Real Estate Development Review
In 2006 the Conservancy Board of Directors created a Development Review Committee to review and comment on proposed developments in Morgan County and its municipalities in an effort to address elements of proposed development that may impact the area’s natural, agricultural, and historic resources. The goals of the committee are:
- To serve as a resource to the county and municipal planning departments
- To review applications submitted to the Morgan County Planning Commission to assess quality of design, consistency with the Greenprint and Comprehensive Plan, and appropriateness, as they relate to the Conservancy mission
- To present comments to the Planning Commission, Board of Commissioners, and/or appropriate City Council
- To recommend zoning ordinance and development regulation changes/improvements
Currently serving on the Development Review Committee are individuals involved in commercial real estate law, real estate development, real estate brokerage, agribusiness, forestry, city planning, etc. The committee invites the applicant to the committee meeting to review the proposal, after which the Committee submits a report to the Planning Commission.
Real estate development is a healthy part of a balanced tax base. Knowing the cost of development is key in determining which kind of development a community wishes to court. The cost of community services (how much it costs to provide the infrastructure required by new development) is key in determining the “cost of development.”
In 2008, the Morgan County Board of Commissioners commissioned a Cost of Community Services Study to determine the cost of residential, commercial, and industrial development in Morgan County. 
Click here to see Morgan County’s Cost of Community Services report. In short, it showed that for every dollar spent in providing services, residential paid $0.94 in taxes (less than than the cost of providing its required services), commercial and industrial paid $1.94 in taxes, and farmland and forestland paid $1.06 (the latter two categories pay more in taxes than they receive in services).
“Morgan County has one of the most balanced tax digests in the state” said Rope Roberts (GA Power Economic Development) in 2007 during the Conservancy’s Land Talks forum. Continuing that balanced growth will be key to the continued quality of life in Morgan County. The Conservancy aims to retain that balance and advocates for balanced growth. The Development Review Committee is a key component in that advocacy.
Read two Development Review Committee letters submitted to the Planning Commission…
2020 Morgan County Subdivision Moratorium