Lee County Comprehensive Plan 

Lee County and the Cities of Leesburg and Smithville are preparing a new Comprehensive Plan to guide their region through the next 20 years.  The following is a brief description of the plan and the process that will be undertaken to complete it.  
DRAFT OF LEE COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
​What is a Comprehensive Plan? A Comprehensive Plan:
  • Documents and illustrates what a community looks like today and what direction it has decided it wants to go for the future; it includes assessments of existing resources and issues, projections of future conditions and needs, and consideration of collective goals and desires.
  • Is a policy guide and provides a framework for future land use decision-making and the physical development of the municipality. It will not only address buildings and infrastructure, it will also include the important social, natural resource and economic values of the community. The Comprehensive plan is a method of translating the community's values into specific actions.
  • Covers an approximate time frame of 20 years; it is assumed that shorter-term reviews will keep it current with the changing needs of the community.
  • Is closely integrated with other municipal documents and initiatives.
The Comprehensive Plan is NOT a zoning ordinance, a subdivision regulation, a budget, a capital improvement program or other regulatory document. It is meant to provide the framework for the development of these implementation tools.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
**All meetings will be held at the T. Page Tharp Building, 102 Starksville Avenue N. in Leesburg

Public Hearing:
 August 8th 2017 @ 6 pm

Public Input Meeting 1:
Topic - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) - August 10th 2017 @ 6 pm

Public Input Meeting 2:
​ Topic - Goals and Policies - August 31st 2017 @ 6 pm

Public Participation:

Public forums and community meetings are planned (please keep checking for the dates and times for these meetings). The first public hearings are designed to brief the community on the process to be used to develop the plan, opportunities for public participation in development of the plan, and to obtain input on the proposed planning process.

 The first public workshops will be to discuss/develop a list of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) and community goals/policies. An important product of this task is the community goals/policies that identifies the goals that the community seeks to achieve and the supporting policies for each. ​

What is involved in preparing a Comprehensive Plan?


The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee will be overseeing the Comprehensive planning process
  • Public outreach and meetings
  • Data collection and analysis that will ultimately be rolled into the Comprehensive Plan document
  • Preparation of the chapters of the plan (sometimes called plan elements)
  • New implementation plan.
Information and data are gathered from the prior planning studies, while current views and opinions are being collected through community events where residents are invited to provide inputs. Other sources include data provided from state census data, and mapping data provided by the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission. ​

​What are the major sections of the Comprehensive Plan document
Required elements for each government:
  • Community goals
  • Needs & Opportunities
  • Community Work Program (implementation plan)
Special requirements for Lee County and its municipalities:
  • Land Use Element (required for communities that have zoning)
  • Capital Improvement Element

Frequently Asked Questions 

Components of the Comprehensive Plan


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    To be notified about any event in conjunction with the Comprehensive Plan or to get involved, please fill out this form.
https://app.chatra.io/settings/general