Wednesday, October 31, 2001
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Wednesday, October 31, 2001 |
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Commission holds off on overlays, green space By DAVE
HAMRICK County commissioners want to study the idea of creating special architectural standards for the county's state highway corridors a little longer before deciding whether to adopt the rules. New standards, called overlays, were among numerous changes in regulations the commission considered last week. Special standards already are in effect for Ga. highways 85 north, 54 west, 314 north and 74 north, and the county Planning Commission has recommended that overlays be placed on the remaining highway corridors. Commissioners tabled the matter until their Nov. 8 meeting. "I have a real problem with this," said Planning Commission member Al Gilbert before casting the lone vote against the recommendation earlier this month. "I think government sometimes steps beyond a role it should be involved in. The people we're hurting are the small business people in our community." In previous discussions, other members of the commission have argued that the new rules are aimed at balancing the rights of property owners with the need for good planning. Commissioners also delayed action on the Planning Commission's recommendation concerning a new "green space" subdivision zoning category as part of the county's plans to comply with the state's green space programs. Gov. Roy Barnes last year pushed metropolitan Atlanta counties to adopt a goal of setting aside 20 percent of their land as green space, and Fayette answered the call by adopting that goal and accepting more than $700,000 the first year to help facilitate it. This year's allotment for Fayette will be slightly less than $700,000, to be split by the county and its cities. The new green space category would allow developers to build homes on smaller lots in exchange for setting aside permanent green space. But commissioners last week said they don't want to create a situation in which developers can "average" lot sizes and increase overall density. They'll study the rules and discuss them again Dec. 5.
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