MGRC hosts comprehensive plan meeting for county and cities

On Thursday, December 16, the Middle Georgia Regional Commission hosted one of the final comprehensive plan meetings prior to the plan’s adoption. The Comprehensive Plan, a document created and adopted every five years, is meant to assist the county and its municipalities focus their goals, both as individual entities and as a unit.

So far, the MGRC has held several meetings, speaking directly with stakeholders to discover the needs of citizens. The commission has even gone so far as to reach out the citizens directly through mailed surveys and web links. Thursday marked the commission’s final point for feedback. In only a few short months, the plan will be adopted by the county commissioners and each of the city’s council members; then implementation will begin.

Government Services Specialist Taylor Stickels presented the comprehensive plan update, providing broad-strokes notes and information on the process to all those present. “[A comprehensive plan] gives you ‘Qualified Local Government’ status,” Stickels explained. “QLG status allows you to apply for things that you would not otherwise be able to apply for like CDBGs, One Georgia Equity grants, Land and Water Conservation Fund grants, as well as additional points on these applications even if it’s not a requirement. It helps shape future growth of the area by providing a sort of template for what the vision is now and what we want to see in five years. It helps inform zoning and rezoning decisions.”

It seems that the commission has been hard at work on 2022’s plan. Since May, they have been in constant contact with the public and community leaders, finding needs, and developing them into the plan. Goals have shifted for the community in the last five years, and thus, the comprehensive plan must do the same.

The plan contains several goals, covering a number of topics, ranging from Economic Development to Land Development, from Broadband to Housing. Stickels went through each topic and discussed the goals behind each.

The 2022 Comprehensive Plan emphasizes a focus on Economic Development, with the county and its municipalities working to “enhance relationships with post-secondary institutions to create a more educated workforce” and “develop ways to expand economic development” and to “diversify the economy” to reduce the areas dependency on Robins Air Force Base.

For the rapidly growing Houston County, additional housing has become a major topic of discussion. The county’s goals for this topic include the development of multiple types of housing, with varying densities, while also promoting workforce and affordable housing, providing resources to the homeless, and reducing blight.

With several families calling Houston County home as well, the area has been hard-pressed to maintain a high level of recreational services for its constituents. For each of the local governments, there is a consistent effort to develop and reinforce areas for parks or walking trails, basketball courts and splash pads. To further enhance this work, the governments have a goal to “improve communication with citizen about local government services available,” to “enhance intergovernmental coordination for a greater quality of services,” and to “ensure high-quality public infrastructure.”

With our county’s natural and cultural resources, local governments seem to endeavor to maintain several aspects of the county’s past while also moving forward into the future, with goals such as further developing stormwater management, expanding the availability of electric vehicle charging stations, and preserving natural and cultural resources while investing into parks.

Houston County is large. Its cities can be far apart, and traveling distance from tip-to-tip can be vast. Therefore, transportation has become an important topic of conversation. Over the next five years, Houston County will work to improve traffic flow, develop public transit opportunities and improve pedestrian walkability.

Access to broadband has very quickly become important to our way of life, as jobs have services have moved online, and the trend gives no indication of slowing. As a result, the county will endeavor to ensure that all of the county’s constituents have access to reliable, affordable broadband.

Finally, the commission also paid special attention to the county’s land use, and its special need for redevelopment in some areas. Local governments have been tasked with goals to “protect Robins Air Force Base from encroachment,” “develop incentives for redevelopment of obsolete or under-utilized properties,” “promote new and infill development in areas with adequate existing infrastructure capacity,” and work to develop design standards that promote developments “that reduce or eliminate negative impacts.”

Several community leaders were present at the presentation as well, including representatives from Centerville, Perry and Warner Robins.

Community Development Director Bryan Wood, with the City of Perry, noted the plans for extended recreation and housing. Additionally, Perry saw some of the greatest response from citizen surveys. “We as the city staff, taking into consideration [our constituents’] comments, and also the stakeholder meetings, tried to be a little more specific with this plan as far as where character areas are and what those character areas say. We have had a lot of comments and modifications that we suggested to the regional commission. I believe most were incorporated into the plan.”

Mayor John Harley was in attendance as well. Centerville has seen much of the rapid growth in Houston County, and Harley made note that soon, Centerville will see an additional 400 homes placed within its city limits. The Comprehensive Plan will play a large part in how Centerville will continue with this kind of growth. “This comprehensive plan is well done. I’ve attended, I think, all the meetings, just to see what was going on. I’ve sat down individually over each of the goals in there. I see all these things happening in our area, and I get excited about all of it.”

Warner Robins Community and Economic Development Director Kate Hogan claimed her excitement for the comprehensive plans adoption, as it allows the city of Warner Robins to reach specific goals it has set forth. “I think the comprehensive plan is great It sets some overarching goals for us to make sure we’re working toward, it really sets a foundation as far as some of the things our Community and Economic Development Department are working toward, but also makes sure we have a direction to move the city. This is our lane that we’re going to stay in for the next five years, it outlines our goals.”

Executive Director of MGRC, Laura Mathis, has been leading her team since May of 2021 to have this plan complete. As it comes to a close, Mathis commented, “The planning process, it is designed to be thoughtful and deliberate, so we’re right on schedule for where we thought we would be. It’s the same schedule we use across the region.” The MGRC serves several local governments in the middle Georgia area. “It’s a good reflection of the changes that have happened in Houston County over the last five years.”

Currently, the comprehensive plan is set to go into effect in January or February. The full, in-depth plan can be found at https://tinyurl.com/HoustonJointPlan.

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