Wednesday, May 23, 2001

I am in favor of governmental accountability and obeying the ordinances that are provided for the protection of our health, safety and welfare.

Peachtree City staff members have confirmed that RAM Development's "determination" for development of the Home Depot and the Wal-Mart stores has expired. The Land Development Ordinance, Appendix B, Article XII, Section 1208, Subsection A states that a "traffic impact determination must be issued prior to the final site plan approval or preliminary plat approval. That determination shall expire if the developer fails to secure a development permit for the project within 90 days of the date the determination is made."

The last determination was made on Nov. 2, 2000, and no permit has been issued so the official status is "expired."

Section 1208, Subsection D reads, "If a traffic impact determination expires for any of the above reasons, the city's traffic engineering consultant SHALL readjust the traffic impact model to reflect the change; and the developer, if he wishes to pursue the proposed project, shall be required to repeat the entire analysis and evaluation process, and shall have NO vested rights as a result of the expired determination."

This situation now takes on an interesting twist. First, if the developer truly has no vested rights, then the recently passed big box ordinance should go into effect. If the big box ordinance comes into play, then the developer must resubmit the project as Limited Use Commercial (LUC). An LUC application relies more upon the discretion of the city council members' desires and gives them a great deal of latitude.

Second, if the big box ordinance is ruled out (and it should not be ruled out), the developer would still have to "repeat the entire analysis and evaluation process."

Why is this significant? The traffic volume figures have changed dramatically. Both Peachtree City staff and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) have conducted new counts, and the traffic volume appears larger than the previous counts that were input for the first evaluation.

It is possible that the Wal-Mart could not pass the computer model a second time. Believe it or not, RAM still has not paid for the initial traffic analysis as they had promised.

The Citizen Editor Cal Beverly has demanded that we put our funds to work correcting our traffic debacle instead of fulfilling Mayor Lenox's "on the way out" wish list. I would caution us all to proceed with the big box evaluation first and get a definitive ruling prior to doing anything else.

Unfortunately, our city attorney is most likely making a deal with the developer's attorney as you read this. This matter should be handled in the public forum. We need someone on the council to place this matter on the agenda. The ordinance is exceptionally clear and an in-depth legal interpretation is not necessary.

Let's push for integrity in our local government. What use are our ordinances and development agreements when our elected officials do not uphold them? Let's promote accountability.

Councilman Steve Rapson (Dan Tennant was absent) was the only council member that voted to uphold the development agreement with the Summit Apartments on Ga. Highway 54 West at the last city council meeting. I ask you to observe what determines the outcome of the latest big box crisis moment, and you will have a clear picture of who is truly running the show.

Steve Brown

Peachtree City

Steve_ptc@juno.com

Back to Opinion Home Page | Back to the top of the page