The fun world of mitigation credits

Lee Becker has a very good post up detailing the battle over mitigation rights regarding the proposed shopping center along the Epps Bridge Corridor.

A citizen advisory committee opted against recommending a resolution aimed at keeping mitigation credits for Oconee County projects within the county's borders. Becker, who disclosed that he had requested the resolution be included on an upcoming agenda, has been a vocal critic of the developer of the property using the credits in Greene County rather than Oconee County.

The committee noted the resolution would set up a standard where Oconee County was adhering a set of rules that no other county was compelled to abide by, thus placing the county at a disadvantage. It's not an incoherent argument, but it is an incoherent policy. There's no logical reason why mitigation credits shouldn't be required to be used either in the county where the disruptive development is taking place or upstream on the affected watershed.

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners ought to reconsider the resolution, but, more importantly, state legislators ought to reconsider how those mitigation credits are spent.