At one point in history, a homestead amounted to 40 acres and a mule. The modern yuppie version is more like five acres and a couple of horses or maybe a few cows or goats kept more for a hobby than an earnest career.
Before the building boom went bust, a mini-farm, (several acres with a small pasture) was a fairly hot selling property. Never the western empire of Ben Cartwright manned by Hoss and Little Joe, these Pickens Ponderosa’s did further the scenic appeal of parts hereabouts.
Freed from the weekly challenge of zoning angst, reviews of subdivision plans and road inspections, Pickens County’s planning office and (totally mis-titled) Public Information Officer have used the spare time to draft three new land categories – two of which will greatly benefit future mini-farmers seeking a homestead here.
Still lacking names, the new categories are now being further refined by the North Georgia Regional Development Commission. County Information Officer Norman Pope said they are moving forward with the new categories to allow development and sale of three and five acre lots without forcing property owners to meet all requirements of a residential category.
Up to this point in Pickens County, to develop any subdivision with large lots, a property owner either had to have lots larger than 10 acres or go with the same curb-and-gutter mandates prescribed for 1.5-acre-lot rural residential subdivisions.
New land use changes on the drafting board will add a category for five-acre lots and a second category for three-acre lots.
Both are needed additions, as the gap between what is required for rural residential (with 1.5-acre lots) and full agricultural (10-acre parcels) forced too many properties to be cut up into smaller lots––smaller lots making it more affordable for developers to meet curb and gutter and city development requirements and generally diminishing the rural character of the county.
A common problem with agricultural zoning’s 10-acre minimum hits owners with 19 or 29 acres. It would take some type of special waiver to squeeze two such agricultural lots into a 19-acre tract. And while 10-acre homesites are surely nicer to live down the street from than 3-acre sites, either sized parcel would be infinitely better than a property diced into high-density to meet development requirements.
Even the most strident greenspace fanatic should recognize five-acre lots are large enough to preserve a rural character for Pickens County and are more practical than trying to hold owners and developers to a ten-acre standard.
The final of the three new land use categories is interesting but may not be very useful until (or unless) we see the return of large project construction in Pickens County. The thus-far-unnamed category would open the door to a mixed-use development where someone might create an old-timey small town mixture of a few stores and nearby residential areas.
Currently the development code works to prevent the mix of homes and commercial areas and, in cases where a 24-hour concrete plant or truck depot might open next to a neighborhood, there is good reason for separation.
But the new category would allow, on less than 500 acres, the siting of a grocery store, a small strip mall, or maybe a restaurant or two with some nearby housing.
This idea of a work-play-live development was gaining ground in the metro area before the market tanked. Maybe the concept will make a comeback. Being able to park your car in the evening and walk to a nearby store or restaurant before a stroll to the park creates a nice community feel.
For 2010, probably few of the county’s new categories will see much use with real estate still stagnant. But it’s the right move, an invitation to investors who might want to locate something like a mini-farm development or nice mixed-use area here. |
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