Henry County officials are pushing back against possible state legislation that could take residential design standards out of their hands.
In a unanimous decision, the Henry Commission passed a resolution earlier this week asking the county’s delegation to the legislature to reject House Bill 302, which would prohibit local governments from enacting design standards for single- or multi-family structures and turn those decisions over to the state.
“Zoning decisions, I think anyone involved in zoning would recognize, are best left to local governments,” Henry County Attorney Patrick Jaugstetter told the commission in introducing the resolution. “If the General Assembly takes over zoning decisions, there will be no opportunity for people to come and voice opposition and make their concerns known.
HB 302 did not make it out of committee last year but some fear it will come back up this session. Jaugstetter said the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia has asked counties to press their legislative delegates to oppose legislation that would challenge home rule.
Henry Commissioner Vivian Thomas said turning such decisions over to the state would be a mistake. The people who best understand the design characteristics of towns in the mountains or Perry, Ga. or Henry’s Eagle’s Landing subdivision are those who live there.
“Our needs are different, our structures are different and our communities are different,” she said. “We don’t need that interference into what is happening in Henry County.”
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