A Monday night City Council hearing and vote on new city of Athens zoning ordinance will clear he way for the construction of loft apartments downtown.
Should the ordinance pass, as councilmen expect, several downtown business owners will be able to apply for conditional use for the second floors of their stores to create the residences that will be a first for Athens.
The Spirit of Athens downtown revitalization group has been a chief proponent of loft apartments. The conditional use provision is included in a residential/commercial amendment to the B-4 downtown general retail zoning ordinance.
Existing ordinances are 30 years old.
Athens Fire Chief Cliff Christopher, a member of the Athens Planning Commission and a committee researching the feasibility of lofts, said at the top of concerns has always been fire safety.
Christopher was part of a group that went to tour Florence in September where lofts have been in use for the past 10 years as part of a downtown revitalization.
“Those in Florence are really nice,” said Christopher.” They really did a great job of restoring them.”
Christopher said anyone who wants to convert an upper story to a loft would have to follow International Fire Codes, which the city has adopted.
“All residences on the second floor should have a safe exit and a sprinkler system,” said Christopher. “These are multiple use type businesses. We must make sure they are done safely. I really hope the owners of businesses and other people want to bring lofts to Athens,”
As well as the International Fire Code, owners converting to lofts must also adhere to the International Building Code and the International Commercial Code, Christopher said. He said that of the Florence lofts, those without sprinkler systems were built before the year 2000 when cities adopted the codes.
Some opponents of establishing loft apartments say installing sprinkler systems is too expensive.
“It’s not as expensive as it once was,” said Christopher. “I mean, it’s not a huge amount of money because there is more and more competition among companies who do it.”
Christopher said that codes also specify that fires in second floor residences must be able to be extinguished quickly. He said that entails having enough entrances and exits to get people out and firefighters in. Codes also provide for fire alarms.
One of the oft-stated objections to loft apartments is the shortage of parking spaces in the downtown area. Public Works director James Rich said the new parking plan submitted by contractor Skipper & Associates does not specifically address parking for loft apartments, although it does recommend one-way traffic around the square and 90-degree parking, which would add spaces.
“In the zoning ordinance there is the provision for conditional use,” said Rich. “Should someone request and be granted conditional use to build a loft they would have to submit a parking plan.”
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