By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:19 am on 8/5/2009
Nick Harris wants what any father wants for his teenage son - to be happy, healthy and find a rewarding career. But cleaning McDonald's restrooms or chasing down carts in a grocery store parking lot are the only options for Ethan, a teenager born with Down syndrome.
Harris is hoping a proposed community for people with disabilities would give Ethan and people like him the chance to live independently and find a meaningful way to contribute to society.
"The need for job opportunities for adults with disabilities is astronomical," said Harris, executive director of Sycamore Ridge, a nonprofit organization with plans to open a residential community for the developmentally disabled in Winterville.
Not everyone agrees that Harris and his team have picked the right way to help developmentally-disabled people land good jobs.
As they came out to hear the group's plans at a public hearing Monday, some said they worry about traffic and what will happen if Sycamore Ridge's ambitious plan fails.
An 87-acre tract stretching from Parkview Drive across to South Main Street will include an equine barn, riding rink, garden center, artist market and café open to the public, creating jobs for the people who live there. The campus-like community will include four six-bedroom cottages with private rooms for residents and could house 80 adults when the project is complete.
But neighbors worry that once the property is rezoned, the plans might change.
"We like the community the way it is," said resident Dawn Perry.
Winterville residents are especially wary of development after a legal tussle over city ordinances left a planned 158-lot subdivision called Winterville Station only partially constructed.
"I have no problems with the adults that you're planning on putting here," said Perry, whose home is close to the property. "But what if this doesn't work and you have to abandon the property? I want some guarantees - something substantial - that says you're going to succeed."
Sycamore Ridge isn't intended as a profit-making venture, developers said. The café, market and other businesses wouldn't have to pay the original cost to build infrastructure, investments that a charity would fund.
"I don't know what's going to happen in five, 10, 15 years," said Winterville Mayor Jim Mercer. "But I can guarantee you that eventually, something's going to happen to that land."
The property comprises 5 percent of the land inside the city limits, and that is one reason why citizens are concerned, said Mercer. Though the project is just beginning the process of government approval, Winterville residents were clear that they don't want the entire 87 acres rezoned.
Some of the regulations over the project may be addressed as variances, rather than rezoning the entire area commercial, said planning and zoning committee member David Dreesen.
"We're not here to bait and switch," said Sycamore Ridge Vice Chairman David McKenna. "We'll commit to whatever we have to commit to, to get your approval."
Not all residents disapprove of the group's plans.
"A planned community with greenspace and a park-like atmosphere is far more appealing than having 80 houses built which would cause increased traffic and demands on our infrastructure," said resident Rebecca Silver.
Developers have not done a traffic study, said McKenna, but from his 20 years experience in real estate, he doesn't anticipate traffic problems. Employees arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon will come in the opposite direction of rush-hour traffic, and Sycamore Ridge residents won't have their own cars.
"We really think that there is an economic benefit for Winterville," said McKenna. At full capacity a few years from now, developers anticipate between 90 and 120 jobs could be created for non-disabled local residents.
"Frankly, we just fell in love with your community," said McKenna. "Everything just clicked with Athens, Winterville and this site."
But some experts don't think the Sycamore Ridge model is best for developmentally disabled people.
"Having this here is going to take resources and attention away from people in the community," said Jenny Manders of the Institute on Human Development and Disability, a federally-funded agency at UGA that advocates to keep developmentally disabled people living in their own homes and a part of the community. Organizations like the Statewide Independent Living Council and the Georgia Advocacy Office agree and are opposed to the facility.
Developers recognize that there are groups that oppose their planned community.
"It may not be the place for everybody," said Harris.
A special education director and parent to a developmentally-disabled child, Joan Baird recognizes that some groups don't agree with the group's mission.
"Having spent my life trying to make the world better for people with disabilities, (I think) this is a great thing for some people," said Baird. "Not for everyone, but for some people."
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, August 05, 2009
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