Reinhardt Graduate Revamps Woodstock's Development Ordinance

WOODSTOCK, GA -- Jamie Palmer spent last summer rewriting city ordinances that most people may

find to be boring.

But to Palmer, it was an experience of a lifetime.

The Rome native worked with the city of Woodstock’s Community Development Department and was successful getting his first ordinance passed by the City Council. The current Reinhardt MBA student has not gone far since his internship ended – he has accepted a part-time position with the city as a land development services specialist.

That role requires Palmer ensuring all site plans and final plants sent to the city from any developer make it to the right people in the city, county or any utility departments.

At the beginning of the summer, Palmer was not sure if his internship would help him land a job, but he said he is thankful for Dr. Karen Owen, associate professor of political science, who recommended him to the city.

“This has been an amazing opportunity and I’m so grateful to Dr. Owen,” Palmer said. “It has not only been awesome to work with Brantley (Day) but it has been awesome to have an opportunity like this. Many can say they worked in city government but they all can’t say they worked in such a booming city.”

Palmer was given the opportunity to revamp Woodstock's Land Development Ordinance, the guiding document for development and re-development. He took into account what Woodstock and many other cities and counties across the metro-Atlanta area, state and country were faced with when the Great Recession hit.

Governments were left with unfinished roads and pipe farms and no bonds or developers to be found to finish the job. So Palmer created local and national economic distress stipulations. It allows the city to measure certificates of occupancy and permits with the goal of the city’s Community Development Department being able to almost predict a future economic downturn before it happens.

Day, Woodstock's community development director, called Palmer’s work a “brilliant super-ordinance.”

“I bet there’s not another government in the state of Georgia that has this,” Day said.

Palmer not only wrote the more-than-100-page ordinance, which takes developers from the zoning process to the ribbon cutting, he presented it to the Woodstock Planning Commission in July and to the Council in August.

Both boards approved the ordinance as written, and the City Council gave its final approval of the second reading and the mayor signed it into law in September.

Palmer, who graduated from Reinhardt University with a bachelor's degree in political science in May, said his knack for research – a key skill needed for this type of work – was honed at Reinhardt.

“The ability to implement it and build an idea all came from Reinhardt," he said. "My professors taught me how to think critically."

He will continue his work with the city’s Community Development Department – this time making sure key documents for developments make it to where they need to be.

Photo: Jamie Palmer. Credit: Reinhardt University