On long-term growth in The O.C.

I'm having a difficult time sorting through what exactly is bothering Lee Becker regarding the development of the Daniells Bridge Road corridor as a future commericial hub.

He takes the recent approval by the Oconee County Commission to approve a QuikTrip gas station at the corner of Daniells Bridge Road and the Oconee Connector and turns it into ... well, something.

Becker is apparently frustrated the corridor is slated for commercial growth. Regarding QuikTrip, for instance, he claims it's an example that 'everything is negotiable in Oconee County' when it comes to development.

Well, on the surface, isn't that a good thing?

In practicality, I'm not sure what the QuikTrip approval really has to do with this anyway, but let's look it.

The developers sought three things - the ability to plant fewer shade trees, the ability to not plant evergreen buffer trees and the ability to place a portion of its parking in a restricted area - and the Oconee County Commission said 'no' to the shade trees and reached a deal on the parking spaces. As a result, QuikTrip withdrew its request to not plant evergreen buffer trees, meaning the community gets the gas station, holds the line on two elements of its code and made a deal that has a minimal impact with regard to the third element (particularly since the parking will now be located near a little-used right-of-way since the project is on an irregular lot).

Yes, that was negotiating, but, you know, sometimes that's what happens in business and government. And the end result was a net positive. The commission didn't blink when it came to a development, and the developer backed down.

The future development plan for Oconee County designates that area, as well as various other corridors in the northern part of the county, as areas targeted for future commercial growth by 2030. This plan was crafted by popularly elected officials and professional staff and was steered by citizen input and community vision.

Furthermore, it lays out the principles for preserving the southern portion of the county as a largely rural area free of commercial development. Consider it, if you will, sort of a de facto Transferable Development Rights program minus the ability to trade credits.

Granted, I'd like to see more pedestrian-friendly projects brought along, say, the Epps Bridge corridor, as well as some mixed-use developments, but, on the whole, it's not a bad plan for growth at all. In fact, quite frankly, it's a pretty strong one.

Now, again, some of the individual developments I'll probably quibble with here and there, but the overall plan is solid.

Listen, I'm politically progressive, so I probably differ with the majority of Oconee County's elected officials on some elements of land use or zoning policy. However, there is nothing objectionable regarding the existing development plan. It consolidates growth in targeted areas located near existing commercial corridors, including ones that are the most accessible to Highway 316 and Athens-Clarke County, and protects the existing properties in the less developed southern part of the county.

I'm just grappling to see what the 'problem' is with this.