Growing Athens wants to expand all city borders

Apr. 14—ATHENS — Within the last year, Athens has annexed about 540 acres into the city on its southern border, but two Athens City Council members would like to see the city expand its borders in all directions to increase city revenue and provide space for a growing population.

In June, Athens annexed 265.9 acres on either side of Huntsville Brownsferry Road. In December, the city annexed about 190 acres that runs along Interstate 65. At Monday's meeting, the city annexed about 85 acres along the south side of Huntsville Brownsferry Road, across the street from one of the June annexations.

Harold Wales, Athens City Council president and District 2 councilman, said the southern border, which is partially in his district and has seen the most growth over the past year, should not be the only direction the city expands.

"We are looking at in the future making sure that we try to cover all our tracks from Buc-ee's and from the north to the south, the east to the west," he said. "We are interested in anything that we can annex there."

Wales said he would especially like to see more growth to the west and north.

"Those are two areas that have had very little growth compared to the east side," he said. "I would like to see it spread out more even."

District 5 Councilman Wayne Harper said he would also like to see expansion in more than just the south.

"I would like to see some growth on the west side of town also," he said. "It's kind of lagged behind the east and south."

Wales said Athens needs more room for its growing population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2010 the population was 21,897. It grew to 25,406 by 2020 and the population estimate in 2021 was 27,027.

"The U.S. Census Bureau recently identified Limestone County as the fastest growing county in the state of Alabama," said Bethany Shockney, president and CEO of the Limestone County Economic Development Association. "All trends are showing that growth is expected throughout the city and county for the foreseeable future."

Wales said the growth is constant.

"Growth is calling for us: 'more room, more room,'" Wales said. "We have many, many people that are looking at businesses, house tops, and all that over here. Providing space for that is challenging."

Wales said this growth adds to Athens' revenue.

"Those are the things that buy firetrucks and police cars and recreation facilities and all of those things," he said. "It takes a lot of revenue for those things."

Wales said he would like to see housing and businesses on annexed land, but he would prefer more businesses because that generates more revenue.

"Down there next to the Tanner area, (Huntsville Brownsferry Road), Lindsay Lane area, ... that'll wind up being business only. It takes so long to get any return out of house tops," he said, due to the cost of sewer and other infrastructure.

Shockney said retail growth equals sales tax revenue.

"A major portion of the city of Athens' income is through sales tax so if the annexation is to increase retail and commercial it will increase the tax base," she said. "Anytime a city can grow strategically it is good for their overall budget and health of the city."

Harper said Athens was wise to annex land around Huntsville Brownsferry Road.

"With (Mazda Toyota Manufacturing) there operating now and Buc-ee's, I think there's going to be growth there, hopefully some commercial growth around Huntsville Brownsferry," he said. "We just wanted it to be in the city so it was something that we could get into our city that would help us as far as revenue and businesses for our citizens."

Harper said Athens needs more retail growth so that residents can shop locally.

"When you get larger groups of people coming in, they want services," Harper said. "They want to be able to go to the grocery store, to the mall and retail stores without having to drive all the way to Huntsville or Decatur."

Wales said the goal of expanding Athens' borders requires that it invest in infrastructure.

"I would just like to see us making sure we keep up with our infrastructure to supply these places like new industries and stuff coming in," he said. "Infrastructure has got to be there and that's expensive."

Harper said a lot of housing developers are asking to be annexed into the city.

"When they plan new subdivisions, a big selling point is city services: water, sewer, police and fire protection," he said. "People, when they're planning new subdivisions, they want to be able to offer sewer." He said Athens City Schools is also a selling point for developers.

Even with the growth, Harper said, the downtown area has avoided a big-city feel.

"The downtown Square, historical districts, we have that small-town feeling," he said. "... I think our core, our downtown and historical districts and college, we've been able to keep a lot of that."

Wales said he hopes Athens can always retain the small-town feel.

"But I also know growth changes a lot of that," he said. "A lot of people who are moving here, they're not here from the farm, they're here from other cities and they have a different mentality as far as what they're looking for. They're looking more for arts and entertainment and restaurants and stuff like this and a lot of the people who were born and raised here, that was not that important."

Wales said with growth come complaints and anxiety.

"Some people, they're not really in love with growth because they bought homes and counted on being like that the rest of their lives. They feel like they're being squeezed out now," he said. "That's what growth does. That's the other side of growth."

He said he was raised on a farm and also likes the farm feel.

"But I also know that I love the growth that we're having as far as the things we can do for our citizens," he said. "Like new schools, new recreation areas, new fire stations, new police stations. You can't do those things if you don't have lots and lots of revenue."

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.