The Athens City Planning Commission reviewed a proposed rezoning map July 16 that would reclassify portions of the Columbus–Lancaster–Columbia Avenue corridor, shifting some areas from B3 to B2 to limit drive‑through restaurants and promote small neighborhood businesses and housing.

City staff summarized changes made after a public meeting and community comments. “We did modify a lot of stuff. As you can see, the main corridor is going to be a B2, B3, rather than just a B3 area,” said David Riggs, a city staff member who presented the draft map. Riggs said the B2 designation does not allow drive‑through restaurants, a change intended to address community concerns.

Riggs explained how the code treats existing nonconforming uses. Under the city’s code, a grandfathered use that ceases for more than a year loses that protected status; staff said the former Dairy Queen on the corridor had been a nonconforming use and could lose its grandfathering if inactive for a year or more. Riggs noted an earlier federal court case involving the city and right‑of‑way use; the decision related to right‑of‑way restrictions rather than the current zoning map change but informed the city’s approach. He also said the code treats pickup‑window‑only operations differently from classic drive‑throughs and that pickup windows could be permitted where a drive‑through would not.

Residents who attended the earlier public meeting favored small, walkable neighborhood businesses. “People want it to be more walkable, some place they can walk to a business from their house,” said Rob Delich, a resident who spoke during the meeting. City staff said parks and open space are covered under open‑space zoning and that if the city owned a future park it could place a park regardless of zoning; no specific park location was identified in public comments.

Planners said the revised map keeps a large portion of surrounding blocks as R1 single‑family but creates pockets of neighborhood business zoning intended to support local shops, cafes and second‑floor residential above ground‑floor commercial units. Staff also noted that some B1 or B3 parcels could retain ground‑floor commercial uses with residential units above, depending on future development.

No formal vote was taken; staff said the map will be revised to reflect public comments and will return as a communication at a future meeting for potential forwarding to city council. The planning commission packet distributed to commissioners includes the July 16 proposed zoning map and public comments gathered at the neighborhood meeting.

Why this matters: The rezoning would shape what kinds of businesses can locate on Columbus Road and affect walkability, neighborhood character and future redevelopment of the corridor.