Rome-Floyd County Faces Record Growth While Overhauling 25-Year-Old Development Code

Written by:

Steve Marcinuk

Date:

26 Nov 2025

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Rome-Floyd County, Georgia, is undergoing its largest wave of development in decades, with more than $300 million in proposed projects moving through planning offices in recent months. At the center of this surge is Brice Wood, Planning & Zoning Director, who has spent nearly nine years managing the county’s growth and now leads the effort to modernize zoning rules that have not been comprehensively updated in over 25 years.

Wood and his team face the dual challenge of handling an unprecedented volume of development while rewriting the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) to address needs that did not exist a generation ago. “The amount of development pressure is currently unprecedented. It’s something that we haven’t seen in 20 or 30 years, if longer than that,” Wood says. “It’s exciting. It’s also challenging.”

Outdated Rules Collide with New Demands

The timing for rewriting the zoning ordinance is especially difficult. Rome-Floyd County is overhauling its development code just as development activity reaches new highs. The existing rules, written before the rise of smartphones and data centers, still reference businesses like Blockbuster and lack guidelines for current industrial projects.

“With it being 20 plus years old, nobody knew what a data center was 20 years ago. We were in the infancy of the internet. That was before the iPhone,” Wood says. Data centers, now a major focus for new development, were not anticipated in the old code. When these projects first appeared, planners classified them as heavy industrial based on their size and infrastructure needs.

Uneven Growth Across the County

Development is concentrated in specific parts of Rome-Floyd County. The eastern side, near Bartow County and major highways, is attracting the majority of new interest, while the western side bordering Alabama remains quiet.

“You can just about put a line down the middle of the county, and the eastern side is seeing a lot more pressure than the west,” Wood says. This pattern matches the county’s infrastructure investments, which encourage growth in targeted areas while preserving rural character elsewhere.

Rome-Floyd County’s unified planning system covers both city and county, adding complexity. Rural residents seek to maintain the Appalachian Mountain heritage and open space, while city residents are more supportive of growth for economic reasons. “County residents and their voters really want to maintain that rural, Appalachian Mountain heritage and culture, whereas they want more growth within the city, because that’s jobs,” Wood says.

Data Centers Drive Economic Diversification – and Caution

Data centers have become a significant part of the county’s development pipeline. Microsoft’s billion-dollar facility and other projects, including one at the former Coosa High School site, have drawn national attention. However, Wood urges caution about overreliance on a single industry.

“My personal advice on them is they should probably be part of your investment package, but there shouldn’t be too much of it. You should always have a well-diversified portfolio,” he says, referencing Dalton’s carpet industry downturn during the 2008 housing crisis as a warning.

Infrastructure remains a constraint. Georgia Power’s decision to launch a five-year study for one proposed data center has put that project on hold, highlighting that utility capacity can slow or halt even well-funded developments.

Housing Shortages at Both Extremes

A recent housing study found that Rome-Floyd County lacks both affordable and executive-level housing. While limited affordable options have long been a challenge, the study also revealed a shortage of homes priced at $700,000 and above, which are needed for executives and professionals relocating to the area.

Developers are responding to rapid growth by proceeding cautiously. “We’ve had so much housing being proposed that it seems to be freaking each other out within the development world,” Wood says. Large subdivisions are now being built in smaller phases instead of all at once.

For example, a DR Horton project originally planned to build 20 homes at a time in a 132-home subdivision, but is now building just four or five at a time. “If you think about how long it’s going to take to fill out that subdivision at four or five houses at a time, we’re talking about a subdivision that’s going to take years, possibly decades,” Wood says.

Expanding “Missing Middle” Housing

To increase housing variety, Rome-Floyd County is supporting “missing middle” housing – duplexes, townhouses, and small apartment buildings that provide alternatives to single-family houses and large complexes.

The county has mapped every vacant lot within city limits and posted this information online to help local builders identify opportunities. “This is actually a great opportunity for local builders, because your big guys won’t touch just one or two individual lots. There’s just not enough money in it for them,” Wood says.

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have also gained traction, mostly serving elderly relatives rather than students as some predicted. “The majority of the people who are living in them, it’s folks, either their parents or their in-laws,” Wood says. Most residents in these units are not yet ready for assisted living or memory care.

Streamlining Development for Builders

Rome-Floyd County has prioritized a business-friendly approach to attract and retain developers, especially those from larger metro areas. Permit processing typically takes one to two weeks, and fees are kept competitive compared to the Atlanta region.

“The ones who have built are going to have additional projects, it looks like, so they’re staying,” Wood says. Increased competition among builders usually benefits homebuyers by preventing inflated prices and encouraging better service.

Toward Walkable, Mixed-Use Growth

Wood’s long-term vision for Rome-Floyd County centers on “smart growth” – creating walkable neighborhoods where residents can access daily needs without driving across town. The county’s geography, with seven hills and three rivers, creates traffic bottlenecks at bridges, making mixed-use development more than just a planning goal; it’s a necessity.

“Right now, if you drive all the way across town to Walmart, you’re clogging up the streets, whether you intend to or not. You’re not in traffic. You are traffic,” Wood says. The solution is to build smaller communities where basic services are within walking distance.

This strategy includes zoning reforms to allow complementary uses in residential areas. For example, current rules force parents to drive across town for daycare, adding to congestion and increasing costs due to limited supply. Allowing more daycares in neighborhoods could reduce traffic and make services more accessible.

Global Inspiration for Local Solutions

Wood draws on international examples to inform local planning. He cites the Bahamas’ transit system, with attractive bus stops, 15-minute intervals, and low fares, as a model of effective infrastructure.

“We have to be able to look open-minded and see that there’s other places that do things better than we do, and there’s lessons to be learned,” he says.

Balancing Growth and Community Character

As Rome-Floyd County faces its fastest growth in a generation while updating decades-old regulations, Wood’s approach emphasizes balancing economic opportunity with the area’s unique character. The challenge is to accommodate development pressure while ensuring growth is sustainable and well-planned for both current and future residents.

For developers and investors considering secondary markets, Rome-Floyd County demonstrates both the potential and the complexity of managing growth in communities shifting from rural to suburban while maintaining their local identity.