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Hill Country plan receives national accolades

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@theCitizenNews.com

It is a plan for today. It is a plan for tomorrow. It is a plan that forges a new path for what is becoming a family of communities intent on preserving a high quality of life and environment.

Recently awarded a technical assistance grant by the Smart Growth Leadership Institute (SGLI), the Chattahoochee Hill Country Conservancy in south Fulton County was one of only four communities nationwide from a pool of more than 100 applicants to receive the honor.

Chattahoochee Hill Country (CHC) President Stacy Patton said the non-profit conservancy was selected for the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program for taking significant steps through the efforts of community members and local government toward land conservation measures in the 40,000-acre area in south Fulton.

The effort that led to the creation of the non-profit Chattahoochee Hill Country Conservancy came after local residents began to search for a way to promote sustainable development and protect the area’s ecological health and quality of life in the face of the impending traditional development coming from the continued growth of metropolitan Atlanta, Patton explained. Responding to this reality, the emerging CHC family of communities agreed on a concept of clustered villages and hamlets and large areas of greenspace as an alternative to protect the area’s resources while promoting economic development.

“This is an example of truly smart growth, sustainable growth, in an area not yet developed,” said Fulton County Environment and Community Development Director Steve Cover, remembering his introduction to the 40,000-acre project that lies only 30 miles from downtown Atlanta. “It’s a special opportunity for the type of development we rarely see in this country.”

The Smart Growth grant will provide assistance in two specific areas, Patton said. A project scorecard will assess the smart growth attributes of the CHC project as a way of improving the local effort and making development expectations more explicit. In addition, a strategic growth assessment will broadly examine all the opportunities for and obstacles to change and provide CHC with strategic options for how to achieve short and long-term results from their efforts, she said.

“This technical assistance grant will move our smart growth community certification program to an implementable level with the assistance of the Smart Growth Institute,” Patton explained. “Developers will understand early how to improve their projects. The community, the county and the region will all benefit as a result.”

Patton said smart growth means more than having a vision of the future. It means having the tools, and in the case of the local effort, creating the tools to implement that vision.

“If the community had just sat back and watched, this area would turn into a traditional development. But the community wanted a new model,” Patton said, understanding the realities of current development trends while voicing the beliefs of a community that has adopted an alternative worldview. “There is nothing wrong with traditional development. It’s just that we are forging a new path. This is a proactive move that addresses protecting our resources and the quality of life before the growth arrives.”

Communities selected for Smart Growth implementation assistance receive input and consultation from SGLI and its partners at University of California and University of Colorado on issues such as revitalizing older neighborhoods, protecting farm and ranch land, providing housing and transportation choices and enhancing the quality of the environment.

The land use plan for developing hamlets and villages while, maintaining environmental integrity and a large percentage of greenspace, came after the adoption of ordinances supported by local government. It was the effort of local government officials that proved instrumental in helping implement the CHC vision, said Patton.

Cover said the combination of the members of a community committed to its vision and local government participation culminated in the passage of local legislation that sets CHC apart.

“It’s a rarity in this type of work. I’ve never seen anything like this kind of local support,” Cover remarked. “We modified the Comprehensive Plan and got the conservation subdivision and Transfer of Development Rights ordinances passed. This is a great opportunity to do proactive planning, to get way ahead of the game before the develop interests arrive.”

It was the Serenbe area of Chattahoochee Hill Country that Gov. Sonny Perdue chose for his announcement last month of the Georgia Land Conservation Act, an initiative designed to encourage long-term conservation and protection of the state’s natural resources. The initiative was passed Jan. 31 by the Georgia House.

Overall, said Patton, the SGLI vision helps communities achieve diversified employment, a broadened tax base, increased choice in housing and transportation, convenience, healthier neighborhoods and quality of life. SGLI maintains that growth and prosperity can be achieved without many of the growing pains associated with sprawl, including traffic congestion, car-dominated neighborhoods, the loss of farmland and open space, crowded schools and rising taxes to pay for services and ever-expanding rings of new infrastructure.