(Cleveland)- Officials were pleased with the response from local citizens who showed up for a public hearing held Tuesday on the proposed joint Comprehensive Plan for White County.
White County and the cities of Helen and Cleveland have been asking citizens to let officials know their thoughts on the future of the area.
During the hearing Joe Rothwell, Regional Planner with the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission presented an overview of what they are looking for in this comprehensive plan, things establishing a vision, the needs, and opportunities, along with a future development scenario.
Rothwell said the input from citizens has been good, “Both in-person and online it’s just been phenomenal. We have probably double what we had in surveys five years ago and it’s really given a lot of feedback for the community leaders,” he said.
Some of those speaking at Tuesday’s hearing talked about historic preservation, more bike trails and recreation opportunities, and a modern library as being a part of a thriving community. The comprehensive plan for White County is something that is usually updated every five years, but Rothwell said you don’t have to wait five years to add to or update the plan.
Citizens still have time to provide their input online at each of the government’s websites, but Rothwell says you need to do it soon. “We plan to finalize the comp plan draft in the next two weeks. It will go to DCA [and] typically DCA has about a three week review period. [Then] we’ll come back to the cities and county to adopt by the end of June.”
