Wednesday, January 24, 2001
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Wednesday, January 24, 2001 |
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Commission eyes Wieland project By DAVE
HAMRICK Fayette County commissioners will consider John Wieland Homes' plan for 14 homes, a recreation center and a school site for 80.65 acres on the Peachtree City border Thursday night. The county Planning Commission is unanimously recommending approval of the firm's rezoning request, with three conditions. The County Commission will consider the request Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at the County Administrative Complex. The project is part of the Inverness subdivision being developed by Wieland Homes, most of it inside Peachtree City. The overall project has 350 homes, including the county portion. Wieland is offering the Board of Education a 20-acre site for a future elementary school to serve the area, and plans a 7.3-acre recreation amenity with a swimming pool, tennis courts and a cabana, to serve the entire project. Local activist Steve Brown is urging the Board of Education and the County Commission to negotiate with Wieland for a different school site, saying there's too much traffic around the Inverness site. But thus far the governing bodies have expressed no interest in the idea, he said. Recommended conditions are: 1. Wieland must build a pedestrian crossing across MacDuff Parkway to provide safe access for residents to the recreation center. During the Planning Commission meeting last month, it was unclear whether the county will require an underpass, or be content with a striped crossing and three-way stop, as Wieland representatives requested. Members of the Planning Commission suggested the company work out details of the crossing with county engineers before Thursday's meeting. 2. The firm must maintain a natural 20-foot buffer along MacDuff Parkway, next to the homes and the recreation area. 3. No residential lot can have a driveway on MacDuff Parkway. Planning commissioners declined to recommend a fourth condition suggested by staff, that the approval be contingent on an agreement between the county and Peachtree City providing for the city to render emergency service to the property. "It's not appropriate for the county to require us to get services from a municipality," said Wieland Vice President Richard Bacon. Commissioners agreed and left the condition out of their recommendation. Commissioners also will consider a request from John O. Davis and Bethlehem Baptist Church to rezone just under a half acre on Kenwood Road from A-R, which requires minimum five-acre building lots, to R-45, which allows one-acre lots. The church wants to add the parcel to 4.5 acres it already owns, to build a new church building. Both the Planning Commission and the Zoning Department staff recommended approval. In addition to zoning matters, commissioners will discuss revisions to its policies and procedures for employee disciplinary action and grievances.
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