ACCG Expresses Condolences on the Passing of Georgia House Rules Chairman Jay Powell
Georgia House Rules Chairman Jay Powell was a strong supporter of Georgia counties. He was a partner to ACCG in the General Assembly, often serving as a voice for local governments. Our state has lost a true public servant who led with integrity and who dedicated his time to serving all Georgians. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and colleagues during this time.
Design Standards – House "Workforce Housing" Study Committee Issues Final Report
The House Study Committee on Workforce Housing issued its final report this past week. Not surprisingly, top among this group’s recommendations is to prohibit Georgia’s cities and counties from enacting local residential design standards on new homes/subdivisions and encourage local governments to loosen “outdated” zoning codes on apartments and manufactured housing. The legislation to enact the residential design standard preemption has already been introduced,
HB 302 and
SB 172, and is expected to get traction during the 2020 legislative session. Although the report acknowledges that “low-cost, high-design affordable housing can be attractive within communities”, under this proposal, housing design would be left to developers so long as state minimum building standards are met. Local communities and governments would no longer have say in the matter, but would have to deal with the long-term impacts.
ACCG strongly opposes these bills, believing that zoning, land use, the enactment of design standards and addressing manufactured and multi-family housing should remain determined by Georgia’s local governments - those officials who are elected, responsible and accountable to reflect their community’s housing needs and future development.
To view the final report, please click
here.
If your county is interested in adopting a local resolution opposing this legislative preemption, please click
here.
To view ACCG’s letter explaining the local resolution, please click
here.
To view an article outlining ACCG’s response to this effort, please click
here.
Secure the Vote
The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office has just launched the state’s “Secure the Vote” website. On March 24
th
, 2020 Georgia will make history as it rolls out the single largest deployment of elections equipment in the history of the United States to make sure that voters have access to a paper ballot system. This site is aimed at helping counties understand what to expect under the new system and to assist counties with public education and outreach efforts. It includes videos, frequently asked questions, printable handouts and other resources, and allows you to register to continue receiving updates on this effort.
Please click
here
to visit the web site.
Please click
here
to see the Secretary of State’s Press Release on the issue.
Banks County Designated as Georgia's Second Certified Broadband Ready Community
Banks County joins Oglethorpe County as a certified Broadband Ready Community. This northeast Georgia county is the second to receive this designation which signifies that a local unit of government in a community has taken steps to reduce obstacles to broadband infrastructure investment. Click
here to access the full press release.
Oglethorpe was the first in the state to earn this designation in July
.
Are you interested in learning more about financing water and sewer projects?
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and Three Rivers Regional Commission invite you to a water and sewer financing workshop to be held December 16, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the UGA Coweta County Cooperative Extension Conference Room, which is located at 255 Pine Road, Newnan, GA 30263. Presenters will include DCA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. You can register online at:
https://form.jotform.com/DCA/water-and-sewer-financing-workshop
Georgia State Rail Plan Survey
The Georgia Department of Transportation is updating the Georgia State Rail Plan. This survey is intended to obtain input to inform the plan in several areas including safety, community impacts, passenger rail service, and freight rail. Your input is needed! Take the survey
here
.
