Wednesday, April 10, 2002
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Wednesday, April 10, 2002 |
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Mayor: Hwy. 54 plan will prevent eyesore stores Some people are telling me not write letters to the editor because "mayors are not suppose to do that." I was glad to see our State Solicitor Steve Harris and State House Representative Lynn Westmoreland writing their own letters in recent issues of the newspaper. The people have a right to know the views and thoughts of their elected officials; otherwise we end up with no direction and $350 million dirt-hauling deals. Everyone is asking for details on the "unanimous vote" standard from our State Representative Kathy Cox. Let's look at it in another light. Suppose that your homeowners association wants to build a pool or expand the clubhouse and only one homeowner voted against the proposal. Should that one vote kill the new amenity? It does not even require a unanimous vote to amend the most hallowed foundational legal document in our country, the U. S. Constitution. Can you imagine telling U.S. Rep. John Lewis and U.S. Rep. Bob Barr that until they reach a unanimous consensus that no action will be taken? The unanimous vote standard allows a small faction of people to literally control the flow of governmental decision making. This is a topic that you will not find in your high school senior's government text because it is not supposed to happen. What is also interesting is that the one dissenting council vote was by the person that read an e-mail in a council meeting that I sent to her stating that I promised the voters "fairness and change" as if this was something of which I should have been ashamed. Fairness is absolutely essential and a unanimous vote standard is far from fair. A sermon that I heard at Braelinn Baptist Church quoted a pastor named Andy Stanley that, for the most part, sums up my philosophy on the proposed Community Improvement District (CID) and its nucleus, the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI). The quote from Stanley's book "Visioneering" goes like this, "Everybody ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose." Ga. Highway 54 West is a regional shopping district. This is new to Peachtree City and should not be confused with our village-type shopping centers found elsewhere in our city. Let me give you some examples of regional shopping districts that just ended up somewhere Jimmy Carter Boulevard, Memorial Drive, Barrett Parkway, Metropolitan Parkway, U.S. 78 (Stone Mountain, Snellville), Cheshire Bridge Road, Buford Highway and so on. Our clearly defined LCI plan that has won regional acclaim is a purposeful strategy set forth to eliminate the harmful effects of regional contamination. In Peachtree City, we have a sense of place and a well-defined quality of life and the LCI plan helps us avoid deterioration of our community like what happened in the aforementioned areas. We have two big-box stores whether we like it or not (it was a 3 to 2 vote; majority rule was acceptable back then). This is our fork in the road. One way points towards quality architecture, lots of trees, incredible cart path access and so on. The other way points to an eyesore that lacks consistency and begins the falling standard routine that other areas that were in our exact position allowed to transpire. Let's take a forward thinking approach and go somewhere on purpose and let's not accept the "whatever happens, just happens" philosophy of development. Steve Brown Mayor, Peachtree City Sbrown@peachtree-city.org
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