Community Development Agency director Brantley Day outlines Cherokee County infrastructure pipeline

Brantley Day, director of Cherokee County’s Community Development Agency, presented the agency’s annual report to the Board of Commissioners at the Aug. 20 work session, describing a department that combines planning, transportation, building safety and permitting under one umbrella.

“We are a team of 121 professionals over 8 departments striving to provide the highest level of service delivery and customer service,” Day told commissioners, summarizing staffing and the agency’s broad responsibilities.

Why it matters: Day framed the agency as the county’s primary project‑delivery engine for roads, stormwater, plan reviews and permitting. He said the agency has conducted roughly 1,400 plan reviews annually, issued more than 100 land‑disturbance permits last year, and completed tens of thousands of building inspections in recent years.

Day highlighted stormwater and resiliency work: staff inspected more than 9,100 stormwater structures last year and about 6,500 so far this year, and reported handling 123 stormwater complaints. He said roughly $3,000,000 in ARPA funds has been allocated to several stormwater projects and that staff can provide additional reporting on those uses.

On transportation, Day cited SPLOST and state support for resurfacing: the county resurfaced nearly 45 miles in one peak year, about 31 miles last year and was on track to match or exceed past performance this year with a mix of county crews and outside vendors. He credited recent state funding and coordination with the Georgia Department of Transportation for expanding the county’s second‑vendor paving program.

Day reviewed specific projects in design or construction, including Rhine Road work, the Lower Union Hill roundabout, Technology Ridge Parkway Phase 1, and drainage improvements. He said the Bells Ferry widening right‑of‑way phase is complete and that the Little River bridge is slated to be let in April; the airport spur (phases 4–5 of Technology Ridge Parkway) is in design with VHB and could enable a runway extension in the coming years.

On interagency coordination, Day emphasized frequent partnerships with municipal, state and federal entities and summarized internal practices such as a weekly plan‑review team that brings engineers, zoning, fire and other staff together to review incoming projects.

Day closed by pointing to near‑term priorities — finishing Tier 0 projects, advancing Tier 1 SPLOST roadway projects, completing a comprehensive safety action plan next March, and rolling out a unified development code that would combine zoning and development regulations into a single online resource.

The board thanked Day and his staff; no formal action followed the presentation.