Growth management plan being updated

A partial update to Columbia County's growth management plan should get under way soon.

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"We've got another four or five years before we actually do a new GMP (growth management plan), but this is just an update," said Richard Harmon, the county's Development Services director. "Something new could be added to it, but it's basically to see what has been accomplished."

The growth management plan provides officials with a guide for development in the county. By concentrating commercial growth in specific areas, called nodes, the plan is designed to minimize urban sprawl.

This year's update applies to a revision that was conducted in 2005.

Instead of using a private consultant for the project, county commissioners decided last week to work with the Central Savannah River Area Regional Commission.

The cost, about $9,000, is much less than it would be to hire an outside consultant, planning manager Nayna Mistry said.

"It is a financial decision, but it also complies with what the country's required to do by the state," she said.

The current growth management plan is listed on the county's Web site and includes a short-term work program of projects the county is involved with, Mistry said.

"It's really a review of that to see what is still ongoing, what's completed (and) what projects will be going on in the next five years," she said.

The updating process, which will most likely take a year to complete, could start this month, Harmon said.