October 2013
| Business World Magazine | 53
ahead-of-the-curve. This is not only evi-
denced in the range of municipal infra-
structure that has been LEED Certified
(as local ordinances demand), yet sustain-
ability is also reflected in the preservation
and protection of green spaces, advance-
ments in water quality and water con-
servation, recycling programs to reduce
impact to area landfills, enhancements in
transportation and fleet operations, and
much more, yet these are anything, but
new programs. As Mayor Nancy Denson
affirms, “For more than 15 years now,
there’s been a mindset of sustainability in
this community ... we have a lot of smart
people and a county commission that has
been very supportive... it has allowed us
to make choices that are good for our
community.”
Athens-Clark Senior Planner Bruce
Lonnee explains that the community of
today, as well as that of tomorrow, is ul-
timately a byproduct of what has been
careful, conscientious, socially and envi-
ronmentally-sensitive planning; planning
that began some two decades ago.
Lonnee explains that the community
spent almost two years devising a land-
use plan that evolved after conducting 200
separate public meetings. “No one could
ever say they didn’t have a chance to pro-
vide input,” says Lonnee, who adds, “The
neat thing about being a planner is that
it places you right at the intersection of
Main Street and everyone else’ interest.”
To his point, for a community that plays
hosts to a large demographic of university
students, retirees, small business and large
enterprise alike, the potential for conflict
from varying agendas is almost assured.
Yet, Lonnee says love for the commu-
nity has proven to take precedence over
any form of self-interest. That said, when
the land use plan was enacted in 1999, it
provided guidelines that ultimately influ-
enced more than just the way land would
be used or not used, but the manner in
which development would occur, the
way resources would be maintained and
social services developed. “The plan be-
came a backbone for this body of work
that would follow ... and we simply had
to connect the dots between three rings.
In the center ring was a highly urban core
with low density that discouraged sprawl.
An outer ring consisted of green space,
