Wednesday, April 9, 2003

Paving Fayette, choosing sides in PTC

By CAL BEVERLY
Publisher

Some thoughts on current events:

Paving Fayette You heard it here first. Watch what happens to a 2,000-acre chunk of still-rural, undeveloped, unincorporated land in the heart of our county.

Word has it that the multi-owner pastoral parcels are being shopped to the highest bidder. Drive along Ga. Highway 54 between Peachtree City and Fayetteville. Drive down Sandy Creek Road and look on both sides of the road. The signs are up; the die is cast. The heart of old Fayette is poised to undergo radical change. The old families are dying out. The high-flying Snopeses are moving in for the kill.

Will this pastoral land be gently developed as 5- and 10-acre farmlets through the county commission's careful rezoning policies?

Not on your life. Watch for the wrecking crew from the Fayetteville City Council to invade the gently rolling hills west of town. They'll be wearing signs: "Annexation today, annexation tomorrow, annexation forever."

I wrote a few weeks back that some members of the Fayetteville Council probably viewed that pasture land as wasted space more appropriately to be used as paved parking lots. I didn't realize at the time how close that may be to becoming reality.

Watch for the Fayetteville Council to announce that a developer group has approached the city seeking annexation (and access to the coveted city sewer system).

The mayor and council will talk about clean water and proper planning for "inevitable" growth and promptly appoint a developer-weighted "study group" to come up with a suitable plan for the 2,000 acres that will be added to Fayetteville's west side.

A few known troublemakers will be appointed a distinct minority, to be certain to give the impression that all viewpoints are being sought.

The county commission will flap and complain but eventually subside into frustrated silence, shrugging their shoulders and saying the battle was lost from the start.

The resulting "plan" will get several months of attention, with some committee members warning of the impact of traffic, etc. The Fayetteville Council will shrug and say, "That ain't my problem, man," and refer callers to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

In the end, the developers will get what they want from very friendly council members, spurred by the mayor annexations and rezonings to allow heavy commercial use, lots of offices and dense, dense residential sections, quarter-acre lots or less, all tapped on to the Fayetteville sewer system, the key to this whole plan.

And the heart of Fayette will be lost.

It's a slick crew, this Fayetteville Council. Several of them got elected by opposing a multi-hundred-acre annexation from an Old Guard Fayetteville Council in the late 1980s. That bunch of newly elected "reformers," Mayor Ken Steele among them, stood against the annexation of land that lies directly across Hwy. 54 from the pastures now at risk. Such was the outrage, they got the local legislative delegation to de-annex much of the land.

And then the "reformers" got reelected and reelected and reelected by snoozing voters, until the "reformers" morphed into the very thing they had ridden into office to oppose. Attention, frogs: The water temperature is approaching boiling point.

When this new phase is done, the annexation crew at Fayetteville City Hall will have gobbled up unincorporated land halfway to Peachtree City.

Give them a few more terms and they'll annex right up to Peachtree City's eastern boundary.

Running Peachtree City Question: How are the French and Lynn Westmoreland alike?

Answer: They both have chosen sides on a hot political issue.

I must have missed an election lately. Turns out state Rep. Lynn Westmoreland has become the governing authority of Peachtree City.

The state GOP star, the House minority leader, who resides across the county line in eastern Coweta County, just substituted his judgment for the elected City Council of Peachtree City.

The council had sought local legislation that would take the Peachtree City Tennis Center and Fred Brown Amphitheatre away from the city's Development Authority and turn it over to a newly created Sports and Entertainment Authority.

Westmoreland, with apparent urging from the current politically Out crowd in the city, decided to override the council's request and substitute his own measure, keeping the two venues under the Development Authority.

It is under consideration now at the Capitol.

Maybe he was persuaded by the Outs' new political action committee, which is dedicated to reversing the results of last year's city election.

It's unfortunate that Westmoreland has chosen to work against the current city council. In the end, he has made a choice of political alliance. As with the French, time will tell whether it was a smart alliance.

The last $11,000 The Fayette Samaritans are down to the wire in their attempt to raise $90,000 by the middle of this month. The money will be used to build a facility on New Hope Road that will serve Fayette residents needing urgent help with food, clothing and utility bills because of family emergencies or financial setbacks.

So far, because of your generosity, the nonprofit group sponsored by more than 40 local churches has raised slightly more than $79,000. The volunteers need another $10,958 to reach their goal.

When they receive the $90,000, another local helping group, Square Foot Ministry, will provide the labor and crafts to build the 2,400 square-foot facility.

Please help the Samaritans climb that final stretch. Send your tax-deductible donations of any amount to Fayette Samaritans Building Fund, 203 Jeff Davis Place, Fayetteville, Ga. 30214.

You will be helping local folks in their hour of real need.