Melanie Wilson, executive director and CEO of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, on Oct. 3 presented an overview of the countywide 2045 comprehensive plan and a timeline for drafting, public outreach and state review. The plan is a 20-year roadmap that the MPC will align with the metropolitan long-range transportation plan, Wilson said.

"The comprehensive plan basically is a 20 year road map for the future," Wilson said, adding that the commission will spend more time on land use than in the prior COVID-era update. She told commissioners that keeping the plan tied to funding and implementation is essential: "You have to have a comp plan update or you will not get funds. That's just the bottom line." Wilson said the MPC will geocode public input to track where feedback comes from and that outreach events will begin immediately, with an internal staff draft targeted for January and a public draft expected in May before review by the Coastal Regional Commission (CRC) and final submittal to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA).

Commissioners asked how Vision 2033 and privately funded planning efforts intersect with the MPC process. Wilson said Vision 2033 (a separate, shorter-range initiative) is being housed through a partnership with CETA and private funders, and that MPC must ensure participation at the table but remains the county's macro planning entity. On housing and affordability, Commissioner Hart asked whether the MPC will require affordable units in new developments; Wilson replied that the comp plan is a high-level policy document and that ordinance-level rules (for example, zoning or inclusionary housing requirements) are actions the commission would adopt later: MPC can help draft policies but would not impose them without commission direction.

Wilson described an outreach plan that includes on-the-ground pop-ups, geocoding of ZIP-code responses, a "planning academy light" for citizens in January to explain planning basics, and partnership with city counterparts to broaden engagement. The plan also will inventory already-approved projects (apartments, hotels, warehouses) so staff and elected officials can weigh new requests against projects that are already on the books.

Next steps: staff and MPC will proceed with outreach this fall, produce an internal staff draft in early 2026, release a public draft in May, incorporate CRC comments over the summer, and seek final action and transmittal to DCA.