Charged with analyzing what Mayor Bob Lenox called “one of the most important decisions this city is ever going to make,” the Westside Task Force met for the first time last week to lay the groundwork for what should be three or four months of intensive study concerning annexation issues for the proposed West Village.

The task force is charged with giving City Council a recommendation on whether it should annex the 1,100-acre area just north of the current city limits and work with property owners to master-plan its development.

“This is one of the most complex subjects I've ever looked at,” said Lenox. “The members of this committee will play a major role in determining what this city looks like for the next 100 years.”

The City Council recently lifted its annexation moratorium with regard to the West Village, at which time Lenox began assembling a diverse group of citizens to look at all of the possibilities relating to that area.

Members present at the first meeting were Phyllis Aguayo, Jim Barber, Liz Bunker, Dennis Chase, Debbie Condon, Cele Eifert, Dan Fields, Willis Granger, George Kadel, Chuck Lehman, Mayor Bob Lenox, Jerry Peterson, Jim Steinbach, Todd Strickland and John Williams. City staff members present were city manager Jim Basinger, city planner David Rast, and public information specialist Betsy Tyler.

Lenox said the task force's goal is to have a presentation ready for the City Council by the end of July, with an overall recommendation arrived at by consensus, like what was accomplished by the Walt Banks/54 task force last year. Included in that presentation would be the group's complete rationale for whatever decision is made, with all of the pros and cons, as well as any conditions that may be needed.

So far, no one has made an official application for annexation.

The group is starting with a map that has only the outlines of the various parcels included in the 1,100-acre site and names of the property owners. “We're starting with a clean slate,” said Lenox.

The task force could ask the same firm that designed the original master plan for the Walt Banks/54 corner, now being developed as Lexington Commons, to come back and put something together for this area, if it is deemed appropriate.

There is a sliver of land on this site that is already in the city limits, zoned industrial. The surrounding county land is zoned agricultural the county's land use plan currently envisions two-acre lots for the area, Lenox reported.

The West Village site is landlocked by Peachtree City, Tyrone and Fayette County. All of the land is west of the railroad tracks, with no direct frontage onto Ga. Highway 74.

The task force will meet at least once every two weeks, if all goes as planned. With such a large group, Lenox does not expect every member to be present every week, but all members have expressed a desire to be involved as much as possible.

The next meeting is set for Tuesday, April 4, 5 p.m. at City Hall. All meetings are recorded and open to the public.

Lenox stressed that nothing the committee says or does can be held against the members legally. Annexation is arbitrary by law, and applicants for annexation have no legal recourse.

Annexations set no legal precedents, Lenox added, and the city cannot legally put an annexation proposal on the ballot for a referendum or conduct a straw poll.

“You're going to know more than you ever wanted to know about this subject by the time we're done,” the mayor told the task force members.

He said that he expects some members are leaning one way, while some are leaning the other way, and that's how it should be. But no one should have his or her mind totally made up, or it betrays the process, he added.

“There's only one member of the council who already knows the answer,” he said. While he did not name that person, Councilman Dan Tennant cast the lone vote against lifting the annexation moratorium.

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