During a rare Saturday morning meeting, the Coweta County Commission went to school on the county’s proposed new zoning classifications.

Planning director Robert Tolleson said the overhauling of the county’s zoning came as a result of the county’s new comprehensive plan and several public meetings. The new classifications will help “develop tools for the growth strategy” and enable the county to play a bigger role in determining where the county’s future growth should occur.

One of the biggest discussion was over the proposed village concept. The county already has a request from developer Tom Reese who want to build the county’s first village on McIntosh Trail.

“We’re basically talking about new towns, aren’t we?” questioned Commissioner Leigh Schlumper.

Tolleson agreed with her and said that’s why the county is including different forms of multi-modal transportation in the villages concept.

In the proposed ordinance, the purpose of New Village Centers is to provide for the orderly development of new communities that provide a sense of place through a unified architectural theme; a balance of uses for living, working, shopping and playing, that make efficient use of infrastructure; and that encourage walking as an alternative mode of transportation.

The county’s two proposed new villages are McIntosh and Macedonia, in the western part of the county. Another village could not be rezoned until the first village is at least 85 percent complete.

The village will have two distinct zones:

•Village Service Zone – A mixed-use area providing community services and high-density housing in an arrangement that is conveniently accessed by walking a distance of not more than 700 feet from the nearest point within a public meeting place consisting of one of the following; a public school, a public square or a public green.

•Village Neighborhood Zone – A predominantly residential neighborhood consisting of three or more types of housing, all of which is directly connected to the Village Service Zone with a network of streets, sidewalks, and multi-use paths such that all occupied structures are within a Village Neighborhood Zone,the outer boundary of which is not more than one-half mile from the public meeting place.

The closest thing Coweta currently has to a village is SummerGrove and Tolleson said if it had more of a commercial district, it would qualify as a good village.

Schlumper said she’s looking at buying a house in SummerGrove, but warned of the impacts.

“SummerGrove is killing the school system. You’re talking about three schools just for that development,” she said.

The County Commission is continuing its discussion on the concept and has not set a date for a vote on the issue.

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