Even with walkable centers, Bouckaert Farms’ review forecast 25,190 new daily car trips

Walkable centers do not eliminate the need for cars. The Atlanta Regional Commission’s July 2025 review of Bouckaert Farms praised its proposed 12 walkable mixed-use centers and 40 miles of trails while forecasting 25,190 new automobile trips a day. The same review warned that a lack of transit connections increases the need to drive.⁠[1]

ARC also praised the proposal’s preservation of 5,450 acres of mostly wooded land. Its traffic figure describes the proposal reviewed—not a count of trips occurring today. For residents tracking the project’s effects on nearby roads, the approval conditions provide a practical baseline for what must happen as development advances.⁠[1]

Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, adopted the roughly 7,848-acre rezoning on Aug. 5, 2025, changing the property from Rural to Mixed-Use Hamlet. Its conditions incorporate the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority’s conditional approval of DRI 4282, with provisions for later amendments and approved alternative improvements.⁠[2][3]

Traffic review is supposed to recur. By Jan. 15 each year, the developer must submit a Transportation Impact Memorandum to the city and GRTA documenting current and projected traffic, transit demand and walking-and-biking connections for approved phases. It must also propose any changes to phasing, access points or infrastructure needed to mitigate transportation impacts.⁠[3]

The conditions also address a potential weak spot: road improvements associated with other developments. Before each Bouckaert phase begins, the developer must coordinate a check on whether relevant off-site improvements have actually happened. If another development stalls, loses its rezoning or otherwise fails to deliver those improvements, further analysis must determine whether alternative or additional measures are needed.⁠[3]

Specific measures include a Phase 2 intersection-control evaluation at Cascade Palmetto Highway and Cochran Mill Road, with GDOT deciding the appropriate control, and a Phase 3 single-lane roundabout—or city-approved alternative—at Cochran Mill and Cedar Grove roads. These are not blanket promises of particular state-road designs: the decision says exact access locations, turn lanes and restrictions are determined during permitting.⁠[3]

The approvals do not clear every phase to proceed. The local concept-plan approval covers the East and Central planning areas, identified as phases one through seven. The West and South areas—phases eight and nine—require additional concept-plan approvals and regional review before development.⁠[2][3]

Walking infrastructure has deadlines, too. The owner must build the project’s RiverLands trail portion at its expense before dedication. The East Planning Area segment must be complete before the first land-disturbance permit in the Central area and no later than 2040; the trail throughout the project must be finished before the first such permit in the West or South area.⁠[2]

These are requirements from the 2025 approvals, not a new vote or a verification of completed work. The reviewed records do not establish current construction progress or whether the required reports and improvements have been delivered.⁠[2][3]