Friday, April 2, 2004
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Friday, April 2, 2004 |
| Brown speaks out on Target vote (Editor’s note: The following is a prepared statement released this week by Peachtree City officials.) Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown has been an outspoken opponent of big box development. However, Brown stated, “This lawsuit was really more about the landowner’s vested rights from 1995 than our city’s ‘big box’ ordinance.” The City Attorney concluded that the developer had vested rights to build structures similar to a plan that was previously approved in 1995. The “big box ordinance” was not passed until 2000. The landowner came to the city in 2000 with a different plan for a Home Depot but it never made it through the Planning Commission. There was not sufficient case law available to determine if the 2000 plan would revoke the 1995 vested rights claim. The developer, Faison, came back to the city with a settlement offer that reduced the square footage and met the concerns of the adjacent homeowners. The Mayor, along with Council Members Murray Weed, Stuart Kourajian, and Judi Rutherford, stated that the developer should also be responsible for any future traffic mitigation needed in residential areas on Peachtree Parkway and Faison agreed to those demands in court Monday. Even though Mayor Brown did not vote the same as the other council members in attendance, he praised them showing up and being willing to work on the best possible solution. “The four us that attended the special called meeting had to weigh a lot of different variables and the final decision was not an easy one. We all had pure motives and the best interest of the citizens in mind when we cast our votes.” Brown continued, “I applaud my three colleagues for coming to the table and going through the gut-wrenching process of trying to deliver the best outcome for our city. For me personally, the difference between a ‘yes’ vote and ‘no’ vote was 23,000 square feet, because our City Attorney stated at 192,000 square feet, I would have had no choice but to vote in favor of the development due to vested rights.” Mayor Brown had encouraged the homeowner associations near the proposed development to get involved early in the planning approval process. “I encouraged the homeowners to join in the process because I was once a homeowner advocate that was excluded by our former city government. You would be amazed at how responsive the developer became when our local government partnered with its citizens in promoting good development,” Brown commented. Mayor Brown’s opposition to big box-style development centers around issues like crime, traffic/noise, the detriment to small businesses, and the fact that they can just pull up and leave your area on a moments notice leaving the local government with no sales taxes and a large blighted building. Mayor Brown stated, “Many times the vacant stores are not put on the market or they are difficult to redevelop. We have seen this in Fayetteville, Gwinnett County and other parts of metro Atlanta.” The city and the neighboring subdivisions demanded new entrances to the development that will not impact the adjacent subdivisions, less square footage on the total development, and that the developer should pay to resolve any negative traffic impacts on Peachtree Parkway between Lake Kedron and Ga. Highway 74. Brown confirmed, “This is about the best the council could do with the vested rights issue hanging over our heads but the surrounding homeowners were satisfied and that was very important to the four of us at the meeting.” He concluded, “We will do our utmost to make this development live up to Peachtree City’s standards.”
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