Citizens Speak Out on Zoning

Members of the Jasper County Planning and Zoning Commission were joined by a number of interested citizens last Thursday night for a “town hall” type meeting for consultants to receive input on revising Jasper County’s land use regulations.

“A Zoning Code for the 21st Century” is what Town Planning & Design hopes to achieve—one that is palatable to the majority of the county, and reflects the direction in which the county will grow.

The consultants said that the study, development and review of the new ordinance will likely take 5-8 months. They said they understood that people liked the rural nature of the county, and that they want an ordinance that will encourage development that portrays that.

After the group was given a brief historical perspective of zoning and a brief overview of the county’s current ordinance, the floor was opened for questions and comments.

Mrs. Mary Patrick spoke out about the concern of having an ordinance that doesn’t have the necessary protections. For example, she said DCA has said that counties off I-20 are potential landfill sites, and she wants to be able to prevent that if needed.

Jack Bernard said that the county wants high quality, positive growth.

Lee Holman said that it is important to preserve the rural character of the community and that we need architectural controls.

Jehan El-Jourbagy said she works on the Square and commented how nice it is to look out over the Square. The city planners had a vision, she said, and encouraged any development ordinance to keep that in mind.
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Gary Heaton reminded planners that the ordinance will not affect the city of Monticello at all. He said that his goal is to see that we leave this county where our children can afford to live.

James Westbrook addressed the concern that he hears people want to conserve the rural atmosphere, but the county’s tax assessors are steadily making it harder for people to stay in conservation under the state guidelines.

Beth Martin said that the conservation statute was put in place to protect farmers and that many are taking advantage of it who are not actually farming. Someone else spoke up and said the statute was designed to preserve green space.

County Commissioners of Georgia committee that is looking at the conservation legislation. He said when we appoint people to the Board of Assessors, we ask the what their interests are.

Ronnie Payne suggested that the county, like everyone, must abide by the law until they can change it if that is the goal.

Ms. El-Jourbagy also asked the planners to remember the Scenic Byways when writing the new ordinance and asked about parks and recreation areas.

There was much talk about conservation subdivisions, and Robert Jordan, a local engineer, said that from his experience the areas that have had the most success with conservation ordinances are those that offer incentives to the developers for doing it. A conservation subdivision might allow 25 homes on one acre lots, for example, but the subdivision would actually be many more acres, with built in green space, possibly parks, trails, etc.

There was talk of capitalizing on the 33 percent of the county’s land that is public land—national forest and state park, and making sure the ordinance allows for nature-based tourism initiatives currently under way.

Mr. Bernard said there is no retail sales base here. He said the hospital doesn’t get more patients because the bulk of the population lives near the lake…geographically removed from the hospital and town center.

Mr. Bernard went on to talk about his frustration with the school, saying the county got stuck with paving a road that should be the school’s responsibility. He said Jasper has the lowest SAT scores in the region and a big reason for the local problems is we have the worst schools. He said he didn’t want to become a dumping ground for Atlanta. He said that as income levels go up, so will test scores.

Thursday’s meeting lasted about two hours, and the consultants are ready to begin work. Persons with concerns about the zoning code can talk with the local Planning Director Chris Anderson, 706-468-4905.

Town Planning & Design plans to visit again early next year to discuss progress and seek more input.