Not satisfied with annexation plan A or B, members of Peachtree City's West Village Task Force came up with plan C Tuesday night.

The proposal calls for no annexation, no change in zoning, maintaining GI (general industrial) zoning status along the railroad tracks and construction of about 400 new homes.

Plan A promotes annexation and construction of 1,450 homes. Plan B is an annexation proposal with 750 homes. The property available for annexation covers 913 acres on the south side of Ga. Highway 74. The city could also rezone 241 acres within its jurisdiction for new construction.

Subcommittees of the task force presented their findings to the entire group in a meeting that left many members in a quandary over the effects the west village development would have on traffic, the environment, the existing community and growing school enrollments.

Todd Strickland, a task force member, said after the reports were given, “This property has a high number of negative factors.” Referring to the acreage proposed for annexation and development, he ticked off the minuses — an active rock quarry that conducts regular blasting, logging on the Redwine property, the regular passage of diesel trains, existence of power lines, the Peach Pit, a 10-acre land fill, now sealed, which was left open for about 11 years for unregulated dumping, and what he called, the “Wynnmeade factor,” referring to the subdivision that borders the proposed village's south side.

Jerry Peterson of Pathway Communities and Strickland are devising a ratings system to weigh the pros and cons of annexation versus non-annexation from a planner's standpoint.

Tackling traffic was John Williams, who estimated another 1,000 cars on the road from projects already planned. “What's pertinent is not what's to come, it's what's already on the board... I'm most concerned about the impact we haven't felt yet, and we won't know that for another two years,” he said.

Biologist Dennis Chase, dealing with environmental factors, said he discovered that the wetlands on the property in question are “more extensive than we've seen on the maps,” citing an upcoming law that will require mitigation for disturbed wetlands in excess of one-tenth of an acre. He also stated the need for additional testing on the Peach Pit.

Purchased by Pathway in 1994, the 10-acre tract was tested properly at the time, but, “If we put people out there [in the west village], it will have an impact and we will have to test the ground and surface water,” Chase said.

The growing enrollments in the Fayette County schools prompted school board Chairman Debbie Condon in her remarks to say, “We need three new elementary schools in the next four years and that's not including the west village.” Growth projections for the West Village, provided by the school district, estimated that the property in question would still produce 913 single family units even if the city does not annex the land. Based on a formula of one elementary student and one secondary student for every two single family units, that would produce more than 1,800 students. If annexation takes place, the result would be 1,553 single family units, or more than 3,000 students, based on the same formula.

The next task force meeting will be Monday, May 8 at 4 p.m. at Peachtree City Hall.

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