The Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center met with the Long County Land Development Code Committee for a workshop Thursday — the first meeting between the two entities aimed at establishing a zoning and regulation land code ordinance for the county.
Tricia Reynolds and Michele Canon, of the CGRDC, led the discussion.
“We want to roll up our sleeves and get into this meeting, so between you and us we can come up with what is the best for your county,” Reynolds said.
“We need to focus on what we do. In the past, if a man had some land he could put anything from a hog pen to anything else next to a house, and there was nothing to stop him. Hopefully, we can protect homeowners in the future,” committee member Kent Hall said. “We need to do this, but we also don’t want to over burden the old landowners.”
Issues discussed included environmental concerns like flood plan management, storm water management, and erosion and sedimentation control.
Some of the other topics addressed included an unsafe housing code, home occupancies with conditional uses ordinance and establishing a nuisance code. Guidelines on parking design criteria, parking lot landscaping, and prohibited parking was also on the agenda.
Another item to be reviewed by the CGRDC was reducing the number of possible zoning districts from around 15 to eight, by consolidation.
Reynolds also gave committee members “homework.” They were to review the Table of Uses by Zoning Districts to ensure the specific description of the property usage should remain in its current district category.
According to committee member Mike McGowan, a majority of comments he has received from the public supported establishing a zoning plan.
“We need some regulatory control, but we don’t want it too restrictive to hinder growth. It needs to be done in a timely manner, but it is more important to get it right,” he said.
The estimated time of completion for the project is August or September of this year, according to Reynolds.
Tricia Reynolds and Michele Canon, of the CGRDC, led the discussion.
“We want to roll up our sleeves and get into this meeting, so between you and us we can come up with what is the best for your county,” Reynolds said.
“We need to focus on what we do. In the past, if a man had some land he could put anything from a hog pen to anything else next to a house, and there was nothing to stop him. Hopefully, we can protect homeowners in the future,” committee member Kent Hall said. “We need to do this, but we also don’t want to over burden the old landowners.”
Issues discussed included environmental concerns like flood plan management, storm water management, and erosion and sedimentation control.
Some of the other topics addressed included an unsafe housing code, home occupancies with conditional uses ordinance and establishing a nuisance code. Guidelines on parking design criteria, parking lot landscaping, and prohibited parking was also on the agenda.
Another item to be reviewed by the CGRDC was reducing the number of possible zoning districts from around 15 to eight, by consolidation.
Reynolds also gave committee members “homework.” They were to review the Table of Uses by Zoning Districts to ensure the specific description of the property usage should remain in its current district category.
According to committee member Mike McGowan, a majority of comments he has received from the public supported establishing a zoning plan.
“We need some regulatory control, but we don’t want it too restrictive to hinder growth. It needs to be done in a timely manner, but it is more important to get it right,” he said.
The estimated time of completion for the project is August or September of this year, according to Reynolds.