For the past couple of years, he's been spending 10 to 15 hours a week working as president of the Snake Creek Property Owners Association —- a group of 160 members who own more than 4,000 acres within the creek's watershed.

Never has a citizens army been more crucial for Carroll County.

In 2004, Temple-Inland announced plans to turn 11,000 acres in their neck of the woods into a massive new development of 19,000 homes with limited retail, light industrial and a convention center.

As proposed, the Wolf Creek project would transform a pastoral, agricultural community into a sprawling residential development with a significant part of the project being built within the Snake Creek watershed.

But the citizens are working hard to show that Temple-Inland can develop their property in a much more environmentally favorable way.

Two weeks ago, the association gathered about 70 interested citizens to learn about the transfer of development rights —- a tool that is being used in other parts of metro Atlanta to protect green space by concentrating development in dense town centers.

In fact, Chattahoochee Hill Country —- an area that is setting aside about two-thirds of all its land as open space and is perfecting the use of the transfer of development rights —- lies in south Fulton County only a couple of miles away from the proposed Wolf Creek development.

The choices facing Carroll couldn't be better defined. It can grow along the model of a Gwinnett County where farms have become subdivisions. Or it can develop with a plan that preserves the rural qualities of the county while permitting development to occur in designated areas.

Such a clear-cut choice, however, is clouded by a myriad of governmental and regional issues that expose the weaknesses of planning in metro Atlanta.

Even though this development would be tucked into a corner surrounded by Douglas, Fulton and Coweta counties, Carroll is outside the Atlanta Regional Commission's 10-county area.

That means that ARC has no official voice on the Wolf Creek project as a Development of Regional Impact.

ARC executive director Chick Krautler explains the disconnect. In the 20-county metro area, nine of the 10 largest counties are within the ARC, but nine of the fastest-growing 10 counties are outside the ARC.

"The growth that is going on around us significantly impacts our region," Krautler says. The ARC has filed objections to the proposed Wolf Creek development arguing that it will impact the region's water supply and increase traffic as residents drive inward to jobs.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

"We have suggested very strongly that an 11,000-acre piece of land could easily be developed using the Chattahoochee Hill Country model and have a much less detrimental impact than the current plans," Krautler says.

It's a view that's gaining momentum in the county.

Last week's Carroll Star News had two news stories and three editorials about the Wolf Creek development, transfer of development rights and land conservation along Snake Creek. Publisher William J. Chappell Jr. summarized: "It's now or never if we want to avoid becoming Gwinnett West."

Jackson would love for Temple-Inland to become a full partner in this vision. The developer could transfer its own development rights from one area to another to avoid building in the fragile watershed.

"We have got one developer here who could really jumpstart it," Jackson says.

But that may only happen if the Carroll County Commission "makes it mandatory" for the Wolf Creek development to protect green space and build walkable town centers with higher densities. The commission is amending its comprehensive plan, which could either rubber-stamp Wolf Creek's plans or promote land conservation and watershed protection.

Commissioner Jimmy Godbee has been impressed how "professional and civil" the property owners have been at commission meetings, and he hopes the citizens will have an equal seat at the decision-making table.

"I hope the board is listening to their concerns," Godbee says. "We have a lot of natural beauty and historic value in the area. And Carroll County has so much of a rural flavor that this development would change."

For Kevin Jackson, it's all about maintaining the special quality of life that he and his neighbors enjoy.

"There are people in our organization who have owned their farms for six generations and want to pass their land on to their kids and grandkids," Jackson says. "Their No. 1 concern about Wolf Creek is what they would get up and see every morning."

Let's hope the Carroll County Commission and Temple-Inland have the vision to develop a model community that retains the county's natural beauty.

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it