Residents like-minded on Jackson County's future

COMMERCE - With about 60,000 residents spread out over 342 square miles, creating a unified vision for Jackson County's future is complicated.

Residents in the southern and eastern parts of the county feel connected to their neighbors in Clarke and Madison counties, while people on the western edge of county, near Braselton and Hoschton, feel more connected to Gwinnett County.

The Jackson County Public Development Department is in the process of trying to combine those localized views into a single long-range plan to guide the county's development through 2030.

County residents shared their vision for Jackson County's future at four public workshops held this month.

The visions varied, but residents repeated some of same ideas at the Jefferson, Nicholson and Commerce meetings.

They want commercial or light industrial and office developments clustered along U.S. Highways 441 and 129, and heavy industry along Interstate 85 in order to broaden the county's tax base. But they also want commercial and office developments in condensed areas, not in long strips of stores, many said.

At the Nicholson meeting, residents repeatedly said that subdivision development should be curbed until new families make use of the 10-year supply of homes and lots already on the market. When the housing industry does rebound, development should be pushed toward the w

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Home Site Map Subscribe to our Monthly Email Newsletter	Rutherford County Residents like-minded on Jackson County's future COMMERCE - With about 60,000 residents spread out over 342 square miles, creating a unified vision for Jackson County's future is complicated. Residents in the southern and eastern parts of the county feel connected to their neighbors in Clarke and Madison counties, while people on the western edge of county, near Braselton and Hoschton, feel more connected to Gwinnett County. The Jackson County Public Development Department is in the process of trying to combine those localized views into a single long-range plan to guide the county's development through 2030. County residents shared their vision for Jackson County's future at four public workshops held this month. The visions varied, but residents repeated some of same ideas at the Jefferson, Nicholson and Commerce meetings. They want commercial or light industrial and office developments clustered along U.S. Highways 441 and 129, and heavy industry along Interstate 85 in order to broaden the county's tax base. But they also want commercial and office developments in condensed areas, not in long strips of stores, many said. At the Nicholson meeting, residents repeatedly said that subdivision development should be curbed until new families make use of the 10-year supply of homes and lots already on the market. When the housing industry does rebound, development should be pushed toward the w Continue reading the rest of "Residents like-minded on Jackson County's future" by Athens Banner-Herald © 2009 http://onlineathens.com - Athens Banner-Herald - All rights reserved. Rate This Article: Comment on "Residents like-minded on Jackson County's future" Your Name Your Comments Verification Code: PG6T96 Enter Code: Jackson County's economic development success: 2010's top business story While Georgia's unemployment rate stuck stubbornly at 10 percent this year, the number of out-of-work people in Jackson County actually dropped at the end of the year - down to 9 percent over the past three months. Humane Society will take in more animals JEFFERSON - The Humane Society of Jackson County soon will be taking in more of the dogs and cats that are picked up by Jackson County Animal Control officers. Two blazes reported in Jackson County Firefighters closed a section of Georgia Highway 124 near its intersection with Georgia Highway 53 for about an hour Wednesday afternoon while they fought a house fire on 9819 Davis St. in Braselton. Progress on Jackson County Courthouse restoration JEFFERSON - The old Jackson County Courthouse in the center of downtown Jefferson won't be completely free of its cocoon of scaffolding and blue tarps for a few months, but renovation volunteers are planning a party for its debut nonetheless. Residents like-minded on Jackson County's future COMMERCE - With about 60,000 residents spread out over 342 square miles, creating a unified vision for Jackson County's future is complicated.