 Thu, Aug 28, 2008 05:04 AM
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2008-07-11  Duluth | Duluth readies comprehensive plan
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| | by Scott Sowers | |  |
July 17, 2008 | 10:38 AM
DULUTH – Something that's been much talked about the last year in the city is the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, a vision for how Duluth will look several decades from now. Now, the city is one step closer to seeing the plan put into action, after city council voted unanimously at its July 14 meeting to submit a draft for review to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and Atlanta Regional Commission.
These organizations will then have 60 days to inspect the plan and make any suggestions before they give it back to the city. Then, the city will tentatively approve a final draft in October. Duluth has been working with Alpharetta-based Jerry Weitz and Associates to draft the plan. Weitz was on hand at the meeting to give a general overview for council and the public.
"This is a very important document for the city," he said. "The first five years of the plan are very specific, but after that it is more of a guide"
Topics the plan addresses include housing, land use, development and redevelopment. Weitz said that initially they did not want to make changes to the future land use map, but ended up making 50-60 revisions.
Councilmember Marsha Anderson Bomar, who has a background in traffic engineering, said that with the recent upswing in fuel prices, that drastic changes have come in transportation and land use.
"It's hard to get our arm around it in such a short amount of time since it's come up so recently, but it's certainly something we will take a look at more and more," she said.
In other business, council voted unanimously for planning director Cliff Cross to draft a letter to be submitted to the Gwinnett County Planning Commission to express concerns with a proposed development just outside the city. The proposed Pleasant Hill Village, near the intersection of Pleasant Hill Road and Buford Highway, is a mixed-use development that would combine office, retail, restaurant and townhomes on a 25-acre site.
Initially the development was for single-family residential, but the developers were to go before the Gwinnett planning commission Wednesday night for a rezoning request for the mixed-use. Cross' letter would express concern over things like increased traffic and the high density of the property. Duluth allows for a little more than six units per acre, but this would be 31.9 units per acre.
"This will almost be like a mini Gwinnett Place Mall," councilmember Doug Mundrick said. "There will be about 3,000 parking spaces; the traffic impact will be fairly significant."
Because the property abuts the city limits, Cross would be able to act as a representative for Duluth at the planning commission meeting, which had not occurred as of press time.
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