Letter: Athens resident calls deer, Airbnb, garbage trucks 'invasive species'
Athens neighborhoods currently hold three invasive species: deer; airbnbs; and garbage trucks.
I almost hit a deer in Green Acres the other night. The record for our backyard is 12 deer at once. For working in my backyard, the deer recently rewarded me with a tick bite with a Lyme Disease pattern. The invasive feces proliferation in my backyard has been ongoing for half a dozen years. Deer feces don't carry ticks, but may carry E coli bacteria, a hazard for little kids in backyards.
Deer prefer plants native to their habitat, opening space for invasive plant species. Deer consumption of azaleas robs many neighborhoods of springtime color.
The increase in airbnbs in Athens is fortunately under observation by the Athens/Clarke Count Commission and reported on in the Banner-Herald. This invasive species has already made life miserable for some Athenians.
Who are these invaders? A friend was in Five Points recently on a home game day. Conversing with a Texan, she asked what brought him to Athens. He was an investor from Texas whose business had purchased homes in Athens for conversion to airbnbs. His business does this in college towns all over the country that have huge home game football attendance.
People operating Bed and Breakfasts and living on site in Athens usually run their business responsibly because they have a stake in their neighborhood. Out-of-state investors don't. They outbid our future neighbors. Weekend airbnb clients have no connection to the neighborhood. Such airbnbs are not homes that contribute to the fabric of a neighborhood but an invasive species that fragment it.
Weekly, trucks from three trash removal companies slog through Athens neighborhoods, averaging 4 miles per gallon. To reduce this pollution source by two-thirds, Athens could move to city/county trash collection with one fleet of electric garbage trucks.
Richard Zimdars, Athens
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Athens resident calls deer, Airbnb, garbage trucks 'invasive species'
