Wednesday, February 13, 2002
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Wednesday, February 13, 2002 |
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New school eyed for Hwy. 74 at Crabapple Lane By JOHN
MUNFORD
The Fayette County Board of Education plans to place its next new elementary school off Crabapple Lane in north Peachtree City near Tyrone. School officials are negotiating with property owners of four parcels in the area of Crabapple Lane and Ga. Highway 74. Three of the parcels are needed for the project, but the board is unsure for now which three will be used, although it's possible all four tracts could be bought, said Mike Satterfield, facilities director for the school system. The school will have six more classrooms than Kedron Elementary, but is otherwise the same layout, Satterfield said. The idea is that the school will draw from Kedron, eliminating the portable classrooms currently in use there, and also Tyrone Elementary and Burch Elementary. Satterfield presented two different site plans to the Peachtree City Planning Commission at its regular meeting Monday night. He said the board would want to begin construction as soon as possible in the hopes of having the school open for the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year. The revelation means the board has decided against the immediate use of donated land off MacDuff Parkway that it has also considered for an elementary school. That location may still be used for a school in the near future, Satterfield said. "It may be two or three years before we can build that one," Satterfield said. Officials had been looking in the Tyrone area off Dogwood Road but were unable to find a suitable location, Satterfield added. The commission discussed the matter as a workshop item since the city's development moratorium prevents approval of new conceptual site plans without an appeal being granted by the City Council. School officials' first choice would be to use the plan that includes a parcel at the junction of Hwy. 74 and Crabapple Lane, according to a letter Satterfield presented to city officials. The parcel is currently owned by Pathway Communities, but if it doesn't become part of the school site, several planning commissioners worried the owner could seek a commercial rezoning because the argument could be made that having a school next to the property would keep it from being used for the current residential zoning. The school board should vote on the matter at an upcoming meeting, Satterfield added. This will be the third and final elementary school built with funds from a bond issue that was approved by local voters last year.
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