Stop Rezoning and Protect Historic Downtown Milledgeville, Georgia

This November 8th, Milledgeville's City Council will vote on a request to rezone historic downtown property from Community Commercial to Multi-Family Residential. This rezoning would allow the development of a gated residential complex at 221 and 231 N. Wayne St in the heart of downtown. Evidence abounds that rezoning these properties would be the wrong move for our City Council to make, especially when Council Members take Milledgeville's history, culture, and economy - as well as the ordinances they are bound by - into account.

Milledgeville is worthy of its Historic District title. As one of the first planned cities in the United States, it was modeled after Washington, D.C. Construction of Georgia's antebellum capital began in 1803, but it wasn't until 1807 that a wagon train carrying the state treasury and official documents made its way from the previous capital, Louisville, to its new one, Milledgeville.

Around that time, city land was set aside for the local community to invest in and profit from. We call such zoning Community Commercial today. One antebellum business owner, Wilkes Flagg, founded his blacksmith shop downtown on N. Wayne St - even though he started life as a slave in Virginia. The money his 'master' allowed him to earn from practicing the blacksmith trade on N. Wayne permitted Wilkes to purchase his own freedom as well as that of his wife Lavinia and son Wilkes, Jr. He accomplished this more than 15 years before the end of the Civil War.

When Sherman came through Milledgeville on his March to the Sea, he didn't burn the city to the ground as he had Atlanta, however his men did menace the population that was unable or unwilling to flee. Wilkes Flagg, 64 years old and already a free man, was hung from a tree for days by his thumbs and tortured for his knowledge of where certain spoils of war were hidden. Although he knew such information, he never confessed.

By that time, Flagg Chapel Baptist Church had held service for 34 years, and Wilkes had been its respected pastor for decades. From that moment, he would go on to found the first public school for Georgia's freed slaves and people of color, The Eddy School. Wilkes remains, to this day, a celebrated historical figure and our citizens remember with reverence how he earned his freedom, multiple times over, in our historic downtown.

After the Civil War, a nearby Freedman's Bureau was established to manage the transition from slavery to liberty. By then, the state legislature had moved to Atlanta. As the new capital grew, so did the African American Businesses District on the cross streets of North Wayne and McIntosh. In this segregated business district, countless citizens earned their economic freedom and organized their continued fight for social justice. As time moved on, and segregation lost its social stronghold, the African American Business District came to be revered as one of Milledgeville's truly influential cultural centers.

Unfortunately, not much of the Historic African American Business District remains today. Some of it was demolished to make way for the downtown police station and court house parking lot. If the current request for rezoning is approved, and the land is developed as requested, when standing in the Black Heritage Plaza on the corner of N. Wayne and McIntosh you'll be able to look left and see a police station and look right and see a gated community, which will be marketed towards affluent college students. Such a decision would be one visible step closer to erasing the cultural and commercial heritage of both Milledgeville's Historic District and its Historic African American Business District.

While most citizens approve of developing these properties, many strongly oppose rezoning as the properties are the last open land still available for commercial development in our confined downtown. On page 52 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan for Baldwin County and City of Milledgeville, one of the points for land use says "We will continue to encourage the development of Downtown Milledgeville as a vibrant center of the community in order to improve overall attractiveness and local quality of life." However, if these properties are rezoned, the resulting gated residential development would ultimately serve only a small piece of our community’s pie.

It's important to note that Baldwin County has endured a 21.1% loss in employment since 2006, according to a Market Feasibility Analysis published in 2015. Rezoning property in such a small downtown from Community Commercial to Multi-Family Residential - in addition to erasing cultural and economic history - would in no way offer a long-term solution to our economic woes. While such rezoning may benefit local land owners looking for a quick sell of their properties, the vast majority of profits overtime would go to benefit a developer and residential management team based out of Athens. Land set aside to nourish the local economy would forever be limited in its original purpose.

It's also important to remember community resources, like our maxed-out downtown parking, when considering Milledgeville's economy. As such, the developer must provide 36 parking spaces for the proposed 36 bedroom complex. To fit these parking spots in the proposed lot, the developer requested a variance to shorten parking space length from 20' (that’s considered Code) to 18'.

At recent rezoning hearings, citizens repeatedly pointed out the obvious: trucks that residents and students actually drive in our region don't all FIT into 18' spaces. Therefore, residents of the gated complex - along with visiting friends and family - would have no other option than to park their oversized or visiting vehicles on the street, in spaces normally occupied by cars conducting local business.

Further stress on already limited parking would hinder accessibility to nearby businesses like Slater's Funeral Home, located across the street from the proposed development. Slater's has served the local community during its time of need for over 100 years. However, since available street parking has dwindled over the years, permitting this variance alongside rezoning would only continue the negative trend in available downtown parking.

The last section on page 12 of The Comprehensive Plan says it best: "...there has been an increase in housing that contains 20-49 units, otherwise known as multi-family housing. This housing has the potential to cause traffic and environmental problems if development occurs in areas that are not prepared to handle densities of this nature."

If that wasn't enough, page 16 of the same document states: "Haphazard development could result in the loss of many valuable resources that the County and City rely on for tourism and a sense of community." Our citizens are petitioning against rezoning these properties because we see with clear eyes the long-term loss rezoning would mean for Milledgeville's historic, cultural, economic, and community resources.

If you agree that rezoning 221 and 231 N. Wayne St. from Community Commercial to Multi-Family Residential is the WRONG MOVE for Milledgeville's City Council to make, we implore you to sign this petition and make your voice heard.

We also invite you to join us at the next City Council meeting at City Hall on November 8th at 6:30PM when voting will take place. There are few better ways to celebrate Election Day than by make your presence known and taking action as a concerned citizen. We look forward to seeing you there!