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TODAY'S ISSUE
Gwinnett's new mixed-use plan will revitalize
older shopping areas and upgrade community
By Robert T. Hughes
Special to GwinnettForum.com

DEC. 17, 2002 - - For a generation, Gwinnett has been one of the nation's fastest-growing counties. And some of the development necessary to accommodate that expanding populace is now showing its age.

When large store buildings and parking lots go into retirement, these are not golden years.

What happens, for example, when a once-vibrant retail district loses its anchor stores to newer and larger facilities in other areas? Thousands, or in some cases, millions, of square feet of retail space "going dark" can have a devastating economic impact on the neighboring business community in one of two ways:

Either way, the result is a declining property that fails to meet the needs of residents of a still-growing Gwinnett and also stops generating taxes to repay the county's infrastructure investment.

Fortunately, Gwinnett County commissioners have taken a bold step toward addressing this problem in a way that will also have a positive impact on the ever-present suburban challenge of getting from Point A to Point B.

In October, the commissioners unanimously approved an amendment to the county's zoning resolution that will allow the creation of a mixed-use overlay district and provides design standards for the redevelopment of existing or declining commercial, institutional, office, industrial and/or residential properties within unincorporated Gwinnett.

Commission Chairman Wayne Hill, having headed the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), is well aware of the challenges of sprawl throughout the metropolitan area and the need for innovative solutions. Earlier in the year, Mr. Hill and the other commissioners appointed a committee representing both the public and private sectors and asked us to put together a mixed-use redevelopment ordinance.

The committee consisted of representatives from the development, homeowners, planning and banking communities, Gwinnett's city governments and county staff. We met on numerous occasions before finalizing a proposed resolution for presentation to the commissioners.

What this action does is authorize the county government to designate already developed areas, where properties may be redeveloped as a mixture of residential, office/institutional and commercial uses. To qualify as mixed-use, no more than 70 percent of the land can be redeveloped for any one use.

And, importantly, 20 percent of the acreage on these sites must be designed as open space, with connecting plazas, wide sidewalks, street trees and other pedestrian circulation elements. Also, the ordinance requires street openings to provide connectivity with other developments, so that residents, workers or shoppers do not have to drive back to and congest Gwinnett's major transportation arteries in order to get from one property to another.

The mixed-use redevelopment initiative allows declining areas to become viable once again while utilizing existing infrastructure. The county will be able to meet continuing growth needs in a way that doesn't require new road construction, a valuable benefit to the taxpayer.

It will allow "live/work/play" communities like the newly developed Milton Park in north Fulton County, which just received the ARC's Development of Excellence Award, to come to Gwinnett. Milton Park is a classic example of a mixed single-family, multi-family, commercial and office use property Š with 20 percent of open space for aesthetic value and mobility.

Finally, it will allow Gwinnett residents to utilize a variety of transportation modes to go about their business without putting more cars on the main thoroughfares. Ideally, Gwinnett's bus system would circulate among these properties to transport commuters.

Chairman Hill and the other commissioners are to be applauded for this visionary new initiative, one that is based on sound economic and transportation policy. It is performance driven, ensuring that mixed-use developers will make potentially blighted areas viable once again.

Robert T. Hughes is principal of Hughes, Good, O'Leary & Ryan Inc., an internationally recognized landscape architectural and planning firm based in Atlanta. He served on the committee that drafted Gwinnett County's mixed-use redevelopment zoning resolution.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Doctor Perdue should have as first priority
redrawing of Georgia legislative districts
By Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com

My esteemed governor of the great state of Georgia, for years Europeans thought the most prestigious of titles was doctor. It indicated scholarship, astuteness and an inquisitive and open mind.

Though you were lately elected to the highest office in the state, we would address you by the title of "Doctor" in the future. After all, it is legitimate, since you are a doctor of veterinary science.

Too, having us call you "Doctor" allows us to add even more prestige and help get around that nickname of yours a little easier, or at least adds some luster to it. For short, may we merely call you "Dr. Perdue?"

Now that we have established who we are aiming this letter to, may we also offer some advice? (Not that you don't have enough wisdom aimed at your already!)

As your first order of business, consider ordering the Legislature to prepare a re-districting of the Georgia Senate and House elective districts. These districts, recently rammed down Georgia's throat by Legislative Democrats, are a farce, make no sense, and add both to the confusion of voters and to the distrust of government.

We have no doubt that you came to office, Doctor, mainly because every Georgian was affected by these maliciously drawn and very squiggly lines. Voters resented it, and we think, this gave cause enough for a majority of Georgians to vote for you.

Yet in this re-drawing of these election district lines, please be not bitter, nor greedy, nor seek to re-draw these lines for political gain of your party, which obviously the Democrats did. Instead, seek to bring communities together with these new districts, not split county, city, militia district and sometimes precinct. That incensed voters as much as anything; do not incur the wrath of voters by similar tactics.

Put party above the petty politics and you will be exalted. In fact, and we presume here, but being sensible and logical in the drawing of legislative districts will go about as far as anything else to ensure your re-election.

One other suggestion: though the Democratic Party re-drew Congressional lines hoping to gain a Democratic 7-6 majority split, it backfired on them in two districts. The upshot was that the Republicans maintained their eight Congressional seats, while the Democrats picked up only two, for an 8-5 split.

Allow the Congressional lines to remain as they are, even though these lines are awkward, too. Let Congressional lines be re-drawn after the next Census, if for no other reason that voters are just beginning to understand these districts, and shudder to have to re-learn where their district is. And though they, too, are quite all-over-the-map in their shape, let the voters have a little relief.

Doctor Perdue, you are on the verge of being in office for eight years. A lot of what voters perceive of you will be decided in the first legislative session as governor. We urge you to keep governing on a high level, ensure ethical standards by your staff and at all levels of government, and make Georgians proud of you.

Face the challenge of the re-districting, and square off the political lines, if at all possible, along traditional county and neighborhood lines. Do that, and people will praise you, and want to keep you around.

That's the message from this patient of democracy, Doctor Perdue. Hang in there and keep good government at the top of your list, and you'll be our doctor for a long time.

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FEEDBACK:
12/17: Using a cut Yule tree actually helps the environment
By Heather Leo
Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful

Did you ever think that by using a cut Christmas tree in your house that you were actually helping the environment?

Millions of Christmas trees are planted each year, helping the environment from the time they are planted until after the holiday season when they can be recycled.

While they are growing for up to 16 years, Christmas trees absorb carbon dioxide and other gases while producing oxygen. Every acre of Christmas trees planted gives off enough oxygen to meet the needs of 18 people.

Today in America there are enough Christmas trees planted that 18 million people a day are supplied with oxygen. Also, the farms that grow Christmas trees stabilize soil, protect water supplies, and provide a refuge for wildlife. Often, Christmas trees are grown on soil that will not support any other crops. And when one Christmas tree is cut down, one or two are
replanted in its place.

After the holiday season is over, the branches and trunk are biodegradable and can be made into mulch for the garden. Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful has recycled Christmas trees in Gwinnett for 18 years and returned the mulch to the community.

"The mulch from our Christmas tree recycling efforts throughout the years has been used by thousands of Gwinnett residents, Gwinnett County Public Schools and several county government departments," says Connie Wiggins, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful executive director. "By recycling the trees and making this resource available to the public, we are all practicing sustainability and stewardship."

For information on where to recycle your Christmas tree in Gwinnett, visit www.gwinnettcb.org or call 770.822.5187.

(Information for this article was provided by American Forests.)

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
About refreshments for the human body

"Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody."

-- Mark Twain.

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