County Discusses Land Use

The Jasper County Board of Commissioners and the Jasper County Planning Commission held a joint work session on May 17.

The meeting was used primarily to discuss the details and changes of the future land use map that has been drafted for much of 2023.

Once the meeting was called to order by Chairman Don Jernigan, the meeting was largely led by Jon McBrayer. Mr. McBrayer is the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Manager and Planner for the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission.

A number of preliminary changes were made to the future land use map after taking reviews from both the public and the board. The majority of the changes presented saw proposed residential and commercial growth revert back to agricultural parcels. These parcels included parts of Shady Dale, Hillsboro, and land within Monticello city limits. The common narrative across the room was the idea of maintaining a rural feel that Jasper County has been accustomed to.

While Mr. McBrayer brought forth a proposition to compromise between residential/ commercial growth and agriculture growth, it was determined that a number of these proposed changes would revert back to agricultural parcels.

Mr. McBrayer also made sure to note that the map currently presented isn’t perfect, and that the map can be changed or edited up until around early August when it gets submitted to the Department of Community Affairs. It was also reiterated that there would be one more public hearing to discuss the changes that were presented at this meeting.