In light of a staggering growth rate that is threatening to overwhelm its infrastructure, the Coweta County Board of Commissioners decided Tuesday to look at implementing impact fees on new development.

Commission Chairman Lawrence Nelms introduced the idea of a fee and estimated it to be $5,000 for a new development. Impact fees would be imposed on all new development in the county, with the exception of industrial development.

The commissioners voted to conduct a study on the feasibility of an impact fee and what the county should charge. Public information officer Tom Corker said the commissioners did not give a day when the study would be completed.

"The exact cost of the impact fee would also be determined by the study," he said.

In fast-growing counties and municipalities around the state, impact fees have become a way for the new residents to pay for the cost of infrastructure improvements, such as roads. In neighboring Fayette County, the town of Tyrone just implemented a fee of slightly over $1,000 for each new residential lot in the city.

Coweta County's growth rate has exceeded what even the most optimistic planners estimated. In 1990, the county's population was slightly over 53,000. Today, the county is bursting at the seam with more than 85,000 residents and the county roads are resembling Atlanta's at rush hour.