HISTORY OF LAND USE IN CHATTAHOOCHEE HILLS
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In 2007, citizens of this unincorporated rural area of Fulton County Georgia made a bold move: They voted to incorporate their land as the City of Chattahoochee Hill Country (the name later changed to Chattahoochee Hills, and is commonly called "Chatt Hills.") The driving force behind this move was their desire to prevent surrounding sprawl from overtaking their community, preserve the rural character of this area, and have local control over the future development of their land.
With wide input from the community, the new city created a Comprehensive Plan to keep Chatt Hills "deliberately rural." The Plan articulated an innovated approach for land use that encapsulated both development and non-development patterns, and an economic development strategy. Zoning updates later followed to codify the Plan. As of 2023, the Plan and Zoning has worked well. The two developments that have started up (Serenbe Hamlet and Heatherwood Manor) appear as envisioned in the Plan, while the rest of Chatt Hills still appears rural. However, the Plan and Zoning will soon be tested. Many of the large-land owners are preparing to develop their land, hundreds of acres of are being purchased by speculators, and some small-land owners in the rural district are advocating for less restrictive zoning to develop their land as they wish. With these potential changes on the horizon, it is important to document the History of Land Use in Chattahoochee Hills. My hope is to compile the source documents and write summaries to educate both new residents and developers, and to remind those who created the original vision, of the broader goal for a deliberately rural city. And if that goal changes over time, future residents can look back to this archive to see how -- and why -- that happened. Stay tuned as information is added to this section each month. |
Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia [Fulton County GIS Maps 04/01/23]
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About Laurie Searle
My passion is documenting and sharing the heritage of Chatt Hills and its people.
My husband and I moved to this area in 1997 and live on 5 acres in the rural district. I am a long-time community supporter, what some might call a "community advocate," although I have no professional experience in this realm, nor am I professionally trained or educated in land use. Over time I have served on the Scenic Byways Committee, Chatt Hills Organizing Committee, Chatt Hills Civic Association (communications committee and historical society), Community Newsletter Citizen Reporter, City of Chatt Hills Parks Commission & Historic Commission, and Chatt Hills City Council. I've also helped preserve the rural heritage of Chatt Hills by creating and maintaining this website, helping to record over 40 cemeteries in the city, writing heritage stories, and creating the Chatt Hills Barn Quilt Trail.
My passion is documenting and sharing the heritage of Chatt Hills and its people.
My husband and I moved to this area in 1997 and live on 5 acres in the rural district. I am a long-time community supporter, what some might call a "community advocate," although I have no professional experience in this realm, nor am I professionally trained or educated in land use. Over time I have served on the Scenic Byways Committee, Chatt Hills Organizing Committee, Chatt Hills Civic Association (communications committee and historical society), Community Newsletter Citizen Reporter, City of Chatt Hills Parks Commission & Historic Commission, and Chatt Hills City Council. I've also helped preserve the rural heritage of Chatt Hills by creating and maintaining this website, helping to record over 40 cemeteries in the city, writing heritage stories, and creating the Chatt Hills Barn Quilt Trail.