The Jones County Commissioners adopted their Joint Comprehensive Plan with the City of Gray to complete the state requirement of updating the document every five years.
The June 28 called meeting was opened by Board Chairman Chris Weidner, who also led the prayer and pledge. Commissioners Wendy Vaughn and John Wood were in attendance at the meeting, and Commissioner Sam Kitchens joined via phone conference.
City councilmen adopted the plan at their June 6 meeting but a change to a land use portion of the county plan caused the delay for the commissioners. Greg Boike with the Middle Georgia Regional Commission explained that the change had to be approved by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs before it could be adopted by the county.
Vaughn made the motion to adopt the 2022 Joint Comprehensive Plan and Capital Improvements Element. The motion was approved unanimously.
The comp plan was the only item on the meeting agenda, and the meeting was adjourned following the vote.
Jones County’s first Comprehensive Plan was created in 2006, and it is updated every five years.
The first public hearing for the joint Comprehensive Plan for Gray and Jones County update took place at the W.E. Knox Center Nov. 12, 2021. Despite being held at 5 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, and on a weekend when all commissioners were out of town, 13 members of the community attended the hearing led by the Middle Georgia Regional Commission.
Steering committee meetings on 15 topics were held from January through April, facilitated by the MGRC. Those meetings were all advertised and open to the public.
The MGRC team members for the Gray/Jones County update included Boike, Director of Public Administration, and Government Services Specialists Dean Nelson, Caitlin Mee and Tiffany Dobbins.
A preliminary draft of the plan was presented at an April 19 public hearing.
The Georgia Planning Act of 1989 is the foundation for community and regional planning in the state.
That part of the Georgia Code acknowledges that coordinated and comprehensive planning by all levels of government within the state is of vital importance to the state and its citizens.
The Comprehensive Plan includes community goals, needs and opportunities, economic development, transportation, land use. This year, Broadband has been added.
Adherence to the plan is necessary for cities and counties to maintain their qualified local government certification.
A copy of the 2022 Joint Comprehensive Plan is available on the Jones County and City of Gray websites.
Hard copies are also available.
