The Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission

The Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission is a secondary agency of the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government (ACC), established by county ordinance in 1992.  This formalized a grass-roots movement that began in the early 1970’s to generate support for greenways in Clarke County.  The general responsibility of the Commission was to develop a plan for a river-oriented greenway system in Athens-Clarke County and to recommend other measures to protect the resources of the Oconee Rivers and their tributaries.

The ACC Mayor and Commission appoint ten of the fifteen members of the Commission and the President of the University of Georgia appoints five.  There are also up to ten ex officio members from various county and university departments as well as a university student member.  Members are appointed to five-year terms and may serve no more than two consecutive terms.  Commission meetings are regularly held at 4:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at the ENSAT Center at Sandy Creek Nature Center.  The public is invited to attend and participate.

The Commission is advisory in nature.  Since its inception it has guided the development of the Heritage Trail and North Oconee River Greenway as pilot projects in the creation of a countywide greenway plan.  It successfully procured funding (mostly outside the ACC budget) for these projects and convinced ACC to establish the staff and programs to manage and maintain them.  It continues to provide oversight for project construction, program management and the development of the countywide greenway network plan.  It regularly makes recommendations and comments on proposed actions that affect the rivers and other environmental resources of the community.  For example, it successfully lobbied for the 100-foot river and 75-foot perennial stream buffers in the county’s environmental ordinance and the county adoption of a community greenspace program.

For more information about the Greenway Commission or to express interest in becoming a member, please contact the current Chair, Mark Ebell,  mebell@mcg.edu