HISTORIC ASSETS• Railroad tunnels and Tunnel Hill• The Pinhoti Trail• Reed’s Bridge• Ringgold Gap Historic Area• Crawfish Spring• The Hamilton House• Chatsworth Depot• Resaca Confederate Cemetery• Catoosa County Courthouse• Ringgold DepotSource: Northwest Georgia Regional Commission
CALHOUN, Ga.-Northwest Georgia leaders approved a plan Thursday that would give guidelines to developers who want to build within a mile of Civil War battlefields, Cherokee removal sites or a host of other “natural, cultural and historic resources.”
The Northwest Georgia Regional Commission voted unanimously to send the plan to the state’s Department of Community Affairs. The plan includes a map of the sites, as well as guidelines for developers and local governments to use “in making decisions that affect regionally important resources.”
“Our regionally important resources are facing threats,” said Kevin McAuliff, senior planner with the commission. He said the guidelines are meant to preserve the resources and make certain new buildings don’t take away from the area’s natural and cultural settings.
The plan lists more than 180 specific sites, but also includes five less defined areas including river corridors, steep slopes, wetlands and water supply watersheds. The list includes many well-known sites such as state parks and historic sites, as well as less-obvious resources such as Dixie Highway in Catoosa County, the Pinhoti Trail and the Lower Coosawattee River Valley.