City Council candidates for Ward 2, Kelly Griswold, 62, and Todd Scholl, 51, both want to restore trust and improve Ward 2’s infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks and other aspects of the community.
Both candidates agree the traffic in Ward 2 is in bad shape, especially after the addition of the Richland Elementary School on Richland Road.
The traffic has mainly come from growth throughout the city. Ward 2 has seen the addition of several neighborhood developments.
“The infrastructure has to be developed before any new neighborhoods are approved to developers,” Scholl said.
Griswold is concerned with annexation when it comes to growing the city.
“Any kind of growth that we have in terms of our city footprint needs to be something that benefits the city, not necessarily just the land owner,” Griswold said. “We don’t want to annex something that is way out, which will further strain our ability to provide infrastructure.”
In April 2018, the City Council voted to increase the maximum height limit of buildings that can be developed downtown from 65 feet to 75 feet. There was much debate over the decision and has been brought up at candidate forums.
Griswold and Scholl disagreed with the decision the Council made in April. Griswold said he believes the Council did not respect what the citizens of Auburn wanted.
The Council cannot go back at this point and undo the decision because buildings are already being built at the 75-foot limit, however, Griswold would like to revisit the topic.
“I’d like to see some kinds of protection put in place for the parts of Auburn that people expect to see when they return to Auburn,” Griswold said. “They like the small-town feel of out downtown and I don’t want that to disappear because of lack of protection.”
Scholl would also like to revisit the topic.
“They voted for it in a political moment because of the approval for the hotel project downtown,” Scholl said. “I think they had the regulation on the books already and they should have stuck to that.”
Short-term rental companies such as Airbnb and VRBO have become popular ways for homeowners to rent out anything from extra rooms to their entire home. The City began working on an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals in 2018.
Griswold and Scholl said they need to be regulated. Griswold said he would like to see regulations on short-term rentals that require lodging taxes and licenses for short term renters.
“I think short-term renters are inevitable in a college town,” Griswold said. “I think that we need to restrict them, similarly to how we restricted unrelated occupancy within the city.”
Scholl said he would like to see lodging taxes as well as require homeowners that participate in short-term rentals to be available for neighbor’s concerns while their home is being rented.
“I would be in favor of short-term rentals,” Scholl said. “But I would need the owner of the rental to be available for any complaints that would be lodged by the neighbors against the renters.”
With over 29,000 students, Auburn University students count for a significant portion of the city of Auburn, which had a population of 63,118 in 2016.
Griswold said in order to involve students more in the city government, they need to be willing to work at the relationship just as much as the city is. He is willing to work with students and wants the city and University to continue to collaborate.
Scholl said he plans to reach out to students.
“I’d like to work with the Student Government Association and any student that would have interest in the city of Auburn,” Scholl said. “I’d be welcome to have them meet with me. Any student group that would like sit and talk with me that would be in my ward, I’d be more than happy to sit and speak with them and find out what I can do to assist.”
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Elizabeth, senior in journalism and political science, is the community editor for The Plainsman
