KING ENCOURAGES COUNCIL TO NOT FIGHT GROWTH

Terry DeMeo King speaks to Henry Council for Quality Growth about the Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance.

[USPRwire, Fri Apr 20 2007] Terry DeMeo King, the executive director of the Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance (CHCA), urged members of the Henry Council for Quality Growth not to resist growth in the area, but to work together to establish smart-growth initiatives that will benefit the community for years to come.
King addressed the Council Wednesday, April 18, during the monthly meeting at Eagle’s Landing Country Club in Stockbridge. The luncheon was sponsored by the Southern Community Bank.
“You can’t stop development. It won’t benefit you or anyone else involved getting into the growth/no growth argument,” King said. “This presents an absolutely no-win situation for everybody – the elected officials, the people involved and the community at large. The question is not development or no development; it’s how do we move forward with development in a positive way to benefit our community.”
King based her assessments on the success of the CHCA, a nonprofit organization that formed in 2001 to protect the quality of life in a 65,000-acre area of south Fulton, northwestern Coweta, eastern Carroll and eastern Douglas counties. By combining various land use tools such as purchasing land for conservation, green space easements and innovative development strategies such as mixed-use villages, CHCA has fostered environmentally friendly regional growth in a tract of land that is minutes from Atlanta, major interstates and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Without a year and a half of talking, organizing thoughts and developing plans, founders of the CHCA would not have been successful with their efforts. King said this is the key to establishing smart-growth initiatives, even in Henry County.
“They decided their community is worth saving, but they understood that growth was inevitable. That’s why smart growth is so important to this group,” she said.
Prior to joining the CHCA, King served as Gov. Sonny Perdue’s past Policy Advisor for Natural Resources, Transportation and Economic Development from 2004 to 2006. She also was the Environmental Policy Program Manager with the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government where she conducted environmental research and instruction for public and private entities for 11 years.
The next HCQG will be Wednesday, May 16, at 11 a.m. for networking with the luncheon following at 11:50 a.m. The event, which will feature speaker Catherine Ross, Harry West Chair of Quality Growth & Regional Development at Georgia Tech, is sponsored by United Community Bank.
The luncheon is $20 for HCQG members and $35 for non-members. For additional information, call 770-898-9076.
The Henry Council for Quality Growth promotes continued balanced and responsible growth in the county. The Council encourages long-range planning and adequate delivery of government services for all citizens; serves as a catalyst for consensus on growth issues; provides a forum for discussion of responsible development; and assists with economic or technical expertise as needed. For additional information, visit the Henry Council for Quality Growth Web site at www.henrycouncilforqualitygrowth.com or call 770-898-9076.