By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@TheCitizenNews.com

And JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

There's more than one way to skin a cat.

Fayette County's Board of Health Tuesday denied developer Jimmy Halligan's request for an exception to laws that require him to provide city sewerage to his subdivision, but Halligan's problems may have been solved another way.

The developer reportedly has redrawn Kedron Estates subdivision so that no homes in the community will be within 500 feet of Peachtree City sewer lines. State law requires that developers hook new subdivisions onto sewerage if it is available, and defines “available” as being within 500 feet.

In pleading his case before the Peachtree City Water and Sewerage Authority recently, Halligan said he has already paved streets that would have to be dug up in order to run sewer lines. He had planned to put the 28 homes in the neighborhood on septic tanks, unaware of the requirement to tap into the city's sewer system, he said.

The Board of Health voted 4-1 to deny his request for a variance, but environmental health director Rick Fehr said he has been told that Halligan has donated some of the land in the subdivision to the city of Peachtree City so the sewerage will no longer be considered “available.”

Halligan could not be reached for comment at press time Thursday.