Writer: Olivia Morley
Published January 27, 2021
Rome News Tribune
The Rome-Floyd Planning Commission will have a training session Friday on zoning and planning basics.
Planning Director Artagus Newell said the citizen board hasn’t had a training session in about two years. The session will update commission members on the parameters for their decision making abilities involving the county’s zoning requirements as well as the state’s code requirements.
The training session will also include protocols for discussion and comments, as well as the best way to keep the conversation relevant to requests and applications.
Chrissy Marlowe from the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government will be leading the training session.
“I think it’s good to have an outside person to be able to give those reminders to the planning commission, and other boards too,” Newell said.
Planning Commission members attended a regional training session a few years ago that was open to the public, but this one will be for planning commission members and staff only.
The training session will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and some of the topics include community planning, roles in the local planning process and growth trends.
A majority of the current planning commission members have been through training before, but Newell feels like this will be a good way to refresh seasoned members on the role of the citizen board and help them with their decision making on future requests and applications.
