Columbia County commissioners will be voting on some revisions to the county’s roadmap for the future.
Director Scott Sterling of the Columbia County Planning Division said the Georgia Department of Community Affairs requires municipalities to do a complete re-write of their plan every ten years and an update at the five-year mark. Vision 2035 was first written in 2016, so this is the required five-year update.
“Most of what we did was update the community work program, all of the things the staff need to accomplish to achieve the goals and objectives that are in the plan itself,” Sterling said. “A lot of that’s going to be the road improvement projects.”
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Another updated section is the land use plan.
Two major things are happening in Columbia County since Vision 2035 was first written: The construction of Amazon buildings 1 and 2 in Appling and the growing demand for new housing connected to the incoming cyber workforce and support businesses.
“Where Amazon is in the White Oak Business Park and with Club Car moving out there, that really set up the opportunity for industrial development to occur and you are seeing the fruits of that activity going on with Amazon 1 and Amazon 2,” Sterling said.
He said it will lead to a change in the land use dynamics in the area around the Appling I-20 interchange.
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As for new home construction, Sterling explained Fort Gordon survived the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s decisions, got new missions and is now a hub for cyber security. The result is more and more people are re-locating to the area.
“Housing stock is low, the demand is high, and people are continuing to move here so we’re having to respond to that, but it’s not that new for us,” he said. Columbia County has been one of Georgia’s fastest-growing counties for many years.
Sterling said they understand some people living in the western part of the county want to hold on to the rural nature that exists today and that is protected in the plan.
However, he said some property owners have expressed an interest in developing their property.
“Part of the challenge the county is tasked with is meeting that demand but also respecting the folks who live out there,” he said.
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Looking to the future, Sterling said one major challenge is the anticipated construction of a new exit and interchange between exits 190 and 183. It will connect the Louisville Road area to Fort Gordon’s new Gate Six. Funding for that is still pending with the Department of Defense. He says it is included in the current plan as a long-range project.
The commission is scheduled to vote on the Vision 2035 update at the June 15 meeting.
Vision 2035 Draft by Joe Edge on Scribd
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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