Wednesday, January 23, 2002
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Wednesday, January 23, 2002 |
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State green space grants come to Fayette By DAVE
HAMRICK
Fayette County and local cities will receive $685,537 for green space projects in fiscal year 2002, according to an announcement last week. It's the third installment in a program that is expected to span decades. Local governments received a little over $700,000 in the first grants in fiscal 2000, slightly less than that in 2001. The Georgia Greenspace Commission approved the grants under the Georgia Community Greenspace Program during a meeting last week in Atlanta. Fayette County will receive $341,740, Fayetteville $72,736, Peachtree City $241,995 and Tyrone $29,066. The funds will help the local governments acquire and permanently protect green space. Goal of the state program is preservation of 20 percent of the total acreage in participating metro Atlanta counties. "Fast-growing counties throughout Georgia report that they have begun to protect flood plains, neighborhood recreation areas, trail corridors and other special sites," said Gov. Roy Barnes in announcing the grants. "They understand how important livable neighborhoods are to their economic success." In all, 40 Georgia counties were eligible to participate in the Georgia Community Greenspace Program in its first year. An additional 49 counties became eligible during the current fiscal year. These counties must have a population of at least 60,000 or an average annual growth rate of 800 people. The General Assembly appropriated $30 million for grants to these governments during this fiscal year. The counties' grant shares are proportional to their tax digests of residential real property. "These counties have made a wide variety of accomplishments during the first year of the program. They should be proud," said Commission Chairman Clay Long. As part of its participation in the program, Fayette recently enacted a "conservation subdivision" zoning category that grants developers more flexibility on lot sizes in exchange for setting aside permanently protected open space. The city of Fayetteville also has approved a separate zoning category. Fayette also has set aside 80 acres of donated property at Ga. Highway 74 and Redwine Road, and has purchased 180 acres for a park, including about 30 acres of undisturbed permanent green space, at Kenwood Road and Ga. Highway 279. The county's land use map and plans also have been revised to incorporate the goals of the green space program. If the program's goals are realized, Fayette would preserve about 3,800 acres of its 19,000 acres for green space, something that won't be done overnight, said county senior planner Pete Frisina. "It's going to be a lifetime of doing this," he said.
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