Growth in and around the City of Tifton, Georgia is dictating where services are to be expanded. In particular, water, sewer, and gas services have extended outside the city limits to include customers in the county. The city is paying to extend these services with minimal cost to the developers. Using CommunityViz TM, RGIS – South Georgia was able to show where new growth could occur in the existing service area without adding extra cost to the city. In fact, the City of Tifton could begin to see financial gains if they encouraged growth in the areas that already have the city’s services. Using up-to-date color aerial photography of the city and much of the county, existing buildings were identified and a current land use database was developed. This data was then used to “build out” the service area using CommunityViz TM to determine potential new business and residential uses.
Originally from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Eric received his Bachelor of Science in Community and Regional Planning from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Eric currently works for the South Georgia Regional Development Center / RGIS – South Georgia, as the Assistant Director of Community & Economic Development with primary responsibilities in project development and oversight. His department works with 31 local governments in South Georgia assisting with comprehensive planning, environmental planning, historic preservation, transportation planning, economic development, community development, as well as state and federal compliance. Eric has been with the South Georgia Regional Development Center for the past four years.