Videos: Workshop 2, Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update 2025-11-17

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Very interesting discussions at the second Workshop on the five-year Update to the Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan. Datacenters, water, sewer, power, trash, accessibility, affordable housing, guiding development, and more.

The third Workshop will be this Monday, January 20, 2026, about 6 PM, after the Work Session of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), at 325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, GA.

[Workshop 2, Lowndes County, Comprehensive Plan Update, Many interesting discussions, 2025-11-17]
Workshop 2, Lowndes County, Comprehensive Plan Update, Many interesting discussions, 2025-11-17

Suwannee Riverkeeper noted reliable power and water are needed for economic development, and AI datacenters could be a problem for that. Also, don’t assume just because the governor says we’re doing datacenters that they will expand everywhere. Remember the dotcom bust and how cheap PCs took over, then smartphones. Somebody will invent a much less expensive method of doing so-called artificial intelligence, a method that does not require huge datacenters. Meanwhile, there are natural limits on water, witness Barber Pool, fed by a spring that now hardly ever trickles.

[John S. Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper]
John S. Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper

GLPC Commissioner Tommy Willis, since not reappointed, recommended planning for dense housing where water and sewer already goes, instead of responding.

[Tommy Willis, GLPC]
Tommy Willis, GLPC

Lowndes County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter seemed to mostly agree with him, and pointed out that affordable housing doesn’t really exist anymore, so now workforce housing is needed, to be made affordable by being closer together.

GLPC Chair Steve Miller spelled out that development follows water and sewer.

Chamber President Christie Moore advocated for land development process transparency.

[Movie: Land development process transparency, the whole case --Christie Moore, Pres. Chamber]
Movie: Land development process transparency, the whole case –Christie Moore, Pres. Chamber

Everyone seemed to agreed on revising some wording to say:

Objective 1: Encourage land use that connects with existing utilities, services, and businesses and promotes active lifestyles and preservation of greenspace.

Objective 2: Guide growth that connects and protects natural resources.

Objective 3: Promote growth along existing infrastructure/within Urban Service Areas

Objective 4: Educate the public on the purpose of planning and development procedures and tools; while Streamlining the processes and providing more transparency to citizens

Objective 5: Guide through land use designations (Urban vs. Rural)

[Guide growth]
Guide growth

Suwannee Riverkeeper noted that litter was not just an individual problem: businesses should assume responsibility for distributing single-use throwaway trash, and local governments could stop them.

After extensive discussion, mostly with Bill Slaughter, this wording was edited in:

A key component of this goal is the desire for community beautification of public and private land through individual and business behavior changes to reduce littering and through an increased focus on landscaping maintenance of property.

[Individual and business changes]
Individual and business changes

Christie Moore also asked for accessible natural resources, both physically and by cost.

Jessica Freeman of Remerton weighed in on smaller municipalities and surrounding areas.

[Jessica Freeman, Remerton]
Jessica Freeman, Remerton

Sementha Mathews, E.D. of the Turner Center for the Arts, asked for cultural experience providers to be written into the plan.

You may find many other interesting discussions in these videos.

Below are links to LAKE videos the meeting, roughly divided by topics or speakers.

Here is the LAKE video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLshUv86fYkiE3zLCBOJ-U9WBww3LV96dB&si=D_yLEGPyZs7Omh1i

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