Next Tuesday, April 3 the City Council will vote on extending the building height downtown by Toomer’s Corner to 75’ from the 65’ passed two years ago. The 65’ height was reached by a year-and-a-half Downtown Master Plan (DMP) study by the Planning Commission and a compromise by the Citizens who wanted 60’ building height.
The height issue is an effort to retain Auburn’s identity as a small college town and preserve some of the
For the last 3 years, the Citizens Survey has listed the top concerns as slowing down the rate of development and addressing traffic. The mayor and city leaders have not done
A presentation was made last week for a proposed boutique hotel, urban grocer, and condo development on College and Glenn. This is another version of the same proposed project last summer on Gay and Glenn with a different developer. The concern with this project is that it involves a land-exchange with the developer. Last summer, it was an acre of downtown Auburn to the developer to erect the project. This time it is at least ½ acre.
In 2016 at the Citizens Forum, the Student Housing Chair from Tuscaloosa spoke and said that they regretted selling their downtown land to out-of-state developers because they lost control of their downtown. He said that there was no love for their community among them. That Tuscaloosa became only a line-item on a spreadsheet. Don’t let this happen to Auburn. Vote “No!” on the proposed land-sale to out-of-state developers.
Additionally, according to the architects’ renderings, the hotel will be chrome and glass, very high-tech. Unfortunately, no effort has been made to match or coordinate with the college “feel” of Auburn. The developer’s aim is to make that hotel a destination resort. Auburn is a college town, not a destination resort. We need to keep our identity and focus on growth that expands that. As was mentioned by General Moore’s son in last week’s Council meeting, the buildings do affect the culture. Auburn has a wonderful culture with wonderful people. Keep that culture by expanding it – not tearing it down and putting up something slick and glossy.
Contact the Mayor and City Council to vote “No” to 75’ by Toomer’s Corner! Email: coagbemail@auburnalabama.org
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