For years I attended the Georgia Association of Zoning Administrators (GAZA) conference to listen and learn about the best of planning and zoning work going on in the state. I always valued the pragmatic, practical approaches to common, everyday land use dilemmas presented by speakers at the conference. But I’ve also thought on more than one occasion that there needed to be an opportunity to engage in a more critical dialogue about some of trends and challenges facing rural communities.
That opportunity presented itself last week as Ecos participated in the GAZA conference and addressed the needs of Planning for Rural Sustainable Land Use. The goal of our presentation was to highlight a broad array of programs, concepts and regulatory tools that may be a bit more abstract or out-of-the-box than many governments are accustomed to considering. The slowdown in development activities creates a great opportunity for communities to engage in some strategic long range planning for future land use and development patterns. We highlighted emerging policies and programs such as Agritourism, Food Systems Planning, and Health Impact Assessments; technological innovations including the push for rural broadband and green energy; and innovative regulatory tools with new concept developments and true conservation design.
As planning and zoning professionals, we are tasked with implementing plans, policies and regulations that protect the public health, safety and welfare, and generally insure the quality of life in our communities. Laws and regulations are a critical part of this, but they should come out of a constructive, holistic dialogue about the future vision for our communities and the strategic paths that will take us there. I hope that in realizing my goal to present at the GAZA conference, Ecos helped to encourage this dialogue in communities throughout the state. As one of my mentors often says, Sustainability really is just good planning.
