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Coastal Permitting Process: A Natural Order to Things?
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Because of the richness of our coastal ecosystems and the fragility of these valuable resources, decisions about development proposals in the coastal zone often involve an assortment of agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. For example, a proposal to build houses on a marsh hammock could require permission from Georgia DNR’s Coastal Resources Division for a bridge across the marsh; the Army Corps of Engineers with respect to on-site jurisdictional wetlands; the county health department to site a septic system; site plan approval by the local zoning board; and buffer enforcement by DNR’s Environmental Protection Division or, in some cases, the county. The approval process would be even more complex if there were threatened or endangered species or archeological resources present. This multiple permit systems sounds like a good thing for the environment, right? Well, not always—and increasingly—not often. The trouble is, these agencies don’t always consult with one another and review only the portion of a development proposal for which they are legally responsible. The result of this unstructured process is piecemeal consideration of environmental assets and, in many cases, loss of environmental quality and wildlife habitat. Thanks to a grant from the Sapelo Foundation, the Georgia Conservancy has undertaken a Permit Coordination Initiative to research multi-agency permitting and land use decision processes in other states, identify obstacles and opportunities within Georgia, and create a forum for exploring a more holistic approach to environmental permitting and land use decision making in coastal Georgia. Also participating in this initiative are the Center for a Sustainable Coast and Savannah State University. For more information, contact Will Berson at wberson@bellsouth.net or 912-447-5910. |
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Even
to the casual observer, coastal Georgia is experiencing phenomenal growth.
In the next 25 years, our coastal residential population is expected to
double—to over one million people—not including the seasonal
influx of vacationers and tourists. Even more alarming is the rate of
land consumption, which in many areas of the coast is more than double
the rate of population growth. How we manage this growth will be critical
to the health of our uplands, freshwater wetlands, marshes, estuaries,
and coastal waters.