Wednesday,September 10, 2003

If 'Mayor Annex' were still in, what would PTC look like?

I had to smile as I read the article about Pathway Communities (formerly the Peachtree City Development Company) losing its zoning appeal against Fayette County. Like I didn't see that coming.

It was just five years ago that former Mayor Bob Lenox tried to ram a 950-acre annexation down the throats of the PTC citizens. It was the "West Village" plan all tied up with a pink bow. It was more than obvious why the developer wanted it in Peachtree City.

Pathway knew that it would never pass muster with county zoning and that Mayor Annex had never met a developer he didn't love. It was a foregone conclusion that the mayor and his developer-friendly council members (read: Carol Fritz and Annie McMenamin) would give Pathway what it wanted.

The mayor gave us jive about wanting to control the development on our borders. Why was he, then, not annexing land on any of our other borders? Because it was another of his unmitigated lies.

He handpicked a committee to investigate the project, consisting of himself (the head cheerleader), a couple of developers, and a few others. They voted in favor (no surprise) of the annexation, but the citizens shouted them down through the newspapers and their council members. It finally died an appropriate death thanks to [Councilman] Bob Brooks bringing up all the negative feedback he had been getting from the citizens.

If we still had Mayor Annex today, the West Village project would be well on its way to high density housing and Pathway would be on its way to making big bucks. Thankfully there is a two-term limit in place for the office of mayor. Thankfully.

Bill Webster

Peachtree City, Ga.