Friday, Febraury 13, 2004

Developer is a no-show in Fairburn

By LINDSAY BIANCHI
lbianchi@thecitizennews.com

Executive Custom Holdings will have to start back at square one if they decide to follow through with their request for rezoning 14.9 acres at the end of Sir Charles Drive from R-2 Residential to R-3 Residential. City Administrator Jim Williams recommended denial of the Whispering Pines Subdivision at Monday’s City Council meeting on the grounds that there was no one present to represent the proposal.

Although the Planning Commission had turned down the new plat at their Dec. 2 meeting, the staff was behind the redesign with four recommended conditions; the classification should remain R-2; the plat’s minimum lot size be 9,000 square feet; the minimum house size be 1,800 square feet with a minimum sales price be $160,000; and the front setback be 75 feet.

The Whispering Pines developer requested the Feb. 9 hearing to have time to meet with residents in the community to secure their support for the proposal.

Annexation and zoning of the Petershagen Tract met with approval after some questions about the lake basin were addressed. The 73-acre development planned on Whitemill Rd. and Rivertown Rd. will hold 140 homes on 6,000 square foot lots. The zoning was changed from AG and AG-1 Agricultural to R-2 Green Community Overlay.

Bids for a new phone system were also discussed and approval was given to the low bid of $29,700. The system will essentially pay for itself in 3 years. The current setup was “not meeting our current needs” said Williams.

In addition, the reappointment of the Planning Commission’s four positions passed unanimously keeping the same panel in place as last year.

Finally a proposed 5 percent sewer rate increase from $3.33 per 1,000 gallons to $3.50 per 1,000 gallons was hammered out. The increases will be effective April 1 in response to Fulton County’s rate hikes which took effect for the city mid-December.