The County government website has been recently updated (within the last month) to provide the Public some information about the proposal of impact fees in Douglas County. Unlike the SPLOST page, the impact fee page is left blank, having no details about proposals from the past eight years. Only a PowerPoint presentation is available for download in the sidebar.

The presentation came on September 7, 2006 discussing the needs of the County and accessing them using impact fees. Some projects that were listed on the latest SPLOST referendum, which was voted against by residents, have been moved to the impact fees plan. Maps from the presentation will be included in the next release of the Interactive Tour to better display the projects throughout Douglas County. Below is a listing of projects that are from the presentation.

• Renovate 2 existing public libraries
• 4 new proposed public libraries built between 2009-2020
  • Serving: Fairplay, Chapel Hill, Southeast Douglas, West Douglas
• 4 proposed recreation centers
• 2 new sites for parks
• Jail Annex renovation
• 9 new proposed fire stations
• More traffic improvements (including widening and intelligent traffic signals)
• Proposed new Transportation Administration Building and Traffic Control Center

More structures are cropping up at Chapel Hill Centre off of Chapel Hill Road. An updated site plan by Regency Centers indicates that buildings “Retail A” and “Retail B” are now available for leasing. Currently two new retailers have filled spaces in the “Retail A” building. Classic Nails will fill slot 102 acquiring one of the two 900 sq. ft. floor plans. The other retailer is Herbal Body Works filling in the largest slot at 2,400 square feet.

Construction for the new Citizens & Merchant Bank and operations center should begin shortly. The bank will be 14,000 sq. ft and the operations center 10,000 sq. ft, which will be located next to an office building. Phase II will include buildings “Retail D” (7,200 sq. ft.), “Retail E” (7,200 sq. ft.) and “Anchor A” (25,000 sq. ft.). As reported earlier, Circuit City was considering about relocating to this shopping center, however the store declined and opted for a renovation.

Yesterday morning Losing Georgia made a trip to the Tributary at New Manchester, on Riverside Parkway, to see if the rains from the previous day had created any sedimentation problems. A prior trip was also conducted on October 17^th to look for initial problems from rains on that particular day. Found were unprotected drains, weakened erosion fences and sedimentation in the streets.

The Tributary at New Manchester has had major problems regarding sedimentation in the past, one being a $33,000 fine by the WSA for multiple violations in accordance with a joint review by the Environmental Protection Division. Sedimentation had entered many stream buffer zones and roads were built without permits. Because many natural tributaries feed into the Chattahoochee River in this area, serious actions were taken.

The Douglas Neighbor Newspaper featured two stories about the problem back on March 1^st and March 8^th. However those days have passed as more and more homes are being built in the mega-subdivision development. Even now problems still exist that need to be attended to.

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This weekend more maintenance will be done to the website to further improve usability. There are still some bugs and contextual areas from the 2.0 transition that need to be ironed out. Below is a list of updates that have already occurred.

• Contextual redesign of Development Details page
  • Optimized white space
  • Added developer name to WSA Fines table
  • Related Files sorted by date in ascending order
• Integrated Google Co-Op Search
  • Searches the following:
  • Losing Georgia
  • Douglas County
  • City of Douglasville
  • WSA
  • Development Authority
  • Douglas County Sentinel
  • Neighborhood Newspapers
  • Chapel Hill News and Views
  • Douglas Politics
• Contextual redesign of Interactive Tour page
• Structural Log added to Interactive Tour
• Legal Disclaimer added back to footer

Rain has been falling in Douglas County for a majority of the day, forcing creeks to crest their banks while sediment fences come under strain. Losing Georgia has documented last month that some developments, particularly Brookmont, were having problems controlling sedimentation from entering the streets.

Today many of those problems have been resolved through administrative fines, but some issues remain. Dirt enters streets with improper restraint of weakened sediment fences, but at least fewer problematic fences were found on this rain day.

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Douglas County is a fairly young county compared to most in Georgia, being founded in 1870 from parts of Campbellton (Fulton), Cobb, and Carroll. At the time Campbellton County was too large, forcing residents to make a two days travel in order to visit the county seat on the Chattahoochee Banks. It would be over 100 years before any historical site in Douglas County was to be recognized on a National level.

The first, and most widely known, came in 1977 by recognizing the significance of the old milling town of New Manchester, located on Sweet Water Creek, and the prehistoric value of the area, serving many native Cherokee Indians. On July 9, 1864, the Union Army arrived at Sweet Water with orders to burn down the mills in the area.

The brick ruins of the New Manchester Mill (also known as the Sweet Water Factory) still stand today as a reminder of General Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. Visitors are welcome to visit the ruins of the New Manchester Mill and learn more about the Sweet Water area at the new visitor’s center located inside Sweet Water Creek State Park.

Other national features include John Thomas Carnes Log House (added 2001) located at Clinton Farms off Ephesus Church Road. Douglasville also has its share of historical places with recognition of the original site of the Douglas County Courthouse (added 2002) on Broad Street. Many long time residents remember the all brick courthouse that tragically burned down in the late 1950s. Its replacement is being used today as a museum and the headquarters for the Historical Society of Douglas County.

Other Douglasville sites include the Downtown Commercial district (added 1989) and Col. William T. Roberts’ House (added 1989), which is now the Cultural Arts Center. All together there are five historical sites that are on the National Register of Historical Places.

There is a new Office Depot opening soon in Douglas County and it is located at 615 Thornton Road. The new retail store is situated on 1.72 acres and will serve east Douglas County and parts of Austell. This will be the second Office Depot in Douglas County, the first being located on Highway 5. Many residents and businesses had to drive to Fulton Industrial Boulevard for the nearest Office Depot prior to the store opening.

The developer, Eduard Dubbers-Albrecht, also owns the nearby Waffle House and Zaxby’s by the corner of Maxham Road and Thornton Road.

The Atlanta Regional Commission is holding a community open house meeting tonight at the Douglasville Convention and Conference Center concerning the Atlanta Region Bicycle Trans & Pedestrian Walkways Plan . Doors open at 4:30 p.m. and residents are welcome to come and listen to the proposal, which are being conducted in fifteen minute segments. The meeting will last until 8 p.m. discussing various topics on walking and biking in the community.

Douglas County has been growing rapidly for the past seven years, bringing in a sleuth of retailers and a rise in population. In the wake of growth come positives like more jobs being available, more retail competition, and an increasing tax base to provide public goods.

But what about the consequences that become ignored or not reported on in the local media? Public schools are falling behind, needing more teachers, schools, and bus drivers while student population increases. Traffic delays grow with no real relief in sight until 2010 or longer. Poor development practices put strain on the environment, endangering wildlife and the local water system.

With so much focus put upon development in recent years, the feeling of “community” has lessened to an extent. Political rhetoric has not helped the situation either, with the County and City at odds with each other. May be it is time to put the focus back on the community. Attaining that focus is a complicated process, filled with multiple solutions, but one solution could be a moratorium.

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The Losing Georgia: Interactive Tour has been updated with three new developments and 2 new overlays. You can download the KML file or head over to the overview page if you are unfamiliar with the Interactive Tour.

Below is a list of additions and updates to the tour.

Developments

1. Office Depot
2. Valvoline Care Center
3. Sunset Hospitality

Overlays

1. Timber Ridge Office Complex Site Plan
2. Trilogy Group (Unknown Medical Building II) Site Plan