The Athens-Clarke County Commission Tuesday approved the rezoning of a 47-acre property, at 2400 Lexington Road on the east side of the city, signaling the advancement of the planned Trinitas Athens mixed-use.
The massive site was previously zoned for detached single-family housing, but with the new zoning, developers plan to bring over 1,000 bedrooms alongside a public gathering area, and social and commercial spaces along Lexington Road.
With a vote of five to five, rezoning at the site passed through a tiebreaker by Mayor Kelly Girtz. Developers committed to setting aside at least 15 percent of the units for “workforce housing” ahead of seeking the rezoning approvals. These units would comprise studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments for renters whose incomes fell between 60 and 120 percent Average Median Income (AMI).
The development is poised to sit between the Walmart further east along Lexington Road and Loop 10’s Exit 8. Commissioners during the meeting said approval of developments outside of the city’s core will become increasingly important as available plots become more scarce. Voiced concerns over the rezoning included the lack of substantial transit in the area with only one hourly bus traversing Lexington Road. The corridor has long been car-centric with shopping centers largely spaced out and multiple large gaps in sidewalks.
Trinitas Athens’s site falls within the newly-created Lexington Road TAD (tax allocation district) where property taxes from the area are reinvested into the immediate community.
One Response
Why rezone? A development that has no true access to the rest of Athens unless you wait an hour for a bus? You are building directly across from a jail and a not far distant Walmart?