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On Tuesday, the LaGrange City Council approved an update to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to update current thoroughfare design standards.

The change is a long time in the making. The topic was first publicly discussed during the LaGrange City Council work session on Jan. 10, but it’s been many years since the standards were updated to any significant degree.

At the time, City Planner Mark Kostial said the update is long overdue, as the standards had not been updated for over 20 years.

Kostial said the city worked with engineering firm Barge Design Solutions to compare similar legislation in place in Troup County, Auburn and Carrollton, as well as the Georgia Department of Transportation to update the standards.

The ordinance provides contemporary construction standards for both public and private streets, Kostial said.

The ordinance regulates standards for drainage and pipelines, pipe bedding, curbs and gutters, street naming, clearing and grading requirements, block lengths, dimensional radius requirements for cul-de-sacs and right-of-way access.

According to Kostial, no calls were received on the matter after it was publically advertised. No one spoke for or against the issue during a public hearing held on Feb. 14.

Kostial said the standards are already in the UDO, they just need updating. There are no major changes, he said.

The amendment was unanimously approved by the council.

In other business, the council voted to:

• Rezone of five parcels on Tom Hall Pkwy from Activity Center Mixed Use (AC-MX) to Activity Center Mixed Use (AC-MX). The rezoning to a designation of the same name was to remove conditions placed on the property from a 2016 rezoning.
• Forward a request to annex a 4.5-acre property in the 1700 block of West Point Rd. into the city to the Troup County Board of Commissioners. If approved, the property would come into the city zoned as Mixed Use.