Citizen Participation

The Unified Plan development process included several ways to garner ideas and suggestions from a wide range of people. The State planning regulations require the County to hold two public hearings. These public hearings allowed the public with opportunities to review the plan at various stages and provide comments on what the plan says. However, public hearings are very formal ways to solicit opinions. The Unified Plan process therefore included additional, more informal ways to gather people's thoughts on Gwinnett County and what the County's future should look like.

The easiest way to keep up on the progress of the Unified Plan was this website. This website regularly had updates about the Unified Plan's progress and additional opportunities to participate in the planning process.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners appointed a 23-member Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) to assist in the Unified Plan process. The PAC provided input and acted as a sounding board on the plan's progress throughout its development. PAC members also shared information about the Unified Plan process with and solicited ideas from the organizations with which they were affiliated.

A key element of the Unified Plan development was the use of a scenario building process. Given the diverse nature of the County, focus groups were used to help develop a variety of scenarios that were further explored and tested.

At key points in the planning process after the draft Community Assessment was prepared and later after the draft Community Agenda was prepared the County hosted public information meetings across the County. These meetings provided residents and other stakeholders opportunities to review and comment on the work that had been completed.