The County Commission's approval of Resolution 825-18 Wednesday was a slap in the face to over 80 percent of the estimated 166,000 Unincorporated Hamilton County residents that did not support a Resolution to Plan Hamilton that included many of the requested homebuilders amendments.
In my opinion Resolution 825-18 will not lower density as stated by its sponsor, who is also a homebuilder. I think this resolution will potentially open the door to unreasonable and irresponsible overdevelopment in our Rural A-1 County areas and many of these are located in the Countryside Residential Place Type.
I applaud the efforts of Commissioners Chip Baker, Jeff Eversole, Steve Highlander,
Ken Smith and Gene Shipley for their vote against the Resolution that reflects the will of the majority of their Unincorporated Hamilton County constituents. As a 38 year Unincorporated Hamilton County resident their efforts spent trying to defeat this Resolution was greatly appreciated.
The meeting was standing room only with many residents outside in the hall watching on TV. There was probably a 3-1 ratio of Hamilton County residents present in opposition to this Resolution. All the citizen opposition present, data presented, and county residents concerns went unnoticed by six county commissioners who voted in support. Four of those six commissioners' districts do not include any Unincorporated County areas and two of those six voting in support of the Resolution appear to receive large campaign donations from the home building industry.
The Plan Hamilton process has taken over three years and over 34 countywide meetings with input from thousands of Unincorporated Hamilton County residents from areas 7, 8, 9, 12, and 13. The final Plan Hamilton draft was formulated from the resident input from Unincorporated Hamilton County residents. The plan also cost Hamilton County around $500,000 to pay a research development company.
It’s very disappointing to the majority of Unincorporated Hamilton County residents who feel their concerns went unnoticed by the majority of the County Commission.
I personally think it's wrong to allow special interest groups with a few thousand members, to be able to change and control the Hamilton County five year growth plan (Plan Hamilton) for the majority of Unincorporated Hamilton County residents who opposed and did not support Resolution 825-18.
Barry Glasscock