Clayton County Searches for Zoning, Land-Use Consultant

JONESBORO, GA-Clayton County elected officials are looking for a national consultant to advise them on zoning and land-use issues, particularly on how to better provide residents with a better mix of affordable housing and high-end shelter projects, the county confirms for GlobeSt.com.

Clayton’s six-month moratorium on residential development began Dec. 1. The moratorium exempts commercial, retail and industrial projects. County officials say they need more homes in the $250,000-plus price range. The county says it would act on the consultant’s recommendations at the end of the moratorium period on May 31. Clayton County is one of Georgia’s smallest counties in land size at 146 square miles. The county’s estimated population of 250,000 is 10 miles south of Downtown Atlanta.

In another Clayton County action, Crandle Bray, a former county commission chairman, resigned as chairman of the Local Redevelopment Authority which is trying to reconfigure the Fort Gillem US Army base here. Bray stepped down after Forest Park Mayor Chuck Hall lost in a re-election attempt Dec. 6.

Fort Gillem is one of three Atlanta bases the Defense Department has scheduled for closing. The 1,500-acre base has been proposed as a mixed-use development of industrial, residential, commercial and retail space. A replacement for Bray hasn’t been named.

In neighboring Henry County, meanwhile, elected officials have retained Jordan, Jones & Goulding, a Norcross-based engineering and planning firm, for advice on how to better plan the county’s long-range, land-use plan. Pond & Co., a DeKalb County-based architectural and engineering firm, vied with Jordan Jones for the Henry County contract.