Updated Plan serves as policy guide for growth and land use change

During their Oct. 20, 2022 meeting, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners officially adopted a partial update to the County’s Comprehensive Plan, the culmination of a 13-month planning effort. The updated Comprehensive Plan can be found on forsythco.com.

The five-year update to the plan, which has a planning horizon of 2022-2042, was created and presented to stakeholders through various public participation opportunities through a strategic planning period known as Foster Forsyth 2022.

The Comprehensive Plan, which went through a major update in July 2017, is a document that addresses critical issues and opportunities within a community that also incorporates a shared vision for the community’s future.

“We are grateful to the residents and stakeholders that participated in the process of drafting the update to the Comprehensive Plan over the past year,” said Planning & Community Development Deputy Director Vanessa Bernstein-Goldman. “The County’s future land use vision, priority needs, and associated action items to facilitate the community’s vision for future growth derive from this document that we are proud to now have officially adopted.”

The plan reviews past trends, evaluates current conditions, describes a preferred future scenario for growth and provides an implementation plan to achieve desired goals. It also helps guide the intensity, location and timing of development to ensure compatibility with existing uses, infrastructure and economic trends while protecting natural and cultural resources.

Georgia requires communities to update their comprehensive plans every five years, including a reevaluation of needs and opportunities, preferred options for future land use as well as a defined action plan.