Wednesday, November 1, 2000
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Wednesday, November 1, 2000 |
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Late in game, state scuttles county planning effort
Fayette County commissioners were all set to adopt an updated comprehensive growth management plan, but the state of Georgia pulled the rug out from under them. The county Planning Commission approved the updated plan Oct. 5, and the County Commission had intended to approve it last week. But the state notified the county Oct. 10 that it should delay the plan update until 2000 U.S. Census figures are available. The due date for the new plan has been moved back to 2002, possibly 2003. County officials have been working under a state-imposed deadline to update the plan all year, and commissioners expressed amazement that the state changed the rules in the 11th hour. "It scares me that they want to come in and tell us how to plan, when this is indicative of the type planning we get from them," said Commissioner Greg Dunn. "They just figured out we had a census?" Commissioners have been vocal critics of the state's creation of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, claiming the authority is empowered to usurp the county's role in land use planning. County planning director Chris Venice said the Planning Department can still use the information in the updated comprehensive plan to work on a required update of the county's land use plan, but approval of the comprehensive plan will have to await the new census figures, which may not be available for months.
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