The public will have a chance later this week to weigh in on Columbia County’s vision for the future.
A public hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 29 for the draft proposal of the Foundations for the Future Comprehensive Plan.
Georgia requires local governments to update their comprehensive plan every five years. The Columbia County Chamber is working on its five-year plan as well.
Scott Sterling is working on the five-year plan for the Columbia County government.
He is the Planning Services Division Director and explained the process for ABD.
“We have to do a comprehensive plan that is our vision document. A basic way to look at it kind of describes not only who we were, who we are today, and where, most importantly, where we want to go in the future,” he said. “The current plan is vision 2035, and we’ve had that name for two plans; we decided to rebrand it and kind of give it a fresh look.”
Sterling said the county has grown substantially over the past decade with new industries and new residents. The goal is to evolve with the community, setting it up for the best possible future.
The 133-page plan is broken down by sections, including housing and neighborhoods, transportation, community facilities, and natural environment.
This is also a section covering land use and development. It examines both heavy and light industrial industries, such as manufacturing, warehousing, and the distribution of goods and services.
However, the planning commission’s recent approval to rezone property in three areas near Interstate 2- near exit 183, including White Oak, Pumpkin Center, and Byrd Farm will likely change plans laid out in Vision 2035.
“Right now, Vision 2035 has activity centers in those areas, generally around the interchanges,” said Sterling. “In Foundations for the Future, the future land use, we are going away from activity centers and back to, I’ll say more traditional, but different character area designations. We created a technology and industrial character area, and that’s going in the Foundations for the Future draft.
It will encompass the area with the three data centers. The county commission must still approve the rezoning for the data centers.
Sterling pointed out similar plans for land use, and rezoning preceded the development of the Horizon South Industrial Park and White Oak Business Park.
“With all comprehensive plans, they are a vision. It’s a guide. It’s not binding. They can only do what that map says they can do in those areas,” he said. “The commission has the authority and has the right to make some decisions as to whether there are changing conditions and go in a different direction. Foundations for the Future, in some respects, is anticipating, potentially, what might happen here in the next month or so.”
After the public hearing later this week, the staff will make any modifications or revisions that may be necessary following this last round of public input. The document then goes to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. If it is approved there, it returns to the county commission for a final vote. Sterling anticipates that it will be at the Feb. 17 meeting.
The Jan. 29 public meeting begins at 6 p.m. It will be in the Building A auditorium at the Evans Government Complex, 630 Ronald Reagan Drive in Evans.
Foundations for the Future is available online at: https://www.futurecolumbiacounty.com/
