Hinesville, GA - A Camouflaged Community

Prepared for the

City of Hinesville, Georgia

FINAL REPORT - May 15, 2010FINAL REPORT - May 15, 2010

City of HinesvilleCity of HinesvilleA Camouflaged Community

Fanning InstitueUniversity of Georgia

1240 South Lumpkin StreetAthens, Georgia 30602

www.fanning.uga.edu

F i I tit

The City of Hinesville,A Camouflaged Community

Issues Identification and Economic Development Self-Assessment

May 15, 2010

Prepared by:

Skip Teaster, CEcD, PCED, community economic developerJan Coyne, group process technology specialist

Prepared for:

The City of Hinesville, Georgia

Contributors:

Kathleen Cason, Ph.D., editorTyson Young, graphic designer

Tyler Reinagel, Fanning doctoral fellowJessica Bull, Fanning graduate fellow

Danny Bivins, facultyLangford Holbrook, AICP, community planner

Hinesville Community Input Committee

The preparation of this report was supported with funding from the City of Hinesville, Ga.

Published by the Fanning Institute, a Public Service and Outreach unit at the University of Georgia.

Fanning InstituteUniversity of Georgia

1240 South Lumpkin StreetAthens, GA 30602

Phone: 706-542-1108Website: www.fanning.uga.edu

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................................................5

PREVIOUS STUDIES OF THE CITY OF HINESVILLE .............................................................................................................. 8

KEY ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMUNITY .................................................................................................................... 10

Committee and Stakeholder Interviews .............................................................................................................. 10

Visual Preference Survey ............................................................................................................................................ 12

Inventory of Selected Publicly Held Properties ................................................................................................. 18

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PREPAREDNESS ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................... 22

KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................................ 31

IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDY WITH RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................... 38

APPENDIX (ON CD / INSIDE BACK COVER)

1 Community Input Committee2 Interviews3 Community Visioning Results4 Economic Development Self-Assessment

Contents

5 Key Issues in the City of Hinesville , Georgia

The City of Hinesville, Ga.— A Camouflaged CommunityIssues Identification and Economic Development Self-Assessment

Recognizing the need to confront challenges and opportunities, the City of Hinesville hired the Fanning Institute in December 2008 to initiate an issues identification effort and review of previous studies to prepare the community for a visioning and strategic planning process.

At that time, nearby Fort Stewart was expected to add a fifth brigade combat team to the installation between 2010 and 2011. Addition of a new brigade would have meant that more than 7,000 soldiers and their families would arrive at a post that could only meet 20 percent of their housing needs; 80 percent of those military families would need houses or apartments off-post. These families were also expected to have an impact on local schools, medical services, traffic and more. Overall Liberty County, the City of Hinesville and regional partners invested more than $451 million to build new homes, schools and infrastructure to accommodate the fifth brigade.

In June 2009, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren announced that a fifth brigade would not be stationed at Fort Stewart. However, the Army also said that more troops are scheduled to be sent to the installation sometime in the near future, most likely from downsizing in Europe. Four company-sized units and an engineering battalion with more than 1,000 troops are expected by October 2010.

Small park in downtown hineSville,

hineSville’S new juStice center ( under construction)

6 Fanning Institute

In spite of the fact that Hinesville’s population will not experience the immediate growth it had anticipated, growth is still on the horizon and the city will need to plan for it. The impact of the Army’s decision on the local economy also points to the need for the city to continue to diversify its economic base and to make Hinesville a more desirable place to live and raise a family.

This report concludes Phase 1 of a three-phase process proposed by the Fanning Institute to address community economic development and social issues in the City of Hinesville. The three-phases are:

Phase 1: Identify the key issues impacting the city;•Phase 2: Conduct consequence analysis to illustrate •where resources should be allocated to address the issues identified in Phase 1; andPhase 3: Develop an implementation strategy and •implementation audit to ensure that action steps are completed.

To identify the city’s key issues, a team of faculty from UGA’s Fanning Institute (see process in Figure 1, page 7):

Met with the mayor for pre-planning and program •design in mid-December 2008;Held an Orientation Meeting for the mayor’s •Community Input Committee in June 2009;Interviewed members of the Community Input •Committee and stakeholders (June 2009);Conducted a visual preference inventory where •members of the Community Input Committee took photographs to create a pictorial view of the city (Summer 2009); and

Reviewed an economic development preparedness •assessment completed by the city manager and his designees (November 2009).

A major goal of the mayor was to conduct a community and youth opinion survey as part of Phase I. However, senior school district administrators refused to meet with the Fanning faculty to determine how a feasible partnership could be developed to gain much needed youth insight. Once again the lack of collaboration, cooperation and communication by school system leadership prevented a partnership to assist Hinesville and its youth, who continue to remain voiceless. The negotiation effort to meet with school officials created extended and disappointing delays to this report (approximately three months).

Specifically, this report will:

Describe key issues identified by participating •community members and stakeholders; Present the results in accordance with the given •responses to an economic development preparedness assessment; andReview findings and recommendations in previous •reports to determine the status of the implementation and action steps of those reports.

The principal findings from interviews with community members and a visual preference survey are included as attachments to this report. For those interested in reviewing both of those studies in more depth, these materials are provided on a CD at the end of the report.

Over the past decade, numerous plans and studies have been conducted that either solely include the City of


Interviews

Issues Identification

Community Input Committee Formation

Kick-off Meeting

Visual Preference Inventory

EDP Self- Assessment Tool

Community Survey

City Update Meeting

Community Input Committee Debriefing

Community-Based Integrated Inventory and Issue Identification Final

Report

Review Existing Study Inventory

Key Issue Identification

Economic Assessment

Student SurveyStudent Survey

Figure 1: issue identiFication and assessment Process

Hinesville or include the city as part of a county or regional plan. Within each of these plans, issues were identified and recommendations made. Several plans included detailed implementation plans that assigned

responsibility, established a time line and identified resources (e.g. Quality Growth Resource Team Report, 2001; Economic Diversification Strategy, Liberty County, 2007).

8 Fanning Institute

In an effort to determine the issues impacting the City of Hinesville, Fanning Institute researchers reviewed previous studies, reports, plans, objectives, goals, strategies, implementation strategies, and follow-through of these instruments. Also, achievement and communication of successes was an item of expectation as well as the patterns of collaboration, cooperation, leadership and change of implementation that would most likely be suggested and / or recommended by the studies.

Hinesville, the county seat of Liberty County, is one of seven incorporated municipalities within the county. It is a newly designated Municipal Statistical Area (MSA) and has a population in excess of 65,000 citizens and residents. Because Fort Stewart is the largest employer in Hinesville and Liberty County, this community fluctuates in unique ways due to the deployments of soldiers and their families “in and out” of the city and county.

The issues identified in this “new study” are not new but have been talked and complained about for extended periods of time. In this review of past studies and this analysis, the catalog of issues and opportunities are ones that have plagued this city and region for a long time with minimal resolution.

What is most unsettling and not easily explained is why topics that have been resolved and / or are currently being aggressively acted upon remain at the forefront of current conversations. The current city administration is visionary as was the previous administration, but in different ways and the city leaders and staffs seem to be conscientious and hard working public servants. Fort Stewart has once again won the highest award for a military installation and they have glowing remarks about Hinesville and its unique partnerships.

So what is going on that is confounding the City of Hinesville and possibly all the other municipalities in Liberty County?

As the Fanning researchers reviewed the documents provided by the City of Hinesville and others that were discovered and determined as useful, it became clear that something unintentional was occurring. For whatever reason, it happens in many other communities that we are privileged to work in.

In our opinion, previous researchers and consultants were serious and professional regarding their assignments and wanted their clients to be successful as were the persons that provided information for the studies and reports to be completed. In many cases, the City of Hinesville, its sister municipalities, and the County have been successful, but one must inquire as to how much more successful each could have been if the matrices had been structured in a manner where there was a person listed by name or by a specific department rather that an entity, like the county or the city, on each item within the matrix and those parties were expected “to awaken everyday and retire every evening” with the achievement of that goal, objective, action step or overall implementation process as part of their performance goals.

Also, there was and is no obvious mechanism that we could locate that required communication, accountability for achievement, follow up and / or feedback to the leadership and citizens of Hinesville. There was no one “auditing and reporting” the progress of the recommended initiatives. Therefore, it is the conclusion of the Fanning Institute researchers that the City of Hinesville, the sister municipalities and the County of Liberty may benefit by following the model that Fort Stewart Georgia uses in making a conscious effort to develop an Implementation Plan for Achievement and Success with Specific Assignments and Reporting Requirements and to make a pact to Partner, Cooperate, Communicate, and Collaborate during all phases of the Implementation Phase of any Community process with those funding the initiatives.

Previous studies


The leaders of Hinesville seem to be making a conscious effort to be successful and utilize resources in a planned approach, but it also seems that they are working so hard they are “forgetting to communicate success and advise the public of its priorities with regard to need and available funding.” It is further recommended that all projects and programs in the future have the newly hired Public Relations and Marketing Director intimately involved and that a new website be developed and utilized to inform those paying for the studies of the delays and / or the successes in a timely manner.

Summaries of previous studies are provided in the Appendix to give insight into previous reviews, studies, ideas and input from interested citizens and volunteers that want and expected published results from tax monies.

Reports that were reviewed include:

Master Redevelopment Plan (2000) •Hinesville, Georgia: Quality Growth Resource Team •Report (March 2001)Hinesville Metropolitan Area Planning •Organization: 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan (October 2005)Housing Market Study for Liberty County, GA (June •2005); Prepared for the Liberty County Partnership; Prepared by William Christian & Associates, Chapel Hill, NCEconomic Diversification Strategy, Liberty County •(April 2007); Prepared for the Liberty Partnership; Prepared by RKG Associates, Inc., Alexandria, VACity of Hinesville Established Goals, Liberty County •Planning Commission (2008)Liberty County Consolidated Comprehensive Plan: •City of Hinesville Community Assessment Vol. 1 2008-2030Minutes of Hinesville City Council meetings (2009-•2010)

Hinesville

needs to

communicate

successes and

advise the

public of its

priorities.

10 Fanning Institute

Key issues identiFied by the community

A. Committee and Stakeholder Interviews

The Community Input Committee members were asked to meet with Fanning Institute faculty to discuss a series of questions about Hinesville over two days in late June 2009. Those individuals who could not attend an in-person interview were subsequently interviewed over the phone. Many of the interviewees attended the annual County Retreat, during which current issues about Liberty County were discussed. The issues raised during the County Retreat served as a jumping-off point for the interviews. In addition, committee members were asked what Hinesville is doing well, what is not going well, how they view the relationship between the city and post, and what they want to see in Hinesville’s future.

A brief summary of the interview responses is presented here and the full text is included in the Appendix. The intent of the process was to get a variety of viewpoints about Hinesville, good and bad. In order to allow interviewees to feel comfortable expressing candid views, their comments are not attributed.

In April 2009, the attendees at the annual County Retreat determined that Infrastructure (water, sewer, and storm water); Economic Development—Education; Transportation; and Health and Human Services were major issues impacting the county and all municipalities.

Interviewees were asked to share at least one more issue that they deemed critical for the City of Hinesville’s elected officials and department heads to focus on and solve to make the city a more desirable place to live and raise a family in the next three to four years.

Most of the interviewees reiterated the issues discussed at the County Retreat, with examples of those issues related to Hinesville. Other issues they brought up were:

the lack of a large meeting/event facility; •the importance of communication and building •relationships among organizations;

the importance of cultural diversity and the •environment; and the current opportunity to plan future development in •Hinesville.

A summary of responses to questions follows. [NOTE: Due to the transition of garrison commanders and deployments at Ft. Stewart at the onset of this study, input from military families and personnel was limited.]

1. How can communication and collaboration between the town and the post (Ft. Stewart, Hunter Field) be improved? What are the benefits of the two entities working more closely with one another?Improvements:Most of the people interviewed represent interests of the city rather than the post, and they either felt that no improvements were needed or they focused on what the city needs to do. Improving communications between the two entities was the major improvement mentioned; things have improved recently (the quarterly Regional Information Sharing Forums is one example), but they could be better. City leaders need to communicate with post leaders, but organizations, realtors and other community members need to help promote the positive aspects of Hinesville rather than the negative. On the other hand, the current security measures needed at Fort Stewart and a lack of knowledge about events open to the public keep city residents from accessing amenities they once enjoyed. Joint events, especially targeting families of deployed soldiers, and sharing services where possible are other ways of improving collaboration between the post and Hinesville.

Benefits of working together:There is a big economic benefit to working together: it encourages people to stay and spend money (benefitting local business and the tax digest); shared facilities and expertise means neither place has to spend extra money duplicating services or importing expertise. The problem is that Hinesville needs to develop skills in its workforce


that the post currently imports. Other benefits of working together are relationships that can enhance understanding and tolerance and make it easier to plan for the future growth of the region.

2. What makes 1) Hinesville and 2) Fort Stewart unique? Hinesville:Hinesville is a small town with southern hospitality and a family atmosphere, but unlike other small Georgia towns it is culturally diverse. Ft. Stewart brings in people from all over the world, many of them with experience abroad. It also is the economic engine of Hinesville. Hinesville’s location is good: near South Carolina, Florida, Savannah and the Atlantic coast.

Fort Stewart:Fort Stewart is the largest military installation east of the Mississippi River. It has plenty of land, so it has the capacity to grow. It is like a city; all services are provided there, except for some housing. It has won the Army Community of Excellence Award four times. It has a very good relationship with Hinesville, encouraging community involvement and sharing resources. Like Hinesville, it is in a good location for recreation, but its proximity to the port of Savannah and access to interstates is useful for quick deployment.

3. Is Hinesville’s leadership sensitive to the needs, wants and desires of its local youth? Are the youth involved in its future planning? If so, how?Different individuals held differing views of Hinesville’s leadership sensitivity to the needs of youth: Some said “not sensitive to the needs of youth;” others said “sensitive but doesn’t involve them in planning.” A very few interviewees thought that youth were involved in planning or their needs were heard. The major issue is that there is not enough for young people to do. Schools, churches, and the county recreation program have sports activities, but outside of that there is nothing. Adults generally make decisions about the recreational options for youth without their input. One group exists that could be tapped to help involve youth, Young Adult Liberty Leaders (YALL), but they haven’t been invited to any planning sessions. According to interviewees, young people want a skateboard park, skating rink, and bowling alley.


8. If you could change anything in Hinesville that you consider ugly or an eyesore, what would it be and where is it located? How would you recommend that it be removed from the city?Dilapidated buildings and neglected empty lots need to be cleaned up or removed. Empty stores need businesses. Specific eyesores include: the old Labor Building downtown, a laundromat and a body shop on Highway 196, and Peeples Shopping Center. The major highway entrances into town need beautification and improved welcome signage.

B. Visual Preference Survey

One tool that can help identify what community members would like their city to look like in the future is called a Visual Preference Survey. This type of survey contributes towards defining a community’s future vision by helping to uncover the range of opinions, shared common ground, and desires of community members. This survey also helps residents see their community with “new” eyes.

The Fanning Institute team distributed disposable cameras to members of the Community Input Committee and asked them to take pictures of at least five “things they like” and five “things they don’t like” in their community. Each participant recorded information about the location and description of each image in a photo log. However, not all committee members participated as was originally agreed upon, limiting the visuals received by the research team.

Using the photo log information, each image was located on a map of Hinesville (see page 14) to see if any spatial patterns emerged. For photos that did not include exact address information, a combination of Liberty County GIS online map service, Liberty County property information, Google Earth, and Google Maps Street View were used to assign the map coordinates. Most of the photos could be placed with certainty, but several were approximate locations, and several more were too general to place. A few cameras malfunctioned, so only comments could be included.

4. What is working well in Hinesville and why?The local leadership is working well: the past and current mayors have been progressive and accessible to constituents. There is a lot of collaboration between the city, some of the municipalities and the county; among elected officials and staff; and among agencies. City agencies are doing a good job: the county recreation department has a good sports program, law enforcement is excellent, and OMI keep the parks beautiful. New construction is good, even though people are divided about the roundabout and the new Justice Center.

5. What is NOT working well in Hinesville and why?Community economic development needs improving. The fluctuating population, depending on deployments at the Fort, affects the business potential of the area. There is no anchor to draw people downtown. Youth leave Hinesville for jobs elsewhere. Entrepreneurs and business owners claim that Hinesville’s business ordinances make it very hard for small businesses to get started; word gets out and scares off other potential business owners. Hinesville does not promote itself, even to its own citizens: the community doesn’t know the good things that are happening. There isn’t much in the way of entertainment or recreation outside of sports. Communication is not occurring … there is not hearing and listening in Hinesville.

6. In 10 years, what do YOU want Hinesville to be and look like?A beautiful, vibrant, easy to get around in, self-sufficient city with affluent, educated, entertained and cultured citizens who are excited about living in Hinesville.

7. What is your first priority for Hinesville to become a better community to raise a family in?Good education is the major priority, followed by (in no particular order) smart growth planning, a downtown façade ordinance, a bypass to route speeding trucks away from town, events for families and youth, and an event facility.


Both “good” and “not so good” places are scattered throughout the town, with a cluster of “good” photos taken downtown. Highway 84 within city limits was neglected and does not appear in the visual preference survey as good or bad. Memorial Drive and E. G. Miles Parkway had an abundance of “not so good” photos associated with them, along with the intersection of General Stewart Way and Oglethorpe Highway. A small cluster of “not so good” places was located downtown.

In general, “preferred” locations were:

Well-kept, neat, and landscaped places; •New developments, with some exceptions; and•Places that add perceived social or economic benefits. •

In general, “not preferred” locations were:

Overgrown, unkempt and places in disrepair;•New developments downtown where the expense •incurred in building or potential upkeep takes money away from other needed services; and Places that just take up space or illustrate failure, like •abandoned shops or empty lots.

Some locations were viewed both positively and negatively. For example, Bradwell Park downtown provides a pleasant, shady place for downtown visitors and employees to take a break, but the fountain is not well maintained and the plumbing is too noticeable. The lights and median along the new section of Memorial Drive and the new school board building made some participants feel that the downtown is reviving, and at the same time brings back memories of the historic downtown area; others had a negative response because of the expense to build and maintain each.

The many photos of cluttered gateway roads into Hinesville show the bad aspect of unregulated commercial ventures, but on one of those same roads a photo of a billboard is described as good because it uses new technology to promote economic development.

Vacant lots are perceived as “bad” because they are not being utilized and producing taxes or services, but good because of the potential for something positive to be developed on them.

Not surprisingly, many of the opinions expressed through the photographs match the opinions expressed during the interviews, since the photographers were also interviewed. The photographs simply illustrate specific examples of what people think about Hinesville: there is a lot of progress being made, there are good things happening, but there is still a lot of work to do. Hopefully, elected officials will be able to view the city from the eyes of the photographer, make appropriate assessments, and develop a plan to improve the less desirable sites.


Hinesville

Fort Stewart

Flemington

AllenhurstWalthourville

Airport Rd

S M

ain

St

W O

glet

horp

e H

wy

Kelly

Dr

Forest St

Meloney Dr

Fort Stewart Rd

Bra

dwel

l St

N

Mai

n

St

Miles

Elma

G

Pkwy

Oglethorpe Hwy

Folker Rd

Eunice Rd

Cochran

Frank

Ext

SandyRun

Deal

St

Old Sunbury Rd

General Screven Way

General Stewart Way

Mem

orial Dr

Frasier

Tupelo Trl

Mills

Flora Ellen

E Oglethorpe Hwy

Taylor Rd

Old

Sav

anna

h Rd

S M

ain

St

MidcoastRegional Airport

Dr

Dr

84

84

119

119

196

196

38

38

0 1 Miles

Good

Not good

Photographs

Location of sites photographed by members of the Community Input Committee used in the Visual Preference Survey. (Green dots = visually pleasing locations; red dots = visually unpleasing locations)


Photo LogForms for

Visual PreferenceSurvey

Thumbs up = “good”Thumbs down = “bad”


Examples of “Good” Visual Images in

Hinesville, Ga.

TOP: Memorial Drive realign-ment and new Board of Education Building

MIDDLE: Thriving local busi-ness in historic buildings downtown

BOTTOM: Enclave and other subdivisions where develop-ers are building new, unique and affordable homes


Examples of “Bad” Visual Images in

Hinesville, Ga.

TOP: Empty “big box” store with “sea of asphalt.”

MIDDLE: Abandoned homes or homes in disrepair

BOTTOM: No aesthetics and linking transportation and land use. Notice the sign pollution.


The city of Hinesville owns 29 properties ranging in size from less than one acre to nearly 25 acres, with one being listed as jointly owned with Liberty County. During our research, we traveled to a series of these city-owned sites to provide an analysis of site condition and to provide perspective on what type of neighbor the city is when it is also a fellow property owner.

In four of the five instances cited below, the city had well-maintained sites with desirable landscaping and was generally a good neighbor. In the final instance, the city had room for improvement as a property-owner. It is important to note, however, that action by the mayor, council, city manager, and staff indicate an awareness of these opportunities and their actions (even since this analysis) have indicated a push to improve these sites.

In addition to maintaining the physical attractiveness, utility, and “neighborliness” of these city-owned

inventory oF selected Publicly held ProPertiesproperties, the city should work to increase these qualities. This was seen very recently in new welcome signs at the city limits in certain parts of Hinesville.

While the properties included in this analysis are all city-owned, there are a multitude of other publicly held properties within the City of Hinesville. These owners include Liberty County, the Liberty County School District, the Liberty County Industrial Authority, the State of Georgia, and others. In future community development, the city should identify all of these publicly held lands, identify and share areas for improvement, and work collaboratively with counterparts in these other governments and authorities to improve the quality of property ownership within the city.

Examples of publicly held sites follow.

Site 1) Between S. Gause Street and Wellborn Street, Housing Authority, (#9)

This Housing Authority site is prepped for construction, but is sitting vacant with overgrown grass and weeds; however, it appears it is being prepared for positive growth for the city, for which the mayor, council, city manager, and city staff should be commended for forward thinking. But please be a good neighbor and keep the grass cut.


Site 2) Southeast Corner of Memorial Dr. and Wellborn Street, Just south of new Memorial, just north of old Memo-rial), City of Hinesville

This series of properties located on the former Memorial Drive are a part of ongoing discussions with the city about acquisition and long-term plans for new planning approaches and construction. There are two businesses still operating as of early 2010, and were the only two occupied sites remaining on the street. Where their storefronts were formerly facing the major thoroughfare (Memorial Drive), that thoroughfare is now behind their businesses. These businesses will be closed and demolished for the new Armstrong Atlantic State University or similar complex. Kudos to the mayor, council, city manager, and their staffs for their forward think-ing on this site and project.


Site 3) Northeast Corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Dr and Wilcox Street, City of Hinesville

This site is located across the street from City Hall and the police de-partment and was acquired by the city in recent years. According to the city manager, there are long-term plans for the conversion of this site. While the storefront sits empty and the building looks out of place, the sidewalk in front of the building is kept clear and the site itself is maintained. This building will be demolished for parking when the new city hall project begins. Kudos to the mayor, council, city manager, and city personnel for their work on this site.

Site 4) Southeast Corner of Liberty Street and Commerce Street, City of Hinesville (Fire Dept)

The site near the civic center of Hinesville currently occupied by the fire department is well kept and the building attractive. There is also plentiful parking, the streets are well signed, and the fire station is in close proximity to downtown gov-ernmental and commercial areas. This is a prime example of citizens’ property being groomed and well maintained. This site should serve as an example for others.


Site 5) Highway 84 @ Northern City Limits, City of Hinesville (right of way, welcome sign), (Northern City Limit, Highway 84)

The signs that welcome visitors and residents to Hinesville on Highway 84 East (the major approach from the west) look appealing from a distance (top), but are in a state of disrepair when seen up close (bottom left). It is recommended that this sign be replaced as soon as possible and match the new signs coming off post on General Screven and on Highway 196E coming from Glenville, GA.

The newer sign (bottom right) is helpful, welcoming, inviting and at-tractive. It indicates that Hinesville is “Open for Business.”


The Economic Development Assessment is the results of a partnership created by the Center for Urban and Regional Policy (CURP) at Northeastern University, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and the Fanning Institute. The purpose of the assessment is to begin creating a “practical set of tools for local governments” to better position themselves to attract real community economic development opportunities.

The assessment can help municipalities surmount the deal breakers within their control that discourage economic growth, to enhance the power of elected officials to effect positive change in policies and procedures and to better enable these communities to compete for critically needed private sector job generating investment. Notwithstanding certain factors beyond their control, local jurisdictions have the ability to shape their own destinies. In fact, they are the only ones who can.

The City of Hinesville — led by the city manager for this task — accepted the challenge to review 214 questions that would assist them in measuring local strengths and weaknesses against weighed validated critical factors, accept detailed guidance on where to focus based on the responses to the questions and determine where limited local resources can be targeted for the most benefit.

[NOTE: The weighted answers and color coded report are available in its entirety in the Appendix).

Section 1. Access to Customers/MarketsAccessibility issues have an understandably large effect on the development of communities. Highway access, public transit, parking, traffic, rail and air options all affect development in varying degrees. However, accessibility issues centered on the automobile are the most important.

Highway accessHinesville has very good accessibility to limited access •major highways (I-95, I-16, and I-10).

economic develoPment PreParedness assessment

Since 75 percent of development sites are located •near these roads, it would be difficult for Hinesville to improve here with the exception of the I-95 interchange.

Public transitHinesville does not have public transit available •around development sites. This is a problem. Future developments may likely favor areas that can offer potential employees and residents needing more public commuting options and Hinesville is competing with many communities that can offer at least some level of public transit.[• NOTE: Since this survey was completed, the City of Hinesville has the option to secure nine public transit buses to enhance public transit opportunities, but the GADOT has no funds to purchase the units. Therefore, the project is on hold and awaiting funding.]

ParkingMost development sites have available, free parking. •

TrafficHinesville appears to have traffic issues fairly well •managed by employing a traffic engineer/planner and requiring firms or developers to provide traffic mitigation. The flow of traffic on and off the military installation •during peak hours — early morning, midday and late afternoon — creates problems and hampers Hinesville traffic flow. Some of the traffic issues are related to the security checkpoint and also the number of lanes are reduced from two to one.

Air transportation The availability of air transportation, it turns out, is •not as important to development as some may think. That’s not to say that air travel is unimportant to development, only that it is typically of much less importance than being situated near major roads and


having good parking options. With that in mind, it is worth noting that Hinesville enjoys good local and regional air access. On the other hand the closest major/international airport is a little further away than normal. Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is approximately one hour away and Jackson-ville International Airport is two hours away by I-95. It is item #15 on the top 26 Site Selection Factors for 2009, just published by Area Development magazine.

Rail access Rail, much like airports, is similarly less important for •development. Hinesville lacks most typical rail access options, including freight service, commuter service, and intercity passenger service. Since the importance of rail is returning, Hinesville is at a disadvantage for prospects needing rail. A short-line arrangement may be an option to explore. This may be a good time to investigate this option with the amount of stimulus funds available for building infrastructure.

SummaryOverall Hinesville has accessibility where it counts, in •good auto-centric access. There is a noticeable lack of public transit options, •which could be a roadblock to development in the future as greener practices become the standard.

Section 2. AgglomerationThe existence of local institutions that are able to provide the services that help business run more efficiently is something that many developers and site selectors look for.

Legal servicesThe absence of legal services in Hinesville specializing in commercial law or intellectual property is somewhat of a “weak spot” as most communities offer this type of service.

Economic development organizationsIt is also fairly typical for a city or town to have some form of volunteer economic development committee, such as S.C.O.R.E. “Counselors to America’s Small Business” or some type of nonprofit center for economic development. Hinesville does not currently have anything like this. There is a fairly active chamber of commerce, which is a strong point, but chambers do not typically offer the

consulting-like services of an economic development committee or nonprofit center. The Small Business Dev-elopment Center (SBDC) office in Savannah (45 miles away) can assist with consulting services for economic and small business development.

Many communities are able to offer substantial services to new businesses giving them an advantage in development and ultimately retention. In many cases a community can attract investment by focusing development efforts at specifically targeted industries. One way of focusing development is to be explicit about what types of industry the community is trying to attract.

Hinesville does not seem to have target industry plan in spite of having a development strategy in the community master plan. However, the community does belong to a regional OEDP / CEDS (Overall Economic Development Plan/Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy). It is hard to say what may be better for development. At the regional level there are most likely more resources available but at the local there is bound to be more control. The city and its development authority also do not have a labor or workforce analysis that was accessible to Fanning researchers to determine if the local workforce can accommodate the target industry labor needed.

MarketingAccording to assessment responses, Hinesville does appear to be marketing itself for development. One way to improve marketing is to actually involve the businesses and non-local government agencies already holding a presence in town. Hinesville appears to do this in most cases with businesses as well as regional and state government agencies.

A real strong point, which pays off by involving local business in marketing, is to understand why businesses have located, or not located, in the community. Most communities do not bother contacting local business to understand why the business is there or not there. Since Hinesville has a formal process for doing precisely that, the community is in a position to understand it’s unique strengths and weaknesses in a way many places fail to. This is something that is not terribly difficult and that most communities do not bother to do.

Hinesville could profit from an active Business Retention


and Expansion program (BR&E) to enhance retention and expansion of existing businesses.

The city also needs to focus on developing the commercial retail sector, which is currently lacking. It seems the Development Authority is giving this idea some serious though since no other local entity owns recruitment of the commercial-retail sector.

Higher educationA factor of less importance to development specifically is the existence of local and regional universities and the research they pursue. Hinesville is fairly typical here with one college, one community college and one vocational/technical school. This is changing as reflected in the 2009 Quality of Life Factors by Area Development. Colleges and universities are the #2 factor for 2009.

SummaryOverall these agglomeration issues could be improved upon to cover some of the weak spots. It may be hard to develop the private industries that serve business, such as law firms, but it may be easier to develop some type of volunteer economic development committee that could help a new business navigate the local process. The most important part of this section, and the one worth the largest consideration, is probably in being more explicit about what industry the community would like to see in town. Since the marketing techniques are so strong in Hinesville it would make sense to use that strength with the type of focus that specific industry targeting would provide.

Section 3. Cost of Land (Implicit/Explicit)Costs are clearly prohibitive to development and therefore issues surrounding costs are among the most important factors limiting or encouraging development. The amount and type of land and buildings, as well as rental prices and infrastructure capacity will have a substantial effect on development. The most important issue overall, and probably largest in costs should there be deficiencies, is in the capacity of local infrastructure to handle growth.

Infrastructure capacityHinesville appears to have enough infrastructure capacity,

across all categories, to handle new development. Communities often have a lack of capacity in the water supply or in some form of telecom, which can drastically reduce development because of the costs associated with adding capacity. However, Hinesville must determine its future needs and plan accordingly.

Rental pricesThe next obvious significant cost to development is the price of local rents and the type rental properties available. In Hinesville, on average, costs for existing space in retail and manufacturing facilities is well below average, about a quarter to third cheaper, respectively.

The same was not true of existing office space, either in the central business district or highway business districts. In general, existing office space — regardless of quality —tends to be more expensive than average compared to our comparison group. Typically this may be explained by the existence of more comparatively higher quality office space in a given community, but the numbers regarding the quality of available space are within the average, with Hinesville having about the same amount of Class A, B and C office space as the comparison. In general there may be more demand for what is available in Hinesville, or the nominal supply could be lower, either way, general office space, regardless of quality, appears to be somewhat more expensive in Hinesville.

If office space within the downtown area is more competitively priced, Hinesville may be more successful attracting back-office, white-collar prospects to downtown. Competitive pricing will also encourage affiliated businesses to locate downtown when the university campus becomes a reality. More competitive pricing will give Hinesville a better opportunity to balance its economy, which currently is heavily focused on military influence.

Amount and type of land and buildingsOn the plus side the amount of available land does not seem to be heavily contaminated, with brownfield designations, or to be in a state of disrepair or abandonment, indicating little extra costs associated with clean up and rehab. Also there appears to be a significant amount of completely unused open land or “greenfield” sites, somewhere between 11-20%, which is well above


average. It is a definite advantage to have that land available, but it may be more advisable to redevelop what is currently empty or contaminated.

In line with the amount of unused land available is the amount of land available for large-scale development, more than 5 acres. Hinesville reports more than 51% of available land could be developed at the 5-acre or more level, which is well beyond our average of between 11-20%. Given this type of size the options available to the community are much more flexible than in many other places.

Section 4. LaborThe quality, cost, availability and potential for develop-ment and training of an area’s workforce weighs heavily on the decision making process for developers. Basically business can only expand or locate somewhere if there are people with relevant work experience and education that meet their needs. The first thing to consider is what type of wage general labor commands in an area.

WagesHinesville appears to pay a below average wage to clerical workers and public high school teachers. This may be insignificant because the comparison group is made up primarily of communities in the northeast, where wages may tend to be higher. Lower wages may be considered a strength or a concern in some cases.

Since wages may be slightly lower, areas such as Hinesville are often seen as a more affordable place to do business. However, in some cases lower than average wages are taken as a sign for lower quality work, even when that may not be the case.

Types of WorkersThe distribution across general category types is a sign of capability. From the test results it is not immediately clear what types of workers reside in Hinesville as several answers were left blank in the assessment. This is a very important section and should probably be revised and filled in where possible. [NOTE: These questions were very unclear; Georgia data is not collected as technical, semi-skilled and unskilled labor.]

UnionsSomething to consider when trying to attract specific industry types is the existence of unions with a reputation for conflict. Fortunately for Hinesville this does not appear to be an issue. Generally this is a less important area to be concerned with. Since unions are a non-issue in Hinesville, it is a strength. According to site selectors, a low union profile is #14 of 26 site selection factors.

Educational attainmentDespite the makeup of the workforce or what level wage they command, another important factor for development is educational attainment. Hinesville has average numbers for levels of high school graduates. However, there is a below average number of residents earning at least a bachelors degree. This is a very important factor and perhaps a long-term policy issue of concern for Hinesville, the region, or state.

One way many communities address deficiencies in formal primary and secondary education is to offer workforce-training opportunities at various community centers. Hinesville appears to be doing this as well as anyone.

SummaryOverall labor seems fairly typical in Hinesville. It is hard to be certain since there are some critical gaps in the response data presented but overall labor issues seem average at least. Hinesville needs to determine the regional workforce capability (labor capacity study) before it can complete its target industry analysis (See page 32).

Section 5. Municipal ProcessLocal municipal processes are one of the few things affecting development which local governments actually have a fair deal of control over.

Using local liaisonsMany communities enlist people in the business community to act as a spokesperson or liaison to potential developers. Hinesville is no exception. Generally this is a good policy because it allows new business a chance to draw on the knowledge of those already in the community. Many places fail to utilize this useful tool.


Municipally owned sitesOne other thing many communities do is to be active in marketing municipally owned sites to potential developers. Currently Hinesville does not own any sites being marketed for development. Many places do this in order to achieve larger goals about what their community has decided the city or town ought to become. Perhaps this is not currently possible in Hinesville.

Permitting processesAmong the local processes related to development that local governments have a fair amount of control over and that also influence development is the permitting process. The speed and predictability of permitting tends to be one of the most important factors influencing where development takes place. Fortunately for Hinesville the permitting process appears to be in very good working order with many types of permits being granted well under average times. Paying special attention to permitting in the future to ensure this process remains as strong as it is now will help preserve this strength.

Given the relative speed of permitting, it was surprising to see that, with the exception of providing a permitting checklist to developers, that Hinesville has no flowchart of permitting, or no development handbook available. Adding additional materials regarding permitting, made available to developers, may actually improve an already robust process.

In addition there is no pre-permitting available, no overlay districting [with the exception of downtown], or fast-track permitting in Hinesville. It’s curious that permitting can move so smoothly with none of these processes in place and perhaps a chance to make permitting run even better. To be sure concerned citizens often slow down the permitting process a great deal in communities, which does not seem to be the case at all in Hinesville.

Overall local processes seem to run quite smooth despite a lack of permitting options. This is a real advantage and needs to be maintained and hopefully, despite being done quite well already, improved upon. Hinesville can improve permitting by creating a checklist for developers, a flowchart of permitting, a development handbook, pre-permitting, overlay districting, and fast-track permitting (a one-stop permitting process).

Section 6. Quality of Life (Community)Quality of life issues, it turns out, matter a great deal to developers and locations specialists when looking to expand or locate business. Cultural and recreational opportunities, crime rates, housing costs, and the performance of local schools are all factors that turn out to be quite important. In the 2009 Site Selector Quality of Life Survey, ratings of public schools and housing tied for first place.

Performance of local schoolsThe performance of local schools seems to yield mixed results. Despite having high percentages of students testing proficient in English and Mathematics, fewer than 75% (73.29%) of high school seniors actually graduate. In addition there have been schools labeled as “underachieving.” Also 25% or fewer high school seniors are moving onto to four-year colleges.

[NOTE: The combined enrollment in two-year and four-year colleges was 39.2%. In addition, 13.6% of high school seniors enroll in Georgia Technical Colleges. The total percentage of seniors enrolling in higher education (52.8 %) was above the state average. Any one of these things on their own may not be of concern, but when so many students test so high, and so few graduate and move onto college, it is an issue of concern.]

This could be part of some larger problem unique to Hinesville, or Georgia perhaps, but even if that is the case it is certainly worth looking into.

Housing costsOne bright spot is in the affordability of the housing market. Again this is probably slightly skewed since the comparison group is in the northeast, but overall prices are fairly low. The one problem here is that, despite the low prices for both a single family home and rental properties, the home ownership rate is a little low. It’s hard to say how much of this is due to a struggling economy, but it is something to be aware of. It may also be an impact of military deployments by Ft. Stewart personnel.

Crime rateThe statistics are usually a point of contention for many communities who go through this process. Since the


assessment controls for size by asking for crime statistics on the basis of 100,000 residents, many smaller cities and towns feel this negatively affects them. Crime rates for burglary, auto theft and robbery is higher than the comparison groups and on a per resident basis, the crime rate is actually pretty high. The exception is in homicides, which is good, because this is an indication that residents are unlikely to face any real violent crime.

Cultural and recreational opportunitiesWith the exception of a local golf course, the options for local cultural and recreational activities are few. While it is true that these types of activities often take place on a more regional basis it can be a real advantage to offer certain activities such as museum, sports teams, or theatre companies, locally.

How physically attractive a community is can be •considered a pretty important accessibility issue insofar as people feel safe and welcome or otherwise as a result of this physical presentation. Hinesville seems to be aggressive enough enforcing codes maintaining public spaces. However less than 5% of the acreage in Hinesville •is reserved for parks. We typically see somewhere between 6-10%; therefore, The City of Hinesville is encouraged to increase the number of acres reserved for parks to 12%.A slightly more than average number of commercial •buildings are either boarded up or closed completely.

SummaryOverall the quality of life issues we can capture on paper have some positives and some concerns. It’s affordable to live in Hinesville, but there could be more homeowners.

Burglary, auto theft and robbery are major concerns due to increases in drug and gang activity, but homicide and violent crime is nominally low. However, residents may be more likely to experience a crime.

The students at local schools perform very well, but do not graduate or move onto four-year colleges frequently enough [NOTE: this statement ignores enrollment in two-year colleges and technical colleges in Georgia].

The areas that require improvement — home ownership, crime rate per resident, and enrollment in higher education — can be changed with good policies. The areas where Hinesville is already strong are not easily changed with good policies.

Section 7. Quality of Life (Site)A different measure of quality of life is only concerned with the available amenities around and near active and potential development sites. It turns out it matters a great deal to developers and location specialists that there will be services available which potential employees will want and need on a regular basis. The list is small but important. Having dining options, both fast food and fine dining is important. Also, a daycare facility is something that is sought. It is also beneficial to have a fair amount of retail shops near development sites. On an average day a potential employee may need one or all of these services.

Hinesville may be lacking some of these things. The analysis is necessarily subjective since it asks for qualifying answers such as “some”, “few”, or “many”. The point here is to be honest about what may be available and is it significant enough to handle new development. Commercial and retail efforts need a real focus to enhance Hinesville’s marketability.

Section 8. Business IncentivesState and local options that offer incentives for a business to locate in a particular area, and how well they are utilized, may make the case for a business to locate somewhere.

Availability of incentivesIt appears that businesses in Hinesville are eligible for certain business incentives available at the state level. It’s not clear, however, that Hinesville itself is very successful with capturing the available incentives nor providing local incentives.

Helping businesses secure special incentivesMany communities are very active in helping business secure special incentives. Locally Hinesville is either unable, unwilling, or does not have the authority to establish local incentives. Although this may be well out of


the hands of city official it is nevertheless a disadvantage since so many communities across the country are able to offer specifically local incentives to business in the form of tax breaks or low-interest financing.

Section 9. Tax RatesAccording to the responses to the assessment questions, local tax rates are quite low in Hinesville. The local tax rate is about a mere 5 to 10% of what is normally experienced in the Northeastern U.S.. This is so even though commercial, industrial and residential properties are all taxed at the same rate. Very little local revenue comes from industrial properties, which is a slight disadvantage. However, a very healthy percentage of local revenue is sourced from commercial property and residential property.

With less than 75% of revenue coming from residential property, Hinesville enjoys the luxury of not relying too heavily on their residents or fickle real estate markets to determine the stability of funding local services. Given the healthy tax base, it was a little surprising to see the amount of delinquent and defaulted properties in Hinesville. Perhaps Hinesville is more aggressive in defining these properties. If this is the case then a swifter time line for auctioning these properties may be a solution or allowing liens to clear for new owners.

Section 10. Access to InformationIn analyzing how well municipalities make information available to potential developers we essentially analyze the local website given that it is very important to make sure pertinent information is available. This is generally one of the first places outside parties will start to probe a location. Often a municipal website will fail to provide simple information that may be useful to someone from outside the community, something like an area code prefix for all the municipal employee numbers.

Overall Hinesville’s site is fairly standard. The website needs to be updated to reflect more current issues such as public meeting, hearings, or pending applications. It is also not completely clear whether or not applications for permitting are available online.

Going through section 10 of the assessment, essentially everywhere that was answered “no” would benefit from having that information available. It is also hard to get contact information for many of the boards and commissions, making relevant party available online is generally something developers are looking for.

Hinesville is behind on the website design issue. It appears that the information is targeted more at residents than at people outside the community, such as developers, who may be looking for information. Hinesville is not currently using its website to sell and promote the community, which is suggested for the future. [Note: Since this assessment, Hinesville has since hired a marketing director who is developing new materials, a logo and a website to better serve the city. The new website became active during the first week of May 2010.]

The Fanning Institute has rated the City of Hinesville in accordance with Area Development magazine’s 24th Annual Corporate Survey top 26 site selection and nine quality of life selection factors (See pages 28 and 29). The ratings are open to discussion and possible revision when new information becomes available.

The City of Hinesville is encouraged to improve the factors it can enhance to better position itself for serious consider-ation in the community economic development process.


Area Development 2009 24th Corporate Survey; Hinesville, Ga., Ranking1

ranK 2009 site Factors strong (+3) average (+1) WeaK (-2)

1 HigHway accessibility 1

2 labor costs 3

3 occupancy / construction costs 3

4 availability of skilled labor 1

5 energy availability & costs 3

6 state & local incentives -2

7 available land -2

8 tax exemptions -2

9 proximity to major markets 3

10 corporate tax rate -2

11 expedited “fast track” permitting 1

12availability of advanced informa-tion and communication tecHnology services

3

13 rigHt-to-work state 3

14 low union profile 3

15 accessibility to major airport 3

16 environmental regulations -2

17 availability of buildings -2

18 availability of long term financing -2

19 proximity to suppliers 3

20 inbound / outbound sHipping costs 3

21 training programs (Quick start / ga) 3

22 availability of unskilled labor 1

23 proximity to tecHnical university -2

24 raw materials availability 1

25 railroad service -2

26 waterway or ocean port availability 3

total score (Possible 78) 36 5 -18

1 Source: Area Development magazine, 24th Annual Corporate Survey, 2009. http://www.areadevel-opment.com/corpSurveySeries/


Area Development 2009 Corporate Survey; Hinesville, Ga., Ranking

ranK 2009 Quality oF liFe (Qol) Factors

strong (+2) average (+1) WeaK (-2)

1(tied) ratings of public scHools 1

1 (tied) Housing costs 3

3 colleges & universities in tHe area 1

4 low crime rate 1

5 Housing availability -2

6 HealtHcare facilities 1

7 recreational opportunities 1

8 climate 3

9 cultural opportunities 3

total score (Possible 27) 9 5 -2

site factor ( total score) 23

Quality of life factor (total score) 12

rank your community - site

1-26 = weak

27-52 = average

53-78 = strong

WeaK

rank your community - Quality of life

1-9 = weak

10-18 =average

19-27 = strong

average


When the Fanning Institute began this study, Mayor Thomas, the city manager and the city council were concerned about being prepared for the arrival of the Fifth Brigade in late 2008 and early 2009. The elected leadership and the city manager of Hinesville asked the Fanning Institute as an outside party to develop an interview process and a visual preference analysis to obtain insight into the community so future planning and visioning could be set into motion as the community prepared for an overwhelming influx of people. They also charged the Fanning Institute with the responsibility of reviewing previous studies to see what had been achieved, what was pending, and how the progress had been reported and communicated.

Hinesville is making progress. There are many recommendations from the plans and studies that the city is in the process of implementing or has implemented, especially downtown. There is still progress to be made, however, and the following issues, observations, and recommendations address that.

Issues and recommendations will be presented using an adaptation of a model developed by Henry Luke, Luke Planning, Inc. His model uses six foundations developed over an extensive career providing visioning and strategic planning services to communities around the country. The Hinesville model has eight foundations: communication, community economic development, community image and aesthetics, education, government, infrastructure, quality of life, and youth.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS FROM RESIDENTSThe “big elephant” in Hinesville is “apathy.”•Real estate brokers speak negatively about the school •system and the local hospital.The Development Authority speaks negatively about •the hospital and local school system.The school system is not engaged and is not a team •player.

Key issues and recommendationsIndustrial employers are disengaged due to the major •impact of Fort Stewart and they live in adjoining communities like Richmond Hill.Public-private partnerships are missing.•The city and county work very well together. •However, other potential partners (chamber, development authority, hospital, physicians, school board, etc.) are fragmented and not a part of the ongoing planning, communication and collaboration process in which the city and county are involved.Hinesville is a city of small islands — “turfdoms •and fiefdoms” — that are not connected and do not communicate, which reduces the results achieved.

COMMUNICATION

ISSUESThe City of Hinesville is a small, quiet town that •is camouflaged by the famous military post of Fort Stewart. The people like to talk, but communication in Hinesville is a problem. Leaders seem to be overly protective of their turf. They share very little of substance with anyone not connected to their worlds, especially “come heres” as new people are referred to. Collaboration, cooperation, and communication is limited. Public-private partnerships do not appear to exist, and •there is limited public-public partnering, although things seem to be changing at a slow pace. Poor media relations and negative press has adverse •effects on attracting the interests of developers and site selectors.

RECOMMENDATIONThe city should take advantage of the new public relation/marketing professional and planned website to better publicize accomplishments and progress. It is encouraged to authorize the newly hired PR/Marketing Director to help the City Manager and all department heads publish an annual achievement report on the website.


The mayor and city council are encouraged to develop a media campaign that outlines and explains the current status and progress of all goals in selected previous studies (e.g.; City of Hinesville, 2008 Established Goals of the Liberty County Planning Commission; 2035 Mobility Plan), including the nine Implementation Program policies in the Hinesville section of the Consolidated Comprehensive Plan 2030: Community Agenda (pp. 77-78).

Developing partnerships and seeking involvement from disenfranchised citizens and residents could be a catalyst for change. Encourage participation by new residents connected with Fort Stewart who might then ultimately decide to become permanent residents.

All public authorities are encouraged to plan a joint summit to determine how each can support and complement the other and develop a strong public-public partnership. The Mayor of Hinesville and the County Commission Chairman are encouraged to convene this meeting, with the Authority Chairperson and the mayor of each municipality attending.

The City is encouraged to develop a positive relationship with all media outlets in Hinesville and the region and to find ways to overcome the negative reporting by the media sources. The new editor should be open to dialogue with local leaders and the Fanning researchers encourage it.

COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ISSUESEconomic Development seems to be stalled even •though Hinesville has “great leadership, culturally diverse population, all industry amenities, like interstate access, major highways, air, water, ocean port, reasonably priced and available land and incredible natural resources.” [Note: activity in Tradeport East is improving.]

Hinesville does not have a skilled, technically trained •work force to enhance recruitment of new industry and expansion by existing industry. The economic development entities of Hinesville and •Liberty County are fragmented and do not seem to have a strategic plan or focus to improve the local

economy. Commercial retail economic development is “falling through the cracks” and has no real direction, resulting in loss of business and tax revenue to Savannah and other locations. The alcohol regulations in the city are negatively •impacting restaurants’ bottom lines. The business permitting process makes it more difficult to start a small business in Hinesville than it needs to be and the certificate of occupancy process is classified as “Game Playing” — full of hassles and unnecessary requests by enforcement officials.It seems that the Chamber of Commerce is also •camouflaged and “stuck into a back closet or hallway” of the Development Authority (DA) with few amenities and / or benefits other than being in a pretty, new building. The Chamber does not seem to be a full-fledged partner with the DA and most often seems to be devalued by the DA. The local Chamber of Commerce is not accredited by •the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The accreditation process improves a chamber’s capacity to assist the local business community, expands the benefits to members and is seen as a positive by the site selectors.The Development Authority is not a certified •economic development organization by the IEDC even though the executive director is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD).

RECOMMENDATIONThe mayor, city manager, and county manager are encouraged to meet with the board members of the Development Authority of Liberty County to review and evaluate the Community Economic Development Self-Assessment produced by the Center for Urban and Regional Policy (CURP) at Northeast University (NEU) in Boston Massachusetts (See Appendix). After this meeting, the Chair of the DA, the Chair of the DDA, the mayor and the County Commission Chairman are encouraged to meet with the staffs of the DA and DDA to review the assessment and develop a plan to resolve issues impeding community economic development.

These meetings should be held as soon as the 2010 Georgia Legislative Session is adjourned so local representatives can attend.

The City of Hinesville is encouraged to adopt a more


“business friendly” attitude, which it is currently perceived to be lacking, and develop a consolidated “one-stop, customer-focused shop” with the county and other municipalities for permitting, licensure, approvals, etc. to improve business development, jobs and the tax digest. The city manager is encouraged to take the lead and partner with the County Manager, the Planning Director and other appropriate parties not later than September 1, 2010.

[Note: If there is “Game Playing” in the certificate of occupancy process it must be stopped immediately.]

Since much of economic development is perceived as a joint venture between the Development Authority, the Downtown Development Authority and the Chamber of Commerce, Allen Brown, Donald Lovette and Toby Mahan should meet to determine if the City of Hinesville and Liberty County would benefit from a strategic planning process to jointly improve the economy of the region. Allen Brown is encouraged to call this meeting not later than June 30, 2010 for a recommendation to a joint meeting with the city council and County Commission by July 31, 2010.

[Note: Funding of a strategic community economic development process is recommended as a joint venture.]

Allen Brown, Chairman of the Development Authority, and the board members are encouraged to initiate a local / regional labor study to determine if the current workforce can meet the needs of the targeted industries / industry clusters (order processing and distribution; industrial / heavy machinery assembly and maintenance; and food production). Encourage all local industries to become involved in the Work Ready Program with Savannah Tech to enhance employment and workforce education.

The Chamber Leadership Program has potential to enhance the private sector initiatives in Hinesville and Liberty County, but it needs some real leadership successes to be taken seriously and be considered a value-added partner.

The Chamber of Commerce is encouraged to reconsider its office location and consider re-locating outside of the Development Authority offices so that it can regain its identity, which is believed by some citizens and members to have been squelched or tarnished by its location

at the Development Authority. A possible choice for consideration is the previous Board of Education offices near Fort Stewart.

[Note: It is questionable if the system administration and Board of Education are up to partnering with the community and/or the chamber.]

The Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors are encouraged to support the Executive Director in soliciting member and community non-member volunteers to help the chamber achieve Four Star Accreditation from the U.S. Chamber by June 30, 2011.

COMMUNITY IMAGE AND AESTHETICS

ISSUESAs noted in interviews, visual preference survey, and previous studies, Hinesville suffers from at least two major image problems:

Unsightly, cluttered strip commercial development on •the major highways. Most commercial development on the major corridors, like most other communities in the country, was built with no design guidelines from the city. As a result, the corridors are cluttered with signs, too many curb-cuts that impede traffic flow, and large expanses of bare asphalt in over-large parking lots. Since the major highways are the city’s major gateways, it does not present a welcoming sight to visitors, residents, and /or site selection consultants.Poorly maintained properties. Some commercial •properties have been abandoned and/or are not maintained well, further degrading the view along the corridors. Also, residential property suffers from poor maintenance, particularly in areas that are home to lower income residents. Transient renters from Fort Stewart are blamed for some of the lack of upkeep, leading to the perception that real estate agencies and property managers have given up and no longer bother with upkeep.

RECOMMENDATIONIf the city currently has property upkeep ordinances on the books, they should be enforced. If not, ordinances should be considered to cover both residential and commercial/industrial property upkeep. Additionally, mayor and city


council are encouraged to authorize the assistant city manager and planning director to continue the example set by the Azalea Street Project and develop an “enhanced demolition ordinance” to resolve property issues impacting neighborhoods, mobile home parks, shopping areas and industrial / business parks.

The mayor and city council are encouraged to continue their action plan to resolve the substandard housing issues in Hinesville created by “slum lords”, absentee owners, and aging and uncaring home owners. The Visual Preference Study developed by the Community Input Committee is recommended as a tool to identify properties needing immediate attention by August 1, 2010.

With the county and other municipalities, Fanning reviewers encourage joint funding and promotion of an active “Keep Liberty Beautiful” organization. Pay attention to cemetery upkeep, not only historic cemeteries attractive to tourists but also more recent ones. Site selectors and others looking to relocate notice such details.

Both the Quality Growth Resource Team Report and the current comprehensive plan include recommendations for improving the appearance and safety of the corridors. The city is encouraged to partner with Georgia DOT, Fort Stewart, the county and all municipalities to engage in a corridor development program because the corridor is ugly and unappealing.

City is encouraged to partner with the County Commission, Development Authority, Chamber of Commerce, GADOT and existing industry to landscape the I-95 Interchange in order to present an inviting gateway to Hinesville and the other municipalities of Liberty County.

“Hinesville should take advantage of a unique opportunity to redesign the city using the Savannah model,” said a Community Input Committee member.

EDUCATION

ISSUESLiberty County School Administration (top three •to four positions) are not perceived to be team players and do not seem to have an interest in communicating, collaborating, cooperating and / or

partnering to enhance the community and economic prosperity of Hinesville and Liberty County. However, they are perceived as “knowing what is best for all” as they reside “above the masses” in the system’s new, expansive and expensive administrative home.Liberty County is not perceived as a good place to •live due to the perception that the public schools are underachieving as touted by the real estate community and Development Authority staff, per interviews. Also, locals with financial capacity are educating their children in private schools and are transporting them to other counties for school and extra-curricular activities.The Liberty County School System is not perceived •by the community to be engaged in developing a coordinated trained workforce that is “Work Ready”. This has an adverse effect on business recruitment and may cause site selectors to eliminate Hinesville.Armstrong Atlantic State University drops its campus •plan for downtown Hinesville due to budget issues.

RECOMMENDATIONThe mayor and city manager are encouraged to propose a facilitated Education Summit by May 31, 2010 and meet not later than June 30, 2010 with the goal of devising a partnership to improve the image of public education in Hinesville and Liberty County, which is a long-standing issue. The following people are encouraged to participate: the Chairman of the School Board, Superintendant of Schools, the County Commission Chairman, the County Manager, the Post Commander, the Garrison Commander, the Executive Director and the Chairman of the Development Authority, the Executive Director and the Chairman of the Downtown Development Authority, the Executive Director and the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and the CEO of Liberty Regional Medical Center, and the chair of the Hospital Authority of Liberty County.. It is suggested that the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement (www.glisi.org) facilitate this meeting.

The mayor and city council are encouraged to develop a public-private partnership to enhance the opportunity for AASU to become a reality in downtown Hinesville to offset current budget cuts or find another alternative


for completing a college education locally, which is a dire need.

GOVERNMENT

ISSUESHinesville is in dire need of a “public-private •partnership initiative” even though there is currently no legal structure to develop it. However, other communities have been very successful with public-private, public-public and / or private-private efforts to improve the community they reside in.Hinesville is “camouflaged” or perceived as •indistinguishable from Fort Stewart.There also is a perception that recommendations of •earlier studies have not been implemented and no party is taking ownership for results.The private sector is concerned about continually •meeting in forums, like the Annual County Retreat, which is usually scheduled in April, with limited results. One participant stated, “I really enjoy coming to the meeting each year with high hopes and I enjoy the networking, but each year I leave disappointed that once again, we have ‘re-invented the wheel’ and achieved nothing from the previous year. If anything was achieved, I’ve never known it to be communicated back to those participating. I am very frustrated at the process and most likely there will be no follow up meeting as promised in late September or early October…to date there has been no mid-year follow up by the organizers that I can recall.”

RECOMMENDATIONCity leaders are encouraged to get the local legislative delegation to introduce and pass legislation at the state level that will provide the legal structure to create public-private partnerships in Georgia.

Hinesville is camouflaged and well disguised under the Army Combat Uniform (ACU). It needs to define and distinguish itself from Fort Stewart, its long-term partner and benefactor. Elected leadership is encouraged to develop a strong identity, diversify its economy and shed the camouflage of Ft. Stewart while continuing to promote its long-time partnership with Fort Stewart. This will help it diversify economically, so it isn’t stymied by

events such as the most recent Department of Defense decision not to develop the Fifth Brigade as originally communicated by the Army.

The mayor and city council are encouraged to obtain a current update of the achievements and reveal what is left to implement by the City of Hinesville based on the Implementation Matrix included in the Economic Diversification Strategy of April 5, 2007. Once the updates have been identified and reported, the remaining items needing implementation need to be assigned to specific people who accept responsibility for timely completion and reporting. This initiative is expected to give the citizens feedback on how previous expenditures were used, what value the studies provided, and what has been achieved to enhance the city’s progress.

[Note: See Appendix for an example of the implementation matrix of the 2007 Economic Diversification Strategy. The status of each aspect of the implementation recommendations needs review and responses.]

The City of Hinesville should encourage the other participants of the Annual County Retreat, and the facilitators, to use the opportunity to craft strategies and implementation plans to accomplish goals set out in earlier retreats.

The planners for the County Retreat are encouraged to involve members of the private sector (e.g. graduates of Leadership Liberty may be prime candidates) and encourage them to help plan the meetings. They might chair a mid-year program to follow up on successes meeting goals or milestones set during implementation planning. This may be a potential beginning for a public-private partnership. Follow up meetings are inexpensive and valuable to the long-term process.

INFRASTRUCTURE

issuesIt is unclear whether or not infrastructure issues •(water, sewer, storm water and utilizes) raised during the April 2009 County Retreat have been addressed. “As a participant in the retreat, I have not received any update or information regarding infrastructure,”


said a participant in that retreat during this study.Hinesville does not have an adequate housing •inventory to accommodate neither general population growth occurring along the coast or incoming Army personnel. There is too much substandard housing, and not enough rental housing for low-income residents or those with special needs. Housing choices are limited, with a lack of higher-end single-family homes and condominiums for buyers, and apartments for renters.

[Note: Many migrant workers in Hinesville are living in substandard housing owned by slum lords and they need to be eliminated.]

RECOMMENDATIONHinesville needs to fund traffic initiatives to enhance traffic flow (e.g. new coordinated traffic lights in congested areas).

Water, sewer, storm water and other infrastructure issues need to be addressed collectively by all government entities due to expense, lack of funding, and overall impacts as outlined at the County Retreat in April of 2009. Government is encouraged to continue focusing on the goals, strategies and action plans as determined in April 2009 and report results. The results of the April 2010 retreat are not yet known.

Resolution of substandard housing is encouraged as a Hinesville goal by 2015.

QUALITY OF LIFE

ISSUESResidents and families have no venue for family •oriented outings, large graduation events or performing and cultural arts presentations. There is nothing fun to do in Hinesville except •play sports using a ball unless you are willing to negotiate the security at Fort Stewart. “City / County Recreation departments do an excellent job with what they have to work with,” said a Community Input Committee member.Hinesville has limited public parks and green space •in generally agreed upon safe environments. Irene B.

Thomas Park on Highway 196 East at the Old Borrow Pit is not perceived as safe by all citizens and residents and the downtown park is not perceived to be well maintained. Crime rate is negatively impacting Hinesville. •Burglary, auto theft and robbery are major concerns due to increases in drug and gang activity, but homicide and violent crime is nominally low. Graffiti is becoming a problem related to gang activity and it seems to be ignored.Currently, there is less than 5% of the acreage in •Hinesville reserved for parks and greenspace and many other communities dedicate 6-10% of their acreage to recreation, greenspace and parks.

RECOMMENDATIONThe mayor and the city council are encouraged to develop a public-private partnership to create an events center for Hinesville. Hopefully, the Board of Education would be willing to joint venture with the partnership to enhance the success. The city is encouraged to partner with county school system, Fort Stewart, Armstrong Atlantic State University and the county to develop a long-range plan for funding and building a community center for family events.

The city is encouraged to focus the police department on the crimes impacting residents, enhance gang task force activities and seek support and assistance from the school system to reduce opportunities for young people to become involved in gangs and negative behavior. Removal of graffiti is encouraged to become a priority. If ignored, it grows. A graffiti task force is recommended using prison labor to reduce cost.

City is encouraged to develop a taskforce that includes youth to determine what the citizens and residents want, need and or desire to create an improved Quality of Life.

Promote cultural diversity using the cultural and heritage festivals, like the Small World Festival and Liberty Fest, and include the Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Hinesville, the DDA, the Liberty County School System, Fort Stewart and the Youth of Hinesville in developing and planning future family events. Vickie Davis, Kenny Smiley and Commissioner Donald Lovette are recommended as conveners of the initial planning sessions that should begin in July 2010.


The City of Hinesville is encouraged to increase the number of acres to six (6) to ten (10) acres reserved for parks / greenspace and continue the development efforts on Bryant Commons and Evergreen Park which will improve the acreage commitment once they are completed and open to the public.

YOUTH

ISSUESThe youth have expressed serious interest in wanting a •skating rink and bowling alley in Hinesville, but local leaders are worried that this type of recreation may expose younger children to older persons not suitable for their age group, especially girls.The Youth in Hinesville are cared about, but they are •not part of the planning process for their future and the community suffers from “Brain Drain” as young people graduate from high school, technical college or universities never to return home.

RECOMMENDATIONThe mayor and city council are encouraged to fund and promote a facilitated Youth Summit during the summer of 2010 and include interested parents to determine what the youth of Hinesville and Liberty County want, need, desire and expect for their community in the next five to 10 years.

Seek input through a “Youth Works Survey” from local youth as a precursor to the Town Hall to find out what they expect of their elected officials, how young people can be attracted downtown and what recreational amenities appeal to this age group. This could be done as an online survey (five questions), accessible from the city web site, with the assistance of a local youth leadership group (YALL) .

The mayor is encouraged to convene a meeting using outside facilitators with the BOE chair, superintendent of schools, DA chair, DDA chair, the county commission chair, and key leaders from Fort Stewart with the goal of determining how all parties can partner for the betterment of Hinesville youth and community economic development.

Fanning Institute researchers have identified issues that keep the City of Hinesville camouflaged and economically stagnant using interviews, visual preference studies, economic development assessment, city council minutes, community reconnaissance and previous studies to complete this process. The issues are for review and the recommendations are offered for consideration to assist the mayor and city council in providing the plan for Hinesville to reach its full potential and to become the convener of the region.


imPlementation revieW oF Previous studiesThe matrices beginning on page 39 were extracted from the Liberty Partnership Economic Diversification Strategy completed in 2004 by RKG Associates, Inc. The purpose of sharing these implementation matrices is to advise the mayor and city council that a “good faith effort” was made to encourage action and results. However, in Fanning’s view, this model does not ensure that someone will wake up each day and go to bed each night concerned about achieving and reporting the successes and / or setbacks of each goal within the attached matrix.

Fanning researchers were unable to locate the results of this implementation model; therefore, one assumes that the strategy found a quiet resting place on a shelf in some official’s office. The taxpayer has no idea why economic development efforts have yielded limited results but they continue to complain and question economic development

activity. The Fanning reviewers offer an idea for action and implementation that encourages people and not organizations to be accountable for results by using a RACI chart as below.

Using establishment of an economic development partnership as an example, tasks can be assigned as shown. However, the matrix quickly points out that further assignments need to be made if any progress is to be realized.

What is missing from the matrix?•Who will be accountable for implementation after the •partnership is assembled?What is the next step?•

item comPonents

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Developing an economic development partnership

Monthly meetings R I I I I

Develop plan R C C C C

Implement plan A? A? A? A? A?

Sample Implementation Matrixr= resPonsible (The team or individual who will perform and complete the task)a= accountable (The team or individual who will be responsible for driving the delivery of component)c= consult (The team or individual who will advise, review and make recommendations about the components)i = inForm (The team or individual who needs to be updated on the status to further manage the workflow and integra-tion of deliverables)





Hinesville, GA - A Camouflaged Community

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