A public meeting to discuss the comprehensive plan of Springfield was held Thursday.

Tricia Reynolds of the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center asked Councilman Ron Boatright, the only councilman at the meeting, what he thought the vision for Springfield is.

Boatright said he would like Springfield to be considered Effingham County’s home town. Boatright said he would like the city to be viewed as, “a good place to live and bring up your kids.”  He also expressed interest in maintaining Springfield’s “small town lifestyle.”

Boatright said he would also like to see more businesses in Springfield to help the tax digest. He said subdivisions are great, but the city needs to diversify.

He said he sees the city expanding to the south and to the west. While Springfield is growing, so are Rincon and Guyton and he believes the cities’ borders eventually will be much closer to each other.

Boatright said he couldn’t see industry coming to Springfield because of a lack of land in the city. He said businesses would be good to help Springfield become a city where people can live and work.

Boatright said the county is currently a bedroom community for Savannah, but Springfield seeks something else.

“We want to stand on our own,” he said.

Boatright said he sees the types of businesses that would one day be on Highway 21 as different from those on Laurel Street.

The plan is for Laurel Street to have local small businesses, while Highway 21 may have larger businesses, he said.

In suburban areas he would like to see low to medium density developments.

Reynolds said she would take the input from Boatright to continue to develop the comprehensive plan.

There will be a countywide public meeting on the comprehensive plans for Springfield, Rincon, Guyton and the county on June 14 at 6 p.m. at Effingham County High School.