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- Info
Public policy and land use in Georgia: A concise reference book
| Author: |
Ndubisi, Foster O. |
| Date: |
1996 |
| Periodical: |
Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Institute of Community and Area Development |
| Abstract: |
Decisions about how land will be used and developed are made or not made every day by Georgia's private citizens and state and local elected officials. Since land-use decisions affect the quality of life of all Georgia residents, understanding how land-use policy has evolved in Georgia is invaluable in making informed decisions. The documentation of Georgia's land-use policy that exists is fragmented and scattered in numerous publications, and the majority of it only addresses specific land-use issues such as agriculture or forestry or is presented in such detail that it has little practical utility for those who make public policies on land use. This book distills the important policies and laws governing land use in Georgia and organizes them in a coherent manner within a single publication. It summarizes the important policies, highlights their significance, and describes the social, economic, and political forces that have molded them. To make the information easily comprehensible, the summary is presented as a timetable accompanied with annotations and illustrations. This book is a quick reference guide for anyone interested in understanding how land-use policy has evolved and the consequences of making land-use decisions today and in the future. We did not attempt to cover all land-use policies; that is a major undertaking beyond the scope of this concise reference book. Our intention is to provide the reader with a summary of the key policies using a historical approach. This book contains both historical and contemporary accounts of land-use policy's development in Georgia. One consequence is that a contemporary land-use policy can be traced back to its historical roots. Local elected officials deliberating on what constitutes "public welfare" in a zoning case, for instance, can quickly refer to the Georgia Supreme Court rulings in the 1975 case Barrett v. Hamby, 235 Ga 262, and the 1977 case Guhl et al. v. Holcombe Bridge Corporation, 238 Ga 322, which together outline the public welfare considerations integral to any zoning decision. They also may follow up on subsequent court cases dealing with public welfare applications. Reference to the official report of the court decision is provided in the endnotes immediately following each chapter. In addition, the three indices-one for laws, one for court cases, and one for general information-are organized to provide easy reference to the materials in the text. |
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