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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
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GROWTH
From page lA
is coming, or another big
drugstore will be built.
“There’s going to be a
Bank of Perry here,” Donny
Free says at the intersection
of Lake Joy and 96.
His son, Scott, points out
that a big retail floor cov
ering business is planned
for Cohen Walker Drive.
Another Fillers is coming in
that area.
A doctor’s office strip is
being built near the Lake
Joy Publix.
And in the meantime, new
subdivisions are beginning
to fill in the spaces where
farmland and forests used to
be between the mid-county
growth and Perry’s perim
eter.
Donny Free predicts that
the growth along Perry
Parkway will be “as robust”
as the growth on Ga. 96,
because of the increase in
homes and population. He
notes that the whole state
is growing, and that predic
tions now are that Georgia’s
population will increase by
eight million by 2030.
Perry’s perimeter area
could boom, with businesses
developing to serve a rapidly
growing population, they say,
“if Perry doesn’t kill it.”
The Frees, father and son,
are not too happy with the
idea of subdivision impact
fees which is being tossed
around now by Perry City
Council.
They see the fees, if they
are approved, as a cost that
will just be passed along to
those who are buying the
new homes.
In Perry, Lynward Barrett,
owner of Landmark Realty,
echoes that feeling.
“No matter how you look
at it,” he says, “the cost will
just be passed on to the con
sumer.”
Barrett sees Perry as hav
ing planned well for the
future.
“Because of the vision of
city leaders,” he says, “We
are ready for this growth.
They’ve opened some corri
dors for new growth.”
He’s sentimental about
seeing the farmlands disap
pear, and says that many
people he talks with are say
ing the same thing, but he’s
still expecting substantial
residential growth south of
Perry along U.S. 41 as farm
ers sell to developers.
“Once the bypass gets
developed, we’ll see the whole
area take off,” Barrett says.
His concern now is “that
with all the growth, we don’t
overbuild and have a super
abundance (of homes).”
“We don’t want more
houses than people coming,”
he says.
Barrett says that his
recent experience has been
that many homebuyers are
retirees coming up from
Florida, to escape high taxes
and hurricanes.
While the retirees often
can afford the higher priced
homes being built, Barrett
would like to see more
affordable housing in the
sllO-$130,000 range.
For Mayor Jim Worrall,
who agrees that more of the
housing being built should
meet the needs of those
with moderate incomes, the
big issue is to manage the
growth.
Worrall is clearly feeling
cautious about the predicted
boom. He’s glad to see the
development along the Perry
Parkway, which was built for
that purpose, but concerned
that subdivision plans are
being made without the
essential infrastructure in
place, and also sees the pos
sibilities of overbuilding - of
having empty homes if the
housing market levels off.
“I read the foreclosures in
the paper every week,” the
mayor notes. Adding that
plenty of Houston County’s
high-priced homes are sit
ting empty now.
“With over 200 homes for
sale, why are we still creat
ing subdivisions?” he asks.
Also, the mayor takes a big
view of the financial picture
and is concerned that the
current vigorous housing
market could slump or that
the growth of homes will
outstrip the growth of jobs
and tax-paying industries.
“Our tax base can’t
depend entirely on residen
tial growth,” he says. “Every
time you have 100-150 new
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Journal/Charlotte Perkin*
LEFT: Donny Free and his son, Scott Free, of Coldwell
Bankers Robbins and Free are major players in the
growth of Houston’s mid-county area. ABOVE: A For Sale
signs stands on Perry parkway. RIGHT: Lynward Barrett,
Landmark Realty, is on the move as Perry grows.
homes, you need a new
industry.
As for the impact fees,
which are still under discus
sion, Worrall doesn’t see why
existing residents should
bear the whole tax cost of
building the infrastructure
for new homes.
Impact fees, if approved
by the City Council, which
is increasingly concerned
about rapid growth and
maintaining quality of life
in Perry, would be part of
the city’s financial strategy
for dealing with a popula
tion boom and keeping the
city looking good.
In the 1920 s it was the
paving of U.S. 41 to Florida
made Perry the “crossroads
of Georgia” for tourists
wending their way south.
In the 19605, 1-75 came
through, bringing still more
business with it. In the early
1990 s , the Georgia National
Fairgrounds was built, put
ting Perry on the map as a
LOCAL
tourist destination. But still
the small town remained,
barely reaching a popula
tion of 10,000 in the last few
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years.
Now the question isn’t
whether growth will come,
because it’s co/ning.
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