The Athens‑Clarke County Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend rezoning a commercial parcel at 218 North Avenue to RM‑3 and to include a condition intended to preserve the architectural character shown in the applicant’s concept plan.

Staff told the commission the site, currently occupied by long‑standing trailers and older structures, offers a close‑in infill opportunity within walking distance of Walker Park and downtown. The applicant presented a nonbinding plan that proposes eight buildings, 228 bedrooms and about 218 surface parking spaces, and included representative architecture for review.

Applicant representatives emphasized the proposal’s design approach—broken massing, windows and varied unit sizes—which staff described favorably in the briefing. Several commissioners said they appreciated that the concept included smaller‑scale building types and modernized facades rather than one large monolithic building. Commissioners also noted the topography and utility constraints on the site and asked applicants to coordinate lighting, stormwater and tree conservation.

During public comment residents raised concerns that existing occupants of a small RV/mobile home park on the parcel could face displacement. The landowner addressed the group and said he intends to help the current residents relocate; the applicant indicated parcels are unoccupied or underused and that new housing would replace existing nonresidential uses.

Several commissioners asked how to preserve the architecture in a way that would bind future owners; the applicant said the presented designs were created as if the submittal were a planned development. Commissioners worked with staff to frame a condition that stops short of binding every detail but requires that the ‘‘architectural design intent as depicted in the applicant submittal’’ be binding in respect to massing, scale, materials and general fenestration arrangement. The applicant agreed.

Commissioners voted to recommend approval with that condition. The record shows unanimous support on the roll call. The rezoning recommendation and the condition will go to the mayor and commission, and detailed design review will proceed through the Historic Preservation Commission and through plan review if and when approvals move forward.