GREENE COUNTY
Greene County’s Board of Commissioners held a public hearing during their Aug. 12 meeting to discuss revisions for the county’s comprehensive plan.
The comprehensive plan directly applies to the West Greene Character Area, rezoning parts of that region to the county’s farmland and forestry character area. The decision to make these amendments is the second portion of Planning and Zoning’s plans to amend Land Use Regulations, as discussed in their July meeting.
According to the Greene County website, the comprehensive plan aims to reduce the overall footprint of the West Greene Character Area. The amendments will remove verbiage in the Veazy Corridor of the character area, as well as the Lakeshore Single-Family Residential/ Recreation District, from the comprehensive plan in general.
Greene County’s building and zoning director, Chuck Wooley, presented the comprehensive plan at the meeting. Building and Zoning previously met on July 29 to discuss amending both the extensive and future land use plans.
The amendment was designed to address high-density population growth, occurring in the designated area.
“[The comprehensive plan] is a documentation for a vision of future growth and development,” Wooley said. “It is a community-based document and a guide for rezoning decisions, as well as a guide for public and private investments.”
During the meeting, Wooley called the comprehensive plan a “five-year program” to progress the county’s “priorities for future land use.”
He plans to hold more hearings on the comprehensive plan over the next two months, before the final action is taken at the BOC’s Oct. 9 meeting.
“On Aug. 26, I will hold another public hearing at the planning and zoning board, and on Sept. 9, it will be the second official public hearing for the BOC,” Wooley said. “That is where we will actually make the amendment to this plan.”
During the Sept. 9 meeting, the BOC will vote to submit the comprehensive plan for regional and state approval.
Multiple residents raised questions about the comprehensive plan, as they were unsure of why the BOC decided to consider the changes.
Heather Stokes, a resident of Greene County, stated that the comprehensive plan is crucial for the community’s growing population. She supports “reasonable growth,” and believes proper infrastructure should be implemented as developments take place.
“If you live on the east side of Lake Oconee, there are only really two roads that get you to Publix, the restaurant, or access to I-20,” Stokes said. “New development is in the works, putting 690 homes on the Veazy connector, and if you think of each one of these homes having two cars, and everybody going to the grocery stores, restaurants, highways, it’s a lot of stress on a road that was never intended to be that busy.”
Greene County BOC Chairman Gary Usry noted that some citizens had brought concerns about the West Greene Character Area to the board earlier this year.
“Several months ago, we had a group that was concerned about some of the developments that were taking place,” Usry said. “The board heard their concerns and wanted to open the west corridor back up for discussion about that.”
In other business/Zoning and Subdivision for Aug. 12, the BOC :
• Approved the Consideration of the Request to amend Land Use Regulations, Appendix B (The Zoning Code, for sections 3.1 and 9.18. This request was initially brought to the BOC during their July meeting, but a decision was postponed to the following month due to concerns from some citizens.
“The Zoning Amendment revises the use of net acres with gross, as it applies to density in the calculation thereof,” said David Crawley, the Greene County manager. “This proposed change provides consistency with how the county has subsequently calculated density.”
• Approved the consideration to appoint members to the Greene County Public Facilities Authority. Each member of the BOC nominated an individual of their choice and could self-appoint to the position.
Angela Walker Deering, Dee Lindsey, Jeffrey Smith, Byron Lombard, and Mike McClure were nominated for the authority positions. Deering nominated herself as a temporary member until she finds someone to fill the position.
“We’ve already approved for the PFA to happen, and this is just nominating people,” Deering said. “[The PFA is] contingent on maintaining a publicly accessible website with up-to-date meeting schedules, agendas, and minutes. Publishing notices of meetings and agendas on the website and via email, notifications to subscribe residents at least one week in advance, providing recorded access to meetings when feasible, and preparing an annual report detailing the authority's activities, financial statements, and project updates.”
• Approved a consideration of a settlement agreement with DJ Greenway LLC, regarding the annexation of County Tax Parcel 0520000220.