Fayetteville is fast approaching

a decision on the plan for the Southside development. The proposed development

of this area has caught the attention of many of us that use Ga. Highway

92 or Ga. Highway 85 from the south as we travel to and from Fayetteville.

The most recent consideration

has been through meetings of the Southside Task Force, a group of around

20 people representing the many sides of the issues. The Task Force has

worked very hard to develop a good land plan for this area a plan which

will not only advances the quality of life in Fayetteville and Fayette

County, but will do so in a manner that does not create more problems

than it solves.

Unfortunately, how well this

Southside Master Plan accomplishes overall goals will not be known for

many years. Fortunately, the master plan now features a watershed plan

which is an exceptional piece of work.

As one of the environmentalists

involved with the planning efforts, I can tell you that this document

is truly amazing and, if adopted by the Fayetteville City Council, will

go a long way toward protecting the environment.

Protection of water quantity

and quality in one of our small streams has been incorporated into the

plan. Fayetteville, the property owners and developers have included provisions

to protect the stream in the development agreement which are well ahead

of every other planning effort in Georgia.

Staff from the Atlanta Regional

Commission were favorably impressed with the proposal. When implemented,

the environmental considerations in this plan will serve as an example

of how to really protect those resources we consider so valuable.

When The Line Creek Association

of Fayette County, a group of citizens I work with, became interested

in the details of the watershed plan, our first step was to sample the

main drainage stream, Perry Creek, to determine the general health of

that stream.

Perry Creek is, or was, very

much like other small streams in Fayette County. We have hundreds of similar

streams, each feeding into larger streams which provide most of our drinking

water. Parts of Perry Creek resemble many other streams in the county

in that they have experienced intense development right up to the stream

bank.

This type of development produces

a list of impacts which is long, and all negative, especially as they

relate to water quality. But of equal importance is that in their undisturbed

condition, these small streams continue to flow throughout the year.

That is the main part of the

definition of a "perennial stream." These streams, taken one

at a time, provide only a small amount of water during low flow periods

of the year. However, when added together, they provide a valuable part

of our drinking water source during the driest months of the year.

If we protect them, we postpone

or perhaps even prevent future water restrictions. Continue development

right to the edge of our streams as we have in the past, and there is

no way the metropolitan Atlanta area can escape water restrictions in

the future.

I collected and identified

a number of aquatic organisms in the various habitats within Perry Creek.

Unfortunately, there were only a few insects and one or two other critters.

Based on that sampling, it is my opinion that Perry Creek is in trouble.

This stream should have many different types of insects and an assortment

of other critters, very much like what I have found in similar streams

around Fayette County.

The primary feature of the

watershed management plan is an expanded buffer along Perry Creek north

of Hwy. 92. In addition, there are four phases which will be implemented,

with each succeeding phase depending on the prior phase. It begins with

a very important study to establish baseline watershed conditions.

The second phase will assess

the impact of the proposed development, the third phase will be specification

of goals for best management practices (BMPs) and the fourth phase will

be for final BMPs design review and certification.

This may sound like something

that would be logical and expected of any large development, but it simply

doesn't happen in today's world.

When this plan, as it relates

to the development plan, is in place and working, we will have some of

the best protections of our environment anywhere in the state of Georgia.

Based on this approach, Perry Creek will have a chance to recover and

maintain the values we know can exist when adequate open space is established.

While this is good news for

the environment, it may not be quite as good for some of the zoning considerations

and traffic congestion. But I believe that, like the environmental issues,

the city of Fayetteville is listening. They are making strong efforts

to address those difficult issues. More work may be necessary to improve

the Southside Master Plan even further, but this is more progress than

we have seen in many other parts of Georgia and even within Fayette County.