The Auburn Planning Department is continuing to accept public input on its Northwest Auburn Neighborhood Plan.
City planner Katie Robison presented their current proposal at an Oct. 25 meeting in the Boykin Center. It includes zoning changes in the 1.5-square-mile area to allow for commercial developments, offices and more variety of residences where they aren’t currently allowed without City Council approval.
The department’s recommendations come from residents’ input from the first meeting and surveys that have been sent out. Respondents identified parks and recreation facilities as the the top priority for the neighborhoods. Residents said they want safe parks for children to play in and requested a satellite library in the neighborhood.
They also said they want the neighborhood’s character to remain intact by keeping student housing out of the area. Housing for up to five nonrelated individuals is only allowed in a small part of the neighborhood, but Auburn Planning Director Forrest Cotten said they could implement regulations to further discourage housing for students.
Public Works projects such as sidewalks, lighting and safer roads were also issues residents want addressed in the plan.
Many participants expressed concerns with the planning process. Participants said they are worried about the availability of affordable housing, especially in the form of single-family detached homes. Multifamily developments, like apartment complexes or condominiums, typically have the lowest price tags, Cotten said. Current zoning regulations make the construction of multifamily developments difficult in some parts of the area.
Still, many said they wanted only cheaper single-family detached homes.
“I think creating affordable homes for [people living in public housing] will give them the opportunity to get out and own their own homes,” said Anthony Brock, a resident of the area.
One attendee suggested demolishing the housing projects all together, though not all in attendance were in favor of the idea.
“How am I going to support myself on minimum wage and try to purchase a house? I’ve got to have a starting point,” said one attendee. “The projects are my starting point.”
Sharon Tolbert, head of the city’s housing authority, said it isn’t feasible to get rid of public housing in the area. Tolbert also said it still remains their mission to help citizens move out of subsidized housing. Fifty-eight percent of single-family residences in the area are owner-occupied.
Some residents said the whole process was confusing, and they weren’t interested in learning the jargon involved in planning. Others said three meetings isn’t enough to shape the community for years to come.
Clemon Byrd, Ward 1 councilman, said if residents feel the planning timeline is too short, the city will consider pushing it back until everyone is comfortable.
Byrd also said if residents didn’t understand all of the language used, they could direct any questions they might have to him.
“We have the resources here,” Byrd said. “I can be one as well, so if [residents] want to ask me [a question], I can find out the answer.”
At the end of the meeting, attendees participated in exercises similar to in the first meeting, where they used markers to indicate on maps what types of buildings they would like to see in certain areas. The city will take the results from the exercise and input from the meeting to continue the planning process. It will present their final proposal at a third public meeting in either December or January.
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