Friday, November 16, 2001
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Friday, November 16, 2001 |
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Though PTC is near capacity, land use plan still crucial to city's future By JOHN
MUNFORD When it comes to defending zoning decisions, Peachtree City's land use map plays a key role in defending the city's stance on proposed developments particularly if a denied rezoning petition or development plan heads to court. Even though the city's growth is slowing down, updating the land use plan is still important. City officials want to be prepared for possible redevelopment of some properties, particularly for large commercial uses. In the not-too-distant future, redevelopment and the combining of separate parcels to make larger tracts may be the only way for big commercial projects to locate to Peachtree City. "One of the things that really strikes you is how very little land there is left to develop," said Jim Williams, the city's director of developmental services. The Peachtree City Planning Commission is in the process of reviewing retail, commercial and housing developments in the land use plan for each village. That way, the city's intended uses for undeveloped tracts of land are crystal clear. At its meeting Monday night, the commission reviewed the current land use designations for the Aberdeen and Braelinn Villages. Once all the villages are covered, the changes will be compiled into a document and new land use map for public review so it can be scrutinized at future public hearings before the changes are adopted. The majority of the changes in the Aberdeen and Braelinn villages involved shifting recreational parks and fields from the current "open space" designation to the "recreational" designation. A few subdivisions already in place were reclassified from single family medium density to single family cluster to indicate their actual design. Still other parcels may be reclassified as office space instead of their current commercial designation, such as several office buildings in the Westpark Walk area which aren't currently used for commercial purposes. The commission also considered the land use classifications of key parcels at the intersection of Ga. Highway 74 north and Wisdom Road. The three tracts are commonly referred to as the Leach property, although they are in possession of three different owners from the Leach family, said Jim Williams, the city's director of developmental services. One of those parcels is on the corner and should be designated commercial, Williams said. The parcel next to it, however, should be planned to have office space; the third parcel, which sits further back off the highway, should be planned for single family cluster since it borders a residential subdivision, Fairfield, on two sides, Williams said.
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