Large lots, viable downtown pique residents’ interests

Nearly 100 Tyrone residents turned out Thursday night to offer their vision for how the bustling town should grow.

Thursday night’s meeting was the latest step in getting the town’s comprehensive plan approved. Consultant Jonathan Lewis of JJ & G Consulting told the crowd the growth in the Atlanta region was among the fastest in the country and Tyrone would be seeing even more of the growth.

“Current projection place Tyrone’s population around 8,800 in 2027,” Lewis said.

With Peachtree City nearly built out, more developers will be looking at Tyrone and unincorporated Fayette County, so Lewis said the purpose of Thursday’s visioning workshop was to formulate a plan for how the town should look in the next 20 years.

The consultant group already sent a survey to residents asking about preferences for the type of development the town should encourage. But a number of residents claimed they never received the survey, so the town’s staff is extending the deadline for completing the survey for another two weeks. A copy is available at tyrone.org, and residents can drop off the survey at Town Hall.

The residents then glimpsed a series of photos and were asked to place green dots on favorable pictures and red dots on undesirable developments.

Town Manager Barry Amos said early assessments showed the residents liked larger lots, but also liked a downtown with small shops and residences near the stores.

“It was just a great turnout, and it’s nice to see that we’re already doing some of the things the residents like,” he said.

The results of Thursday’s meeting will be analyzed by the consultants and then released to the residents in early 2007.