By Dan Pool

 If the  planning commission had been disappointed by the lack of public participation at previous meetings, their hopes were fulfilled Monday when a hearing on two technical points drew a large crowd and touched off a wide-ranging  debate on development.

 While the meeting was advertised to deal with one provision regarding lot size and one on erosion control, more than 50 people attended with many asking the planning commission to drastically increase minimum lot sizes and others countering that flexibility is the key to growth management.

 The meeting began with a discussion of the new “model erosion” ordinance the state is requiring counties to adopt and that drew some response, but most people saved their comments for the minimum lot size portion of the meeting. Eventually the Director of Planning had to close the meeting so the Planning Commission could conduct their regular business meeting.

 While there was clear disagreement among speakers on the ideal minimum lot size, the meeting remained more of a debate than an argument.

 Director of Planning Norman Pope explained that the planning commission is considering eliminating a provision in the development codes allowing lots as small as .75 acres when public sewage is available since there is no sewage facility nor plans for one in Pickens County.

 “The one thing no one took into account [when adopting the codes] is no sewage whatsoever is available and the county does not have any intention of getting into the sewage business at this point,” he said.

 Pope said this provision has led to a considerable amount of confusion over the years and has even cost developers undo expenses as they have created plans with the idea that sewage must be available since the provisions are there.

 Pope said there is also a concern with some current developments where they are planning on obtaining sewage from another municipality and design their lots at the smaller size, but then the sewage service is delayed. Pope said in some cases the developers want the county to go ahead and approve the lots for sale before the sewer lines are run. “We can’t sign off on final plats and allow them to sell lots until we’re sure the sewage will be in place,” he said.

 Responding to a question from local builder Marvin Abbott, Pope said if a developer or builder wanted to use a private “package plant” sewage system, the county would encourage it and would consider variances to allow smaller lot sizes.

 Abbott said developers need  smaller lot sizes in order to make package plants feasible and for conservation subdivisions where the lot sizes are typically smaller than the minimum, but some property is left as greenspace.

 Herb Hand, who is active as both a volunteer fireman and with Keep Pickens Beautiful, opened a discussion of larger minimum lots  by suggesting the county either increase the minimum to three acres or lower the elevation requirements for property to be protected under the mountain protection act from its current 2,200 feet.

 Hand said there is already too little fire protection in the county. There is no water in the east end and the area may not be served for 15 years in some places. Plus, he said the county itself has set a goal of reducing the amount of solid waste generated.

 “There is no way to decrease the amount of solid waste and increase the population, no matter how much you recycle,” he said.

 Hand said the county should also consider the impact on nearby roads that a high density development brings, a problem totally eliminated with larger lots and “there are a number of ecological things to be looked at.”

 Roger Schultz followed Hand by saying that studies have shown that property taxes increase as the population grows. “They have found that there is no way to charge enough in taxes to provide the infrastructure to new homes. This explains why taxes in

Atlanta keep going up even with the bigger populations and that is exactly what will happen here.”

 Jo Tyson also joined the call for three acre or larger lots, “Pickens County is a jewel and three acre lots would create a community like nothing we’ve ever seen. It’s amazing how a community will acquiesce to the needs of an outside developer or land speculators for them to make money.”

 Other members of the audience, many identifying themselves as builders or developers, said more flexibility is the key to managing growth.

 One speaker cited Big Canoe and Bent Tree as examples of how  using smaller lot sizes, development can be done to encourage greenspace.

 The speaker said many people are downsizing and don’t want three acre lots to manage. “These .6 acre lots are manageable for many empty-nesters,” he said.

 Joe Kelly, the president of the Pickens Homebuilders Association, said their organization will look at the issue, but he encouraged the county to leave flexibility in the system even if they decided to pursue lower density overall.

 “I agree with some of the philosophical arguments of larger lots, but you have to put finances into it,”  Kelly said.

 The county needs younger people here and many of them can’t afford the prices that larger lots would cost, Kelly said.

 Furthermore the lenders force the home prices up even more on larger lots. They have a ratio of wanting to see higher house prices on loans for higher land prices. “They don’t lend on big land prices and low house prices,” he said.

 He said flexibility is important as market forces can change and are impossible to predict.

 “What we need to do to keep it a jewel is have systems in place that allow flexibility,” he said. “We need to keep low density and greenspace, but we have to develop a tax base using the Highway 515 corridor.”

 Kelly also pointed out that different topography had different development uses. “Land doesn’t develop like on paper,” he said. “There are ravines and flood plains, it’s not all nice and easy.”

 “You can’t just arbitrarily say we need three acre or five acre minimums,” he said. “We need some flexibility.”

 In other comments on the issue, one speaker encouraged the planning commission to start with larger lots. “I’ve seen this situation where land was abundant and then it was no longer abundant. Lots always get smaller as development occurs. So if you start small, you’re just going to get smaller.”

 One person,  identifying himself as a young builder who had moved here because he liked the area, said the positions expressed are “on two different sides of the fence and neither side is right.” He urged everyone to show common sense and not go to “the far sides of the fence.”

 One resident who moved here from California said by forcing large lots “you are dictating who can move to the county because of property costs.”

 He said the area he had moved from, which was also a developing upscale area, had used “addendum taxes” successfully to  provide services while holding down the taxes of existing residents.

 He said under this system people who buy new houses in the community must pay the “addendum taxes” for a certain period of time while existing residents only pay a base bill.

 Norman Pope closed the meeting by inviting anyone to the planning and development office to further discuss issues or to leave written comments for both the planning commission and the commissioner at their office in the courthouse annex.