Residents in the Crabapple Lane area on the Tyrone-Peachtree City border are threatened with having a fenced power substation as a neighbor, with 90-foot steel utility poles marching outward from the facility.

Georgia Power Company has informed the residents that it plans to build a substation at Crabapple and Ga. Highway 74. The massive utility poles would carry 115 KV of electrical power through the residents' front yards, according to Rita Cole, spokesman for a group of residents who are trying to halt the construction.

“Our quality of life is being jeopardized,” Cole told the City Council of Peachtree City recently as the group pleaded for any help the city might be able to give.

Condemnation proceedings have begun in the Fayette County Superior Court, as Georgia Power takes steps to acquire the necessary right-of-way for the power lines.

City Council heard the group's cry and informed them that, while the city cannot legally stop Georgia Power from doing what it wants to do, it can offer an official gesture of support for the residents as they seek help from the state.

The council voted to send a letter to Georgia Power and the Georgia Public Service Commission asking for a delay in the project so that an independent consultant hired by the residents can look at the situation and thoroughly investigate possible alternate sites for the substation.

Cole a 26-year resident of Peachtree City, said at the council meeting that it would make much more sense to build the substation at the other end of Crabapple Lane, across Senoia Road in the Shamrock Industrial Park.

She has already shared her views with the PSC, the only body that can regulate what Georgia Power can and cannot do in this situation.

The utility has the right under the law of eminent domain to acquire whatever property it feels is necessary to maintain service, Cole said. She added, however, that “eminent danger” could just as well describe Georgia Power's unique influence.

“Georgia Power has a responsibility to the public,” she said. “Eminent domain should not be a runaway train.”

Georgia Power has said that this move is necessary to prevent power outages in the area in the coming years. If the need is so critical, Cole wondered aloud why this substation has not been built before now.

The possibility of health risks from living so close to power lines was mentioned several times. One of the speakers was a woman who is a cancer survivor; she and her husband just closed on their house Dec. 29.

Cole asked the council about the zoning situation and how the city can enforce the current zoning when something like this comes up.

City development director Jim Williams reported that the land in question for the substation is zoned A-R (agricultural-residential) and the project is permitted in that category.

City attorney Rick Lindsey pointed out that the city has no legal ground to regulate Georgia Power, but he encouraged the group to continue on its present course and work through the PSC for best results.

Cole said that there are other sites for the substation that would be better than what has been chosen, and the residents want to make certain that all possibilities have been exhausted, including the official designation of Crabapple Lane as a scenic road.

“We don't want to leave any door closed,” she said. “You only really fight for something when you're close to losing it.”

Officials from Coweta-Fayette EMC have spoken with residents, Cole said, and they have been very helpful. Each utility has specific areas of service that the other does not encroach upon.

Coweta-Fayette EMC, which supplies power to much of the area, does not have an urgent need, and the company claims to have a five-year plan in place that is working well, Cole said.

The residents already have the name of a potential consultant to work for them. The Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs, directed by Jim Hunt, also is being kept in the loop as the situation matures.

Councilman Dan Tennant commended the residents for “not going down without a fight.” He added that he would like to hear the official reasons Georgia Power has for not building in the industrial park.

Residents contend that the utility is simply routing through the neighborhood as a money-saving move. Cole suggested that it could also be a strategic plan to position Georgia Power for future commercial business as the region continues to grow.

But Lindsey cautioned everyone that Georgia Power must justify every expense to its shareholders across the state, and customers with a lower level of service in other areas would not look kindly on a large added expense levied just to satisfy a few people in Peachtree City.

Mayor Pro Tempore Annie McMenamin said the council would be remiss if it did not write a letter to the PSC and to Georgia Power to help delay the process long enough for some questions to be answered.

She made a motion to that effect, which was seconded by Carol Fritz and passed 4-0 (Robert Brooks was absent).

City manager Jim Basinger said that the letter would be drafted the next morning and could be in the hands of the PSC by that afternoon after Lindsey and the council checked it over.

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