The community is invited to join the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department and Urban3 consultants for a "Building a Stronger & Smarter Community” public presentation related to the economic impact of development in Athens-Clarke County.

The presentation will take place on Thursday, May 8 from 6:00-8:00 PM at Clarke Central High School (350 S. Milledge Avenue) in the Mell Auditorium. The presentation is free and open to the public. Attendees should use the South Milledge Avenue entrance driveway to access event parking. Registration is not required.

The presentation will feature Joe Minicozzi, Principal Planner and data storyteller at Urban3. Minicozzi is an urban planner imagining new ways to think about and visualize land use, urban design, and economics. He founded Urban3 to explain and visualize market dynamics created by tax and land use policies. Prior to creating Urban3, he served as the Executive Director for the Asheville (NC) Downtown Association.

A second session of the presentation, co-sponsored by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, will take place on Thursday, May 8 from 10:00-11:30 AM at the 1055 Barber event space (1055 Barber Street) primarily focused on the business community. The session is also open to the public, but registration is requested at www.athensga.com on the Events Calendar.

For the past few months, consultants from Urban3 have been collecting and analyzing a variety of planning, utility, and financial data from Athens-Clarke County to inform this unique presentation. Their work, which has been happening alongside the Planning Department’s Future Land Use planning efforts, makes a quantifiable case for better community planning, urban design, and smarter growth.

For more information on the sessions, visit www.accgov.com/compplan or call 706-613-3515.