May 2022 Meetings: Budget Hearings, Impact Fees & Zoning Cases

The next ten days looks to be a roller coaster of local government activity in Henry County. Every governing body (county or city) has a regularly scheduled meeting. Plus, May is county and school budget month. Finally, early voting is happening every day for the May 24 primary.

Both Henry County Schools and Henry County Government will hold the second public hearing on their respective annual budgets and vote on final adoption. In addition, Henry County commissioners will decide whether developers should help pay for road improvements through a transportation impact fee, and if so, by how much. Not to mention several rezoning cases will go before either the zoning advisory board or board of commissioners.

The zoning advisory board meets this Thursday, May 12. Developers proposing four new projects — in the vicinity of Brannan Road, Chambers Road, Walker Drive and SR 42 at SR 138 — will present their cases. The ZAB can recommend approval, approval of a different zoning district or denial. The board of commissioners will hear each case at a later date for a final decision.

May 2022 Meetings

School Board Budget

First up, the school board meeting is tomorrow, Monday, May 9. The study session starts at 4 pm, the budget public hearing is at 6:30 pm and the regular meeting starts at 7 pm. The proposed budget includes pay raises for 77% of full-time employees, to include teachers and parapros.

City Council Meetings

Then, there are several city council meetings:

• Stockbridge on Monday, May 8, at 6 pm
• Hampton on Tuesday, May 9, at 6 pm
• Locust Grove on Monday, May 16, at 6 pm
• McDonough on Monday, May 16, at 6 pm

Out of the four meetings, Locust Grove looks to be the most notable this month. The city council will hold public hearings to consider the following: 1) an applicant’s request to rezone land for continued industrial development, and 2) update the city’s zoning code to establish build standards for any future apartments.

Board of Commissioners Meeting

Finally, the board of commissioners meet on Tuesday, May 17, at 6:30 pm. The board will vote on the county’s annual budget, vote whether to approve an impact fee update — last modified in 2003, and consider three rezoning requests. The requests are all in the Jonesboro Road / exit 221 vicinity. They include the below items:

• Jonesboro Road mixed-use development north of Heritage Way
• Jonesboro Road self-storage building east of Heritage Way
• Bridges Road at Willow Lane residential development

With a busy schedule ahead, any public interest in attending these meetings is greatly appreciated! I will be working to share more details as they become available before various meetings. Finally, thank you for your continued interest in our local community.

Featured image shows a map of May 2022 rezoning cases. Photo credit Clayton Carte.