Oddo: “I’m looking for the reason to have a moratorium, and I don’t see it.”
The majority of the Fayette County Board of Commissioners does not think a moratorium on rezoning applications is a good idea right now.
That was made evident in the board’s 3-2 vote rejecting Commissioner Steve Brown’s motion in that direction. Commissioner Randy Ognio, who seconded the motion, was the other vote in favor.
The thinking among the other three members of the board was that the mechanisms in place now — and specifically the ongoing review of the county’s comprehensive plan — are sufficient. Brown countered that a moratorium would help the county from a liability standpoint, noting that he expects at least one and perhaps two lawsuits to result from last month’s denial of certain rezoning requests.
Brown’s motion at the Aug. 11 regular meeting was not for an immediate moratorium but to start the process, which would require certain action from staff as well as the county’s Planning Commission. The suggested period of time was 150 days.
Several members of the audience spoke in favor of the idea, saying it was a good time to take a step back and look at various land use issues in the unincorporated county.
Concerns aired during the public comment time included the lack of infrastructure to handle increased development as well as water issues. One speaker said half of the unincorporated county still uses wells for water, but County Manager Steve Rapson later said the actual figure was closer to 30-35 percent.
No one from the public spoke at the meeting in opposition to the proposed moratorium.
Brown’s argument, which he made at a previous meeting as well as this one, was that more rezoning applications and annexation requests are changing the face of the county and it will not be able to handle the changes without sufficient planning.
“We have seen other metro counties go down this road and fail,” said Brown. “Gwinnett County can generate $1 billion with a SPLOST but still cannot resolve its traffic issues. Before Ga. 400 was built there was no one there; now you cannot move on Ga. 400. These counties are losing high-paying jobs and high-profile residents who can move.”
By “using the same methodology as everyone else,” Brown said Fayette is headed down the same road. On the other hand, it could be the first in the metro area to do it a different way — taking the time to measure things like road capacity, school capacity and stormwater infrastructure and determine how much future development the county can handle.
Brown said that when the plan for the Pinewood Forrest development was unveiled, he told Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy his biggest fear was that it might be too successful too quickly. “If we see more Pinewood Forrest-type developments, we are in big trouble,” he told the board.
Brown urged an inclusive process that would include at least four public meetings with the public and all relevant governmental bodies, striving for cooperation from the county’s cities.
“We need to see how much the center of the county can sustain,” he said. “We need to answer these questions. It can be done in 150 days, and this will allow citizens to have a say in the process.”
Chairman Charles Oddo said he does not see evidence of Brown’s claim that “unprecedented” development is coming to Fayette. “I’m concerned about doing this to prevent a problem that has not yet occurred,” he said. “We are reviewing the comprehensive plan. We have a process in place that will be finished by the middle of next year.”
Oddo noted that Brown is on the steering committee for that review and will be able to give considerable input. “I’m looking for the reason to have a moratorium, and I don’t see it,” Oddo said. “I need to see extreme concerns or extreme necessity. I’m not seeing that.”
Brown said both rezoning requests denied at the July 28 regular meeting included constitutional notifications, and speculated that both will probably result in lawsuits.
“How many lawsuits do we want to be involved in between now and a year from now?” he asked. “We already have a problem with Fayetteville over an annexation. If this keeps happening, how much are we going to spend before we realize we should take a break?”
Commissioner Randy Ognio said that between the ordinary development now going on in the county and what is happening in municipalities, things will soon “come to a halt. We already some intersections that are difficult to get through. This will affect the character of the county. It would be good to step back and see what we can do before we get to where Gwinnett is. A little planning goes a long way.”
Oddo pointed out that the school system is currently under capacity according to the Board of Education, and while other problems exist they will not be solved in five months.
“We can’t control what the cities do,” he said. “We can put some things in place right now; we don’t have to wait until the comprehensive plan review is done. We are on the right path. We do not need to overreact.”
Brown continued to stress the need to get away from a “piecemeal approach” of denying applications over and over.
“Let’s have an intelligent, thoughtful and inclusive process,” he said, citing Cobb County’s recent move to build a new stadium and the controversy over it that resulted in the commission chairman losing his bid for re-election “because the citizens rebelled,” as Brown put it.
“Look at what would happen with current development, with future development, and whether that is acceptable,” said Brown. “If we do that, we would be the only one of the 10 counties in metro Atlanta to have done something like that.”
Commissioner Charles Rousseau said he is not in favor of a moratorium at this time but wants to make sure the comments and suggestions during this discussion are implemented in the comprehensive plan review.
Rapson said there would be “several public meetings” regarding the comprehensive plan.
