Perry ponders Middle Georgia regional planning ideas

Officials from Perry sat down with members of the Middle Georgia Regional Commission last Wednesday and took a look into a crystal ball.

The focus was on future development, and this gathering was one of a series of meetings the commission was having with local governments in its service area.

Greg Boike and Cam Yearty, government services specialists with the commission, listened to ideas about development.

“The area west of Ga. 247 is a developable area commercially and industrially that we need to keep on the radar,” said Mayor James Faircloth.

Yearty said that type of development is important.

“Basically, what you’re expecting to see are new homes, businesses, subdivisions,” Yearty said. “Expect to see more activity in terms of building either those or more industrial sites in the next 20 years or so.”

Faircloth said the industrial park off Perry Parkway has 700 acres, with 100 acres already purchased by textile supplier Sandler AG. He’s ready for the remaining acreage to be developed commercially and industrially.

Another area is a proposed Ocmulgee Trails park, which would run along Houston’s eastern border, Faircloth said, adding that if the park passes it would make a lot of area undevelopable. Yearty said discussions are ongoing and it hasn’t yet been determined, but the areas surrounding the park would be developable as tourism attractions.

Access to the county’s undeveloped areas in the south is a problem because of transportation issues.

“If I’m not mistaken, access below Ga. 96 is limited,” Yearty said.

Faircloth replied that it was due to a lot of private property.

On another front, Yearty said development could take place in old shopping centers built up to 30 years ago that have more vacant spaces than occupied spaces, or at abandoned gas stations, or at abandoned warehouses.

A public hearing to discuss the matter further is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at the Middle Georgia Regional Commission office on Emery Highway in Macon. An open house at 4 p.m. will precede the event, Boike said.

To learn more about the plan, visit www.middlegeorgiarc.org/regional-plan.

The Middle Georgia Regional Commission serves 20 cities in Baldwin, Crawford, Houston, Jones, Macon-Bibb, Monroe, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, Twiggs and Wilkinson counties.

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