Cumming gives final OK to 20-year plan

The Cumming City Council has given final OK to the city’s 20-year comprehensive plan update, following its approval by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission.

Planning and Zoning director Scott Morgan said it’s a required five-year update on planning spanning to 2037 and is aimed at guiding land-use decisions for housing, transportation, employment needs and other areas. In the land-use space, Morgan said the document creates a mixed-use category in addition to the current multi-use designation. The category could clear the way for self-contained live-work-play developments, a number of which have been built in nearby cities.

The plan also makes a number of land-use forecasts by category. In the next 20 years, commercial development is projected to increase by 334 acres and mixed-use development is forecast to grow by 260. Multi-family residential is forecast to grow in coverage by 88 acres while the single-family category is projected to drop by 112, as existing developments are converted to other uses.