Wednesday, February 25, 2004
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Wednesday, February 25, 2004 |
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Judge diverts trial to give PTC City Council shot at Target plan By JOHN MUNFORD The lawsuit challenging Peachtree City’s Big Box ordinance was delayed Tuesday after all parties agreed to give the city council a chance to vote on a site plan for an expansion of the Kedron Village shopping center that includes a 125,000 sq. ft. Target store. The Big Box ordinance limits retail stores to a maximum size of 32,000 sq. ft. except under special circumstances. The site plan will be placed on the agenda for the city council’s March 4 meeting and all parties will be prepared to argue the case in court March 8 if necessary. The site plan was denied by the city’s planning commission in October, but instead of appealing the matter to the city council, developers Peachtree City Holdings and FCD Development filed the suit in court. Arguments in the lawsuit were scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, but attorneys for the Lake Kedron Community Association sought a dismissal of the case because the City Council had not yet voted on the site plan. Georgia law requires that all administrative remedies be exhausted before such suits can be brought. Because the developers declined to appeal the planning commission’s decision to the city council, the final administrative remedy hasn’t been exhausted, association attorneys argued. Originally, attorneys for the city and the developers agreed to waive that requirement, but Superior Court Judge Christopher C. Edwards said he wasn’t sure that was legally possible. After hearing arguments from all parties on the issue, Edwards brokered an agreement to let the city council get one more shot at voting on the site plan, which previously was denied by the city’s planning commission. “I think there ought to be a vote over there,” Edwards said, adding that he cannot require the City Council to vote on the Target plan. Edwards said having the matter on a City Council agenda also gives homeowners opposed to the plan a chance to intervene at the legislative level with the council before the matter is taken to court. The suit challenges the application of the Big Box ordinance to the Kedron Village retail center since the ordinance specifically applies to tenants and in this case Target would actually own the building. The city contends its definition of tenants includes any business occupying a building whether the building is leased or purchased. Attorneys for Peachtree City Holdings and FCD Development have also argued that the site has an exemption to the Big Box ordinance via a letter signed by former Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox. The city contends that alleged exemption is not valid. The developers also asked the court to sanction the use of Georgian Terrace Parkway as an access road for the new stores, but in court documents the city stipulated that would be allowable, rendering the issue moot.
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