The city of

Senoia is one step closer to having an impact fee ordinance in place.

Officials held

a public hearing Monday night on the Capital Improvement Element of the

ordinance to gauge public support or dissent for the effort.

Since the only

comment was a muffled cough from the back of the room, the City Council

voted to send the plan to the Chattahoochee-Flint Regional Development

Center for review.

The council

also held a public hearing on its planned new zoning category, R-40 Open

Space/Greenspace zoning.

Once again,

the sound of silence was heard in the meeting room, and the council instructed

city attorney Drew Whalen to draw up an ordinance for the new category.

The zoning

will allow developers to build at a higher density, if the make a concerted

effort to save more of the city's trees and greenspace.

The only council

comment was from Councilman Robert Belisle, who wants to see the minimum

house size for the new zoning to be 2,000 sq. ft.

"Wouldn't

that scare developers off? That's 500 more than our current minimum,"

said Councilman Bill Wood.

Whalen told

the council that it could decide on the house size at a later date, since

it would not be part of the resolution.