Deny Tifton Utilities to the High-Density Out-of-Town Development at 2819 Rainwater
We ask the Tifton City Council to deny any request to enable a high-density housing project at 2918 Rainwater Road through an extension of the city’s water and sanitary sewer systems. The proposed development, if built, would create new flood risk for downstream areas of Tifton, threaten groundwater quality, and bring new levels of traffic to Tifton’s Rainwater Road. Denying the utilities extension, by contrast, would preserve the possibility for the land to be redirected toward common goals of flood resiliency, groundwater protection, or community beautification.
See the video here:
This Development Should Be Stopped
High density housing on this site would bring risks and problems the Tifton City Council should help us all to avoid.
Flooding ThreatThe open ground and pond on this site slow down and absorb the water that flows to it from the neighborhoods to its north, the street to its south, and the creek to its east. That would change with a dense housing development built on the site. Its parking lots and building roofs would repel water downhill. Any time the planned retention pit fills up, water would continue downstream along Kaycee Drive, under or over Carpenter Road, and into the creek north of Pine Wood Drive. Many properties in the path of this diverted water already run elevated risks of flood according to floodfactor.com.
2609 Kaycee Drive scores 9 out of 10.
- Flood risks are increasing as the environment and weather patterns change. Flooding could damage this home. Within the next 15 years, this property has a 96% chance of 1 inch of flood water reaching the building at least once.
115 Pinewood Drive scores 8 out of 10.
- Flood risk is increasing for this property. Within the next 15 years, this property has a 96% chance of 1 inch of flood water reaching the building at least once.
101, 105, 109, 117, and 121 Pinewood Drive all score 7 out of 10.
- Flood risk is increasing for this property. Within the next 15 years, this property has a 96% chance of 1 inch of flood water reaching the building at least once.
Covering up land upstream from these properties, which lie inside the City of Tifton, would introduce new flood risk to Tifton citizens’ private property and the City’s infrastructure.
Traffic DensityRainwater Road is a narrow two-lane blacktop with no shoulder and sharp drop-offs into drainage ditches along most of its length into Tifton. It already struggles to accommodate the mix of car, truck, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic that travels it every day. People use Rainwater to access the UGA-Tifton campus, an institution vital to our economy and our heritage of agricultural progress. This proposed development would bring more traffic to Rainwater Road. Almost 0.8 miles of the road is inside the City of Tifton. There is no concurrent plan to upgrade the road’s capacity.
Lost Water and Sewer CapacityThe city's utility infrastructure has limited capacity in reserve. An extension of service to this Rainwater development would dramatically cut into this reserve capacity. It would add the equivalent of a whole village of customers and bring that area of the system closer to its operational capacity.
If that reserve capacity is spent on this project outside the city, less water and wastewater capacity will remain to serve nearby sites in the city zoned for residential development.
The City of Tifton Has the Power to Deny the Extension of its SewerAn extension of the city’s sewer system to serve a proposed development of multiple structures requires the approval of the City Council. (An extension like this is called an “economic extension” in both the code of Tift County and the code of the City of Tifton.) The city has clearly reserved for itself the right to deny sewer extensions when it is in the best interest of Tifton’s citizens and long-term planning needs. If the city denies application for sewer extension, a dense housing development would be impossible to build on this site. A creek runs right through the middle of this parcel of land making a large septic system untenable.
The Developer’s Plan and ProgressThe county commissioners voted to change the zoning in 2020 and approved a plan to build up to 77 housing units and 139 parking spots on the property. In March, an out-of-county developer bought the property and has apparently taken over the project. The nearly 7-acre property has been cleared of its pecan and pine trees. As of Easter, the creek, pond, and some trees remain. The land is damaged from the heavy equipment used to cut down and drag away the trees. Soil has begun to erode where trees and shrubs have been removed.
The Land Could Serve the Community if the Development StopsEven after most of its trees have been removed, the site still provides important value to the area if it remains largely undeveloped. The potential uses the land for the land, should development be blocked, could bring even more value to our whole community. Green space, habitat restoration, agriculture, permaculture, and flood mitigation are all uses for the site that the community could pursue if given the chance.
Contact the Tifton City Council through their webpage: https://www.tifton.net/174/City-Council
10 Comments
Something I didn't say enough about in the original petition is the potential the site has to absorb and filter even more stormwater run-off. A lot of water is currently diverted around the current creek and pond only to collect around the Kaycee/Madison intersection. If it could go right past my house instead and into the creek, the whole neighborhood would be more flood-safe.
This new housing development doesn’t seem to be the ideal location considering the risk it places on citizens property in this area. With this being known I strongly encourage every person that reads this to sign petition and contact your city or county council members. We the people of Tifton need to stand together on this issue and future issues that benefit all citizens.
I'm not against growth in principle but this development need to be done with more consideration of the "downstream" consequences. Scale it back. Or don't do it at all
This development and extension is a bad idea. This will only make the watershed and wetlands weaker and cause more rapid flooding in the area.
We own property in the high risk area for flooding.... bet if the powers that could prevent this owned in that area it would be different.
Please don't bring this many people that close to a single family neighborhood that is close knit and cares for each other.
Would be a nice place to raise goats. They like climbing hills.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via . Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
By signing, you accept our Terms and Privacy Policy and agree to occasional emails about petitions. Unsubscribe anytime.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
Deny Tifton Utilities to the High-Density Out-of-Town Development at 2819 Rainwater
We ask the Tifton City Council to deny any request to enable a high-density housing project at 2918 Rainwater Road through an extension of the city’s water and sanitary sewer systems. The proposed development, if built, would create new flood risk for downstream areas of Tifton, threaten groundwater quality, and bring new levels of traffic to Tifton’s Rainwater Road. Denying the utilities extension, by contrast, would preserve the possibility for the land to be redirected toward common goals of flood resiliency, groundwater protection, or community beautification.
See the video here:
This Development Should Be Stopped
High density housing on this site would bring risks and problems the Tifton City Council should help us all to avoid.
Flooding ThreatThe open ground and pond on this site slow down and absorb the water that flows to it from the neighborhoods to its north, the street to its south, and the creek to its east. That would change with a dense housing development built on the site. Its parking lots and building roofs would repel water downhill. Any time the planned retention pit fills up, water would continue downstream along Kaycee Drive, under or over Carpenter Road, and into the creek north of Pine Wood Drive. Many properties in the path of this diverted water already run elevated risks of flood according to floodfactor.com.
2609 Kaycee Drive scores 9 out of 10.
- Flood risks are increasing as the environment and weather patterns change. Flooding could damage this home. Within the next 15 years, this property has a 96% chance of 1 inch of flood water reaching the building at least once.
115 Pinewood Drive scores 8 out of 10.
- Flood risk is increasing for this property. Within the next 15 years, this property has a 96% chance of 1 inch of flood water reaching the building at least once.
101, 105, 109, 117, and 121 Pinewood Drive all score 7 out of 10.
- Flood risk is increasing for this property. Within the next 15 years, this property has a 96% chance of 1 inch of flood water reaching the building at least once.
Covering up land upstream from these properties, which lie inside the City of Tifton, would introduce new flood risk to Tifton citizens’ private property and the City’s infrastructure.
Traffic DensityRainwater Road is a narrow two-lane blacktop with no shoulder and sharp drop-offs into drainage ditches along most of its length into Tifton. It already struggles to accommodate the mix of car, truck, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic that travels it every day. People use Rainwater to access the UGA-Tifton campus, an institution vital to our economy and our heritage of agricultural progress. This proposed development would bring more traffic to Rainwater Road. Almost 0.8 miles of the road is inside the City of Tifton. There is no concurrent plan to upgrade the road’s capacity.
Lost Water and Sewer CapacityThe city's utility infrastructure has limited capacity in reserve. An extension of service to this Rainwater development would dramatically cut into this reserve capacity. It would add the equivalent of a whole village of customers and bring that area of the system closer to its operational capacity.
If that reserve capacity is spent on this project outside the city, less water and wastewater capacity will remain to serve nearby sites in the city zoned for residential development.
The City of Tifton Has the Power to Deny the Extension of its SewerAn extension of the city’s sewer system to serve a proposed development of multiple structures requires the approval of the City Council. (An extension like this is called an “economic extension” in both the code of Tift County and the code of the City of Tifton.) The city has clearly reserved for itself the right to deny sewer extensions when it is in the best interest of Tifton’s citizens and long-term planning needs. If the city denies application for sewer extension, a dense housing development would be impossible to build on this site. A creek runs right through the middle of this parcel of land making a large septic system untenable.
The Developer’s Plan and ProgressThe county commissioners voted to change the zoning in 2020 and approved a plan to build up to 77 housing units and 139 parking spots on the property. In March, an out-of-county developer bought the property and has apparently taken over the project. The nearly 7-acre property has been cleared of its pecan and pine trees. As of Easter, the creek, pond, and some trees remain. The land is damaged from the heavy equipment used to cut down and drag away the trees. Soil has begun to erode where trees and shrubs have been removed.
The Land Could Serve the Community if the Development StopsEven after most of its trees have been removed, the site still provides important value to the area if it remains largely undeveloped. The potential uses the land for the land, should development be blocked, could bring even more value to our whole community. Green space, habitat restoration, agriculture, permaculture, and flood mitigation are all uses for the site that the community could pursue if given the chance.
Contact the Tifton City Council through their webpage: https://www.tifton.net/174/City-Council
10 Comments
As a city resident, I am concerned with the ongoing situation at this site. Changes in water flow, increased traffic, increased population density. Can our infrastructure bear it? I learned a long time ago: Just because a thing can be done, does not mean it should be done.
Something I didn't say enough about in the original petition is the potential the site has to absorb and filter even more stormwater run-off. A lot of water is currently diverted around the current creek and pond only to collect around the Kaycee/Madison intersection. If it could go right past my house instead and into the creek, the whole neighborhood would be more flood-safe.
This new housing development doesn’t seem to be the ideal location considering the risk it places on citizens property in this area. With this being known I strongly encourage every person that reads this to sign petition and contact your city or county council members. We the people of Tifton need to stand together on this issue and future issues that benefit all citizens.
I'm not against growth in principle but this development need to be done with more consideration of the "downstream" consequences. Scale it back. Or don't do it at all
This development and extension is a bad idea. This will only make the watershed and wetlands weaker and cause more rapid flooding in the area.
We own property in the high risk area for flooding.... bet if the powers that could prevent this owned in that area it would be different.
Please don't bring this many people that close to a single family neighborhood that is close knit and cares for each other.
Would be a nice place to raise goats. They like climbing hills.
Help this petition grow
Share it with friends to help reach 50 signatures.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via .
Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
Signing with Google or Facebook verifies your signature instantly — no email needed.
By signing, you accept our Terms and Privacy Policy and agree to occasional emails about petitions. Unsubscribe anytime.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
As a city resident, I am concerned with the ongoing situation at this site. Changes in water flow, increased traffic, increased population density. Can our infrastructure bear it? I learned a long time ago: Just because a thing can be done, does not mean it should be done.