continuous trails.” Nash emphasized the importance of maintaining existing infrastructure, which consists of 1,050 miles of paved roadways. He said the Board of Commissioners has ramped up its resurfacing efforts, increasing from approximately 20 to 30 miles annually over the past three years. In addition to road improvements, Hall County is investing in sewer infrastructure, guided by a sewer master plan implemented in 2020.“We’re executing on the projects that it identifies, one of which is the expansion of our existing sewer treatment plant,” Nash said. “We’re anticipating, in this fiscal year, beginning work on that project which represents an $18 million investment into our sewer customers.” In addition to this, Nash mentioned several miles of sewer extension projects throughout the county. “We’re doing a lot of work,” he said. INCREASING HOUSING OPTIONS On the subject of future development, Beth Garmon, Director of Hall County Planning and Zoning conveyed, “We are in the middle of finalizing our comprehensive plan, as well as adopting a Unified Development Code, and addressing the tremendous growth that we’re seeing. We’re looking to be very strategic and intentional about where we see that development happening, so that we can manage it and make sure to protect the areas that aren’t quite ready or that we want to see develop more organically.” Garmon explained that the plan separates the county into six unique character areas, outlining predicted growth.“We’ve also developed future land uses, being specific about what types of uses would be appropriate within those character areas. We’re being very intentional about how we see growth happening over the next 20 years.” Hall County is expanding its housing options with more multi-family and higher-density developments alongside traditional single-family units.“There are certain corridors where that works, and then there are areas where it’s not efficient to develop with that higher density,” Garmon acknowledged. 152 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 11
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