One photo showed a barren intersection, with nothing but four empty lanes for traffic, a concrete median and massive parking lots in sight.

The other photo showed storefronts developed near the roadway. There were sidewalks in front of the stores and parking in the rear. The median contained a railway for a commuter train nestled by trees on either side. People walked along the shops on the sidewalks.

The second photo is an example of the “new urban development” concept, which was presented to the West Village Annexation Task Force by two expert planners at a meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Neither of the photos represents Peachtree City as it exists today. But they represent various elements of city design that could become part of Peachtree City's future.

One of the big pitches was for the design of neighborhoods where cars aren't relied on heavily.

For now, though, all the experts' ideas are up in the air for the task force to consider. The presentation was not discussed formally by the task force during the meeting.

The task force currently has four different plans on the table to annex the West Village land; each has varying degrees of annexation. Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox appointed the task force to study those annexation options and report its recommendations back to the city council.

One of the experts who spoke Wednesday, Peter Katz, said the task force should consider elements of his presentation to implement in future developments, such as the possible annexation of the West Village property.

Katz's ideas were based on developing areas with retail, commercial and other buildings in use near each other. That way, the layout of streets, stores and other buildings encourages residents to forego driving in their cars on a more regular basis, he said.

Katz also warned that Peachtree City's plan of subdivisions with cul-de-sacs could cause traffic problems in the future. Instead, he suggested that subdivisions and neighborhoods should be designed where the streets “flow through.” That way, traffic problems are shared by all streets instead of just the large intersections, he said.

Peachtree City's subdivisions are much different from Katz's definition of a neighborhood.

“A neighborhood is different from subdivision,” Katz said. “Neighborhoods combine other uses, like retail, sometimes workplaces and sometimes institutions like churches and schools.”

The ideals of land use and density should not be the only consideration in creating new developments, Katz said.

“Those are two of about 20 things that make up the quality of a place,” he said, explaining that by using facets of the “new urban” system, traffic problems and other concerns with a large amount of growth in the city can be soothed.

Traffic problems could be curbed by locating smaller retail stores in more areas. That would allow people to walk to the store or ride their golf carts without much difficulty.

Katz said planners need to think about ways to keep people from using their vehicles to do little things like running errands. If the walk to a store is longer than a quarter-mile from a person's home, that person is likely to use his or her car for transportation instead, Katz added.

It was also pointed out that Peachtree City's golf cart paths go a long way in helping people decide to leave their cars at home when they have a short distance to travel.

Other suburban communities like Peachtree City are beginning to develop problems of their own such as traffic snarls, social problems and more crimes, Katz added.

The “new urban” design includes mixed use — creating neighborhoods where different types of property can coexist, such as commercial property (say, a grocery store) within shouting distance of several homes, or an apartment complex.

The mixed-use planning is another tool to bring people within a walk or cart ride of where they shop, work and play, Katz said.

The need for large parking lots seen in today's grocery stores will decrease if multiuse planning is implemented correctly, Katz said. That's because the focus is to get people to walk or bike or rollerblade or drive their golf carts to the store — anything to keep them from climbing in the car, truck or sport utility vehicle, he said.

Such radical changes in planning land development could lead to a change in the way the city uses its zoning process, said Bob Turner, the other planning expert who spoke to the task force.

One of the ideas behind “new urban” design is to plan communities by considering them shaped like a circle with a quarter-mile radius. In those communities, Katz suggested working with developers to make sure there are grocery stores and other important retail shops nearby, as well as schools.

Another important use of space in “new urban” communities is for civic gathering places such as gazebos, lakes, parks and other green space, Katz said.

“In the suburbs, the predominant public realm is the road system, where you bump into other people,” Katz said.

The “new urban” city plans are different from suburbs like Peachtree City, which have created large zones of residential, commercial and industrial developments that are largely segregated from each other, Katz said.

The city should also encourage the development of housing neighborhoods for the poor and for the elderly who may not be able to drive at all, Katz said. “In the suburbs, if you don't have a car, you are a prisoner here,” he added.

Developed sections of town must be economically, environmentally and socially viable in three ways to be successful, Turner said.

Other factors that might be considered when developing neighborhoods include the construction of social areas on homes such as front porches and back patios, Katz added. He also indicated neighborhoods could look nicer if homes were built with garages in the rear.

He also recommended that the public become involved in the planning process the city is considering.

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