the meeting.

7:33

So I just wanted to um I thought I was gonna bring them to her on on paper, but I left it at home.

7:38

Um so I just wanted to update those for her submit them.

7:43

Okay.

7:43

So we'll enter those into the record of the first of the next month.

7:46

Um Madam Clerk, are there any written communications?

7:49

No, I'm not.

7:53

Uh the the motion was to hold the minutes generally uh until the next voting meeting.

7:59

And so uh at the next voting meeting we'll approve the minutes from both January and February.

8:04

And and I was a no vote.

8:06

Uh uh please note uh madam clerk, uh no vote from Commissioner Wright.

8:11

And uh any written communications, madam clerk?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing████████████████████20%
Public Engagement█████████████████17%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████17%
Procedural████████████12%
Public Safety████████████12%
Historic Preservation████████8%
Budget Equity Analysis████4%
Homelessness███3%
Transportation Safety███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission Voting Meeting - February 3, 2026

The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission held their monthly voting meeting on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at 6:06 PM (EST). The meeting covered a range of agenda items including consent agenda approvals, planning and zoning decisions, future land use map adoption, right-of-way abandonments, and public input on non-agenda items. Key discussions focused on short-term rentals, affordable housing, and the future land use map, which was held until April 2026 for further review.

Consent Calendar

  • Items 1-6: Approved unanimously. Included ordinances to amend the FY 2026 operating capital budget for Riverview Foundation grant funding for Cook's Trail redesign and for employee market increase and tax appeal administrator supplement.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Item 7 (210 East Cloverhurst Ave.): Abby Lohman, owner, expressed support for short-term rental (Airbnb) citing five-star reviews and family use. Rita Kelly (142 East Rutherford) opposed, arguing owner-absent rentals undermine neighborhood stability and set a bad precedent for RM1 districts.
  • Item 8 (420 E. Clayton St. / 429 & 431 E. Broad St.): David Matheny (200 Mount Vernon Place) spoke in favor of combining two bars into one, noting no structural changes or occupancy increase.
  • Item 9 (249 Fifth St.): No public comment.
  • Item 10 (Future Land Use Map): Multiple speakers: Edward Kelly (142 East Rutherford) expressed concerns about investors driving up housing costs and urged focus on underutilized areas near downtown. Diana Weiss (118 Jarnigan Dr.) cited a 26% poverty rate, 23% rent increase in two years, and called for affordable housing. Barbara Daniel (no address given) criticized broken promises and urged action for low-income residents. Lorraine Fuller (145 Millage Terrace) and Sam Stabler (228 Cleveland Ave.), both committee members, explained the map is not zoning and urged public education. Kent Middleton (195 Clyde Rd.) praised moderate growth designations. Leslie Senior (710 Millage Cir.) warned that high-density zoning is being approved under the map's name without infrastructure. Alex Sams (100 Tipperary Rd.), chair of the steering committee, emphasized the map sets the table for growth, not zoning.
  • Items 11-12 (Right-of-way abandonments): Buck Bacon (WA Engineering) spoke on item 12 on behalf of Mallory & Evans and Core Spaces.
  • Non-agenda public input: Benny Coleman (District 7) proposed a building for public safety workers and their families. Barbara Barnett (330 Athens Rd., Winterville) requested naming the East Athens Bridge after her mother, Jessie Barnett, a trailblazer in the Model Cities program.

Discussion Items

  • Item 7 – 210 East Cloverhurst Ave. (Short-term rental): Commissioner Hamby (District 10) moved to deny, citing consistency on owner-occupied rentals and affordable housing concerns. Motion passed unanimously.
  • Item 8 – 420 E. Clayton St. / 429 & 431 E. Broad St. (Bar consolidation): Commissioner Wright moved to approve, noting modernization and no complaints. Passed unanimously.
  • Item 9 – 249 Fifth St. (Short-term rental): Commissioner Link moved to deny, upholding planning commission recommendation, as the neighborhood is characteristically single-family. Passed unanimously.
  • Item 10 – Future Land Use Map Adoption: Extensive commission discussion. Commissioner Link moved to hold until April 2026, seconded by Commissioner Thornton, to allow time for public education, service delivery plan alignment, and district-level map reviews. Commissioner Myers requested district-specific PDFs and a smoother process for parcel tweaks. Commissioner Davenport urged early collaboration. Commissioner Fisher emphasized sewer and water capacity. Commissioner Wright asked for clarity on how hypothetical changes affect the map's balance. Commissioner Johnson noted DCA guidance discourages parcel-level itemization. Mayor compared the process to anatomical layers of the community. Motion to hold passed unanimously.
  • Items 11 & 12 – Right-of-way abandonments: Item 11 (Pierre DN Lane Road) approved 7-2 (Commissioners Johnson and ??? voted no). Item 12 approved with three opposed (Commissioners Fisher, Johnson, Taylor).
  • Item 13 – Relocation of mill houses (110 Puritan Ln. & 1060 Macon Hwy.): Commissioner Thornton moved to hold for 30 days to explore lower-cost options, including relocating only the original shotgun structures. Seconded by Commissioner Link. Passed.
  • Item 14 – Parking prohibition on North Pope St.: Commissioner Wright moved to approve yellow curbing to improve safety near the park and emergency vehicle access. Passed unanimously.
  • Declaration of emergency: Affirmed for winter weather events. Manager thanked staff, highlighted Meredith Barnum (emergency management) and Alex Bond (interim leisure services) for sheltering over 300 people.

Key Outcomes

  • Votes: Item 7 (deny), Item 8 (approve), Item 9 (deny), Item 10 (hold to April), Item 11 (approve, 7-2), Item 12 (approve, 7-3), Item 13 (hold 30 days), Item 14 (approve). All votes were recorded with tallies.
  • Future Land Use Map: Held until April 7, 2026, voting meeting to allow for additional review, district-level maps, and service delivery plan integration.
  • Property Committee Assignment: Commissioners Culpepper, Wright, and Link to develop a model for transferring properties used by sole nonprofits (e.g., Prince Avenue Firehouse, Taylor Grady House) to those organizations, including historic preservation easements and reversion clauses.
  • Staff Recognition: Emergency management coordinator Meredith Barnum and interim leisure services director Alex Bond commended for their roles in winter storm response.
  • Bridge Naming Request: Referred for future consideration; no formal action taken.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome everyone. It is Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026, and you're here for the monthly voting meeting of the Athens Clark County Mayor and Commission. We'll go ahead and begin with a roll call from the clerk. Davenport here. Link here, Taylor. Here. Right. President Fisher. Here. Johnson. Here. Copper. Myers. Here. Thornton. Here. Hambi. Here. We have a core. All right. Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll begin with a civility pledge provided to us by the Georgia Municipal Association. And that indicates that as we work, we'll govern ourselves so that we recognize the importance of the decisions that we are making, that our collective decisions will be better when differing views have had the opportunity to be fully vetted and considered, that all people have the right to be treated with respect, courtesy, and openness, that we value all input and we commit to conduct ourselves at all times with civility and courtesy to one another. Because we don't have all the appointments necessary for the uh land bank authority board members. And so I just uh asked for a motion to revise the agenda to remove item 15, which you'll see again in just a couple of weeks. Second, mayor. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, motion carries. All right, uh, Madam Clerk. Uh I believe we have uh minutes for the meetings of Tuesday, January 6th, Tuesday, January 20th, and non-voting meetings of Tuesday, January 13th, Tuesday, January 20th, and Friday, January 23rd. There are any amendments to these minutes. Yes. Commissioner Johnson would like to amend the minutes of January the 6th and hold them for the March voting meeting if possible. Do I hear a motion to that effect? I motion. I so moved. All right, so uh motion is to hold uh the minutes until the next meeting. Is there a second? Second. All right, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. All right. Yeah, that was my question. I I've noticed some errors or typos, and I just wanted to bring them to her attention, and I didn't get a chance to review them until late. And it was just gonna it would have put undue burden on her to do it, you know, on the day of the meeting. So I just wanted to um I thought I was gonna bring them to her on on paper, but I left it at home.

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