Proposed land use plan still unpopular

GAINESVILLE - Gainesville/Hall County Comprehensive land use planners said Thursday night that nothing is ready to vote on yet.

One county commissioner said that's fine because he would not vote for it.

Rural land owners upset by a proposal three weeks ago to limit development to one unit per ten acres remained unhappy as chief planning consultant Greg Dale said it was just a proposal aimed at re-channeling growth to urban areas where the resources are.

He said the final decision rests with the Hall County Commission, but Commissioner Steve Gailey said if the plan was up for a vote now, he would vote against it because his constituents don't want it.

According to Gailey property holders are faced with serious financial loss with one residential unit per ten acres or two per ten acres with green space set aside.

"It takes my district and it portrays it to the standpoint that if you don't have money or can't afford the property you're not going to live there," Gailey said.

Gailey added that's discriminatory, saying he could not imagine a judge anywhere upholding it.

Dale said Hall Countians are going to have to choose between the public good and individual interests when it comes to land use.

Land owner Ray Gunnin said he is not ready to make that choice yet and would not choose the density levels on proposed land use maps.

The president of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce told the land use planners she wants to know what the elected officials think.

Kit Dunlap presented a "white paper" including concerns, suggestions and questions on the proposed land use plan, adding that upcoming community meetings should be conducted by elected officials, not consultants.

Dunlap said the Chamber viewed proposed density levels in the plan as unreasonable and she said the Chamber wants to hear from communities that have undergone a similar land use revision.

Gainesville and Hall County are now ten months into the Comprehensive Land Use Plan development process.

The next plan forum is scheduled for November 19th at the Mountains Center.

The first community meeting on the Comprehensive Plan in Gainesville is set for Thursday, November 13th at 6:00 p.m. in the gym at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Riverside Drive.

The first Hall County meeting is scheduled for November 5th at 5:30 p.m. at East Hall High School.