Wednesday, July 24, 2002
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Wednesday, July 24, 2002 |
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F'ville Council must explain annexations Citizen Editorial
The city of Fayetteville is Fayette County's annexation champion. No other municipality, even one several times Fayetteville's population size, comes close in the sheer volume of land being consumed for new, denser development. Last week, the Fayetteville Council voted to annex another parcel onto the giant Pavilion commercial development, despite arguments from neighbors and the Fayette County Commission that the move created an island of county land surrounded by city property. Fayetteville Mayor Kenneth Steele criticized opponents of the annexation, contending it is in the best interests of the city. We ask: Explain how and why that is true. Steele, ironically, came into office as a reformer reacting to massive annexations to the city's west, as did some other current council members. They pushed successfully to have that land de-annexed. But in the intervening years, and after repeated reelections, something has happened to the reformers. They have become what they once decried: Massive annexers. A parcel to the south of town also awaits the council's almost certain annexation. More land inside the city, more sewer connections, more density, more, more, more. Why is "more, more, more" good for the residents of Fayetteville? It's not enough for Steele and the council to simply say, We feel this is in the best interests of all of the citizens of Fayetteville. Why is this continuing land grab good for the people of Fayetteville? Why should the city even consider adding more land to its extended domain? The mayor and council should make their case, instead of criticizing opponents who have pointed out some real problems. Fayetteville already has its hands full trying to police and protect from fire the sprawling peninsulas created by more than a decade of continuous annexation. We contend that Fayetteville already is overextended providing public safety in the Pavilion. How is this overextension going to be improved by adding more land to be patrolled and protected by a stretched-out public safety department? Will the council's appetite for bigger realms to govern be sated by the 50-plus acres to be annexed to the city's south? Or will they eye ever larger domains to sewer and pave and tax? What is the mayor's and council's philosophy: That Fayetteville should annex all the way to Peachtree City, if asked by developers? All the way to the Clayton County line on Ga. Highway 85 North, if asked by developers? All the way to the Flint River and Clayton County, if asked by developers? All the way to Line Creek and Coweta County, if asked by developers? Fayetteville's mayor and council seem to be preaching to all developers: Ask for annexation and ye shall receive; seek our sewer line and ye shall find it extended to your annexed property; knock for higher density and ye shall get it. Is that good for all the citizens of Fayetteville? Is that good for the rest of the citizens of Fayette County, including those in Peachtree City, Tyrone and Brooks? We wonder. As business residents of Fayetteville, we wonder. And as Ricky Ricardo was forever saying to his wife in "I Love Lucy," we say to Mayor Steele and the Fayetteville City Council, "It's time to do some 'splaining."
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