RVCCD: Chattahoochee County

CUSSETA-CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY

A VISION FOR COMPATIBLE USE SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITIES AROUND FORT MOORE, GEORGIA

Contact Information

River Valley Regional Commission

Jim Livingston, Executive Director

Email: jlivingston@rivervalleyrc.org

Ph: (706) 256-2910

Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Scott Pippin, Public Service Associate

Email: jspippin@uga.edu

Ph: (706) 542-2736

Funding information: This project was prepared under contract with the River Valley Regional Commission, with financial support from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, Department of Defense and the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation.

More information about the project and an interactive asset map may be found at www.rivervalleyccd.com. The plan was released in spring of 2023.

The Chattahoochee County Plan BACKGROUND

This plan describes community development opportunities in Chattahoochee County that were produced in collaboration with local stakeholders as part of the River Valley Community Compatible Development Plan (RVCCD Plan). The RVCCD Plan reflects a strategy to promote economic development and prosperity in the River Valley region of Georgia and Alabama while preserving the landscape and land uses that align with Fort Moore’s military mission and protect the region’s natural resources.

A key goal of the RVCCD Plan is to maintain the region’s rural character and support a good quality of life for area residents. The plan reflects a two-year effort involving a team from the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, the River Valley Regional Commission, Fort Moore and its Army Compatible Use Buffer partners, and six rural counties around Fort Moore: Marion, Chattahoochee, Stewart, Taylor, Talbot, and Russell. This effort produced local recommendations for each participating county and its cities. This document summarizes that effort in Chattahoochee County.

The full RVCCD Plan is available at https://www.rivervalleyccd.com/.

CREDITS

River Valley Regional Commission

Jim Livingston, Executive Director

Allison Slocum, Historic Preservation Planner and Senior Planner

Patti Cullen, Consultant

The Nature Conservancy

Deron Davis, Conservation Project

Director - North America Region

Monica Thornton, Executive Director

Dan Ryan, Director of Conservation

Michael Hensley, Chattahoochee

Fall Line Project Director

LuAnn Craighton, Chattahoochee

Fall Line Outreach Director

Brant Slay, Chattahoochee Fall Line Conservation Manager

US Department of the Army, Fort Moore

Kirk Ticknor, Director, Directorate of Public Works

Brent Widener, Chief, Environmental Management Division - DPW

ACUB Advisory Board

US Department of the Army, Fort Moore, Brent Widener

The Nature Conservancy, Deron Davis

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Ted Will Georgia Forestry Commission, Tim Lowrimore

US Department of AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Services, Sharon Swagger

US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Don Imm

Georgia Forestry Commission

R.T. Lumpkin, Prescribed Fire Center Coordinator

Cusseta-Chattahoochee County

Steering Committee

Chairman Charles Coffee

Commissioner Damon Hoyt

Laura Lee Bernstein

Josh Abercrombie

Kristy Brooks

Joe Addison

Mordie Askew

Marion County Steering Committee

Mayor Kevin Brown

Commissioner George Neal

Jay Wells

Claudine Morgan

Will Johnson

Debbie Ford

Jim Gilland

Ralph Blue

Russell County (AL) Steering Committee

Chairman Chance Corbett

Dennis Beason

Tracie Hadaway

Victor Cross

Commissioner Cattie Epps

Mayor Eddie Lowe

Lisa Sandt

Wallace Hunter

Paulette Colbert

Stewart County Steering Committee

Mac Moye

Mayor Jimmy Blount

Commissioner Joseph Williams

Chip Jones

Diane/Charles Lee

Randy Butts

Robert Lee

Mikayla Murphy

Ruthie Hamlin

Christina Garner

Talbot County Steering Committee

Pam & Frank Jordan

Dan Coffey

David Jordan

Tom Persons

Carol Ison

Sher’londa Walker

Debbie Buckner

Mary Stevens

Taylor County Steering Committee

Shonda Blair

Commissioner Tameka Harris

Mayor Barry Whitley

Lenda Taunton

Jarrod McCarthy

Mayor Butch Turner

Tom Queen

Vicki Wainwright

Milton Harris

Rex Robinson

Georgia Municipal Association/ Georgia Cities Foundation

University of Georgia Carl Vinson

Institute of Government

Scott Pippin, Public Service Associate

Saralyn Stafford, Assistant Director, Rural Development

Shana Jones, Assistant Director, Planning and Environmental Services

Danny Bivins, Senior Public Service Associate

Daniel Wyatt, Public Service Assistant

T. Clark Stancil, Landscape and Urban Designer

Kaitlin Messich, Public Service Associate

Leigh Elkins, Senior Public Service Associate

Kelsey Broich, Creative Design Specialist

Natalie Bock, Research Professional

Eleonora Machado, Creative Design Specialist

Karen DeVivo, Editor

Theresa A. Wright, Associate

Director, Survey Research and Evaluation Support

Brian W. Simmons, Public Service Assistant

Erik Thompson, Research Professional

Darrell Robinson, Research Professional

W. Tyler Cagle, Research Professional

Anna Brodmerkel, Graduate Assistant

Garrison Taylor, Graduate Assistant

Franco Conocchiari-Scherer, Graduate Assistant

Scott Luis, Law Fellow

University of Georgia, College of Environment + Design

Jon Calabria, Associate Professor

University of Georgia, Warnell

School of Forestry & Natural Resources

Kyle Maurice Woosnam, Professor

University of Georgia, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences

John Salazar, Professor

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Army’s mission is to deploy, fight, and win this nation’s wars. Accomplishing that mission requires rigorous training and preparation at places like Fort Moore. The RVCCD Plan presents strategies to promote compatible land uses in the region around Fort Moore. Compatible land uses are those that do not encroach on the Army’s ability to use its lands and resources to execute its mission, and therefore they can accommodate the smoke, dust, noise, and other impacts of the Army’s training activities. In addition, compatible uses reduce the environmental compliance burdens of the Army’s activities. The RVCCD Plan promotes compatible land use development by going beyond the traditional regulatory approaches such as zoning and other land use practices, and proposing bold, locally derived proposals for proactively supporting development and economic growth compatible with Fort Moore’s mission.

The primary findings and recommendations of the RVCCD Plan include the following:

• Survey respondents perceived the greatest strengths of the region to be Fort Moore’s presence (74%) and the region’s natural features, including natural resources (63%) and outdoor recreation (68%).

• Promoting compatible use in the region must be driven by local residents embracing compatible development practices because it makes economic and quality of life sense for them to do so.

• In addition to supporting Fort Moore, protecting areas surrounding Fort Moore through land conservation programs maintains the region’s rural character, something residents strongly value and want to preserve.

• Rural counties surrounding Columbus have the strong potential to tap into a vibrant regional tourism economy by showcasing their natural and cultural resources.

• Addressing systemic poverty, promoting long-term economic prosperity, and enhancing local capacity for planning and infrastructure investments will be critical to ensuring that the rural communities within these areas thrive in ways compatible with the nation’s national security mission.

• A robust accounting of the economic benefits the conservation buffer areas surrounding the installation have provided and will increasingly provide is an important next step in helping these communities recognize the full value of these lands and expand on it for their long-term prosperity.

Proposed Next Steps for Long-Term Systemic Investment

Develop infrastructure project proposals suitable for funding through the Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot (DCIP) Program and other infrastructure funding opportunities, focusing on water and sewer upgrades.

Conduct an analysis in conjunction with Russell County on potential land use changes that could impact the Fryar Drop Zone, particularly any development requiring sewer line extensions in the area.

Conduct a feasibility analysis of sewer line extensions to Chattahoochee County and a study of related land use controls necessary to prevent incompatible development.

Undertake analysis and planning to ensure the transportation network can support community and military needs, including EV charging needs as the installation transitions its nontactical fleet to electric vehicles.

Build capacity among residents for community leadership and entrepreneurship through state and university leadership and capacitybuilding programs.

Develop regional partnerships to foster effective planning, asset management, code enforcement, and zoning administration.

Formulate more robust estimates of the economic and environmental service values provided by the conservation and recreation lands in the region.

Support dark sky efforts to prevent excess light pollution.

Connect river and stream corridor planning to larger conservation efforts.

Support arts, culture, and other community programs to build upon existing cultural assets and interest.

Improve communication between Fort Moore and the rural communities in part by initiating regular community briefings where installation staff brief community leaders on Army issues and needs, and community leaders brief installation leadership on community needs.

INTRODUCTION TO LOCAL PLAN

CUSSETA-CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY

Each community engaged in the RVCCD process has a distinct character and individual assets, needs, and opportunities. To promote these unique local assets, each participating community was engaged to identify key resources that could be accentuated to foster future compatible growth and development. These local plans are rooted in the following key principles, which arose from the public input sessions held across the communities in this region.

• Preserving the small-town rural character of these communities and maintaining downtowns are top priorities for residents.

• Investments in vibrant downtowns promote compatible uses and preserve rural character.

• Emphasizing historic downtown development accentuates the distinctive and marketable assets of these rural southern communities while aligning with Fort Moore’s interest in seeing concentrated development in downtown communities as well to further compatible use.

• Strategic infrastructure investments in downtowns and other key areas will further promote compatible growth.

Based on the community engagement and input described in the RVCCD Plan, the following concepts were developed to promote compatible development and economic growth in Chattahoochee County.

VISION FOR THE COUNTY

Cusseta-Chattahoochee

Cusseta–Chattahoochee County is a unified city-county government located directly south of Fort Moore, and it is the community most closely associated with Fort Moore. Approximately 80% of its land area is within the Fort Moore boundary, and 80% of the residents recorded by the US Census live on the installation. The area’s history is closely tied to the installation, and much of the housing in the area, primarily mobile homes, was developed as off-post residences for Army personnel. Cusseta, at the center of the community, features excellent

community parks, highly ranked schools, and a large regional park facility at River Bend Park on the Chattahoochee River. However, Cusseta lacks a traditional downtown or any central commercial areas like those found in the surrounding rural communities. In addition, Cusseta sits at the intersection of US Highway 27 and US 280, placing it along a major transportation corridor. Highway 280 is the only major road that goes through Fort Moore, which means that a large volume of north–south traffic passes through this area.

Being located at the crossroads of two major highways gives Cusseta–Chattahoochee County a number of advantages that support compatible development. Development proposals here differ from those for the other communities in the River Valley Region and focus on linking Cusseta–Chattahoochee County to adjacent communities, including Fort Moore, by connecting it to the regional trail network, expanding housing options, and encouraging a style of highway development that promotes compatible use.

CREATING A HIGHWAY COMPATIBLE DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

The section “Community Connections: Corridor Development Best Practices” outlined on page 117 of this document proposes some general principles to minimize the negative impacts of development, particularly suburban highway development. Creating a guidance document that encourages and incentivizes

best practices in compatible development would be of particular value to Cusseta–Chattahoochee County. With its position on a major thoroughfare and its lack of a downtown center, Cusseta–Chattahoochee County is under increased pressure to develop along the highway. However, the practices

discussed in chapter 6 can help minimize the negative impacts of that style of development and capture many of the benefits of traditional downtown development described throughout this document.

ACQUIRING FUNDING FOR A WASTEWATER FEASIBILITY STUDY

High-quality, affordable housing is a challenge in rural communities, and this is particularly true in Cusseta–Chattahoochee County. The majority of residences in this community are mobile homes, many of which are quite old. Additional housing types are needed, but

such an expansion is hindered by the lack of centralized wastewater treatment. Existing development is served by aging septic systems, which contribute to environmental challenges and make the existing housing stock less desirable. If Cusseta–Chattahoochee

County could acquire the resources needed to professionally evaluate its wastewater treatment options, it could take advantage of ongoing infrastructure funding opportunities to address this challenge.

CUSSETA-CHATTAHOOCHEE UNIFIED CITY-COUNTY GOVERNMENT

WELCOME CENTER

EXISTING: This photo shows the existing conditions at the former Bay gas station across from the courthouse in Cusseta. The iconic sign still stands at the corner, creating a recognizable local landmark.

PROPOSED: This rendering shows the former service station repurposed as a welcome center. The welcome center features EV and e-bike charging stations and a station for e-bike rentals. The rendering shows the curb cut reduced, shortening the pedestrian crossing distance at the entrance to the parking area. Crosswalks are also shown, with the proposed rail-trail in the foreground.

Existing

The welcome center features EV and e-bike charging stations and a station for e-bike rentals.

Proposed

RAILS-TO-TRAILS

Existing

Proposed

PROPOSED: This former rail line connects many communities in the region and could become a regional rail-trail. This concept also includes attractive, low-maintenance Natchez crape myrtle street trees and an ADA-accessible curb ramp.

EXISTING: This abandoned rail line runs through the heart of downtown Cusseta in Chattahoochee County.

DEVELOPMENT PLAN

CUSSETA RAILS-TO-TRAILS

This concept map shows the proposed rail-trail project (dotted yellow line) that would link downtown Cusseta with a potential agricultural center and multifamily development. A future regional trail expansion is shown in orange at the top.

Project Sponsors