Friday, April 30, 2004

Wieland’s team proposes ‘charette’ to brainstorm PTC annexation plans By J. FRANK LYNCH jflynch@theCitizenNews.com John Wieland Homes has offered to host a land planning “charette” in Peachtree City if the City Council will allow discussion of the developer’s proposal to annex 350 unincorporated acres on the westside. In a letter to Mayor Steve Brown and the council dated April 14, Wieland Vice President Dan Fields formally requested that the council consider lifting the city’s ordinances designed to discourage talk of annexation and multifamily developments. City Manager Bernard McMullen said the issue would most likely be on the agenda next Thursday, May 6. The letter from Fields arrived at City Hall one day before the start of the annual City Council Planning Retreat, April 16-17, when the annexation debate was brought out into the open for the first time in years. With the Wieland request already pending, the council agreed that the city’s planning department should develop an acceptable “process” for studying and hearing project proposals that fall outside the city’s overall master plan. Because that can’t come in time for a Wieland discussion, the so-called “charette” will engage city staffers, council members, residents and regional planners in a process many feel Brown has intentionally omitted them from. Brown does not deny being the catalyst for getting Wieland involved in developing the site, having organized a private meeting in February of citizens likely to support the annexation. He has repeatedly denied having any personal interest in the development. Fields wrote in his letter that it was a “follow-up on the mayor’s request from several weeks ago that John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods consider annexing property into Peachtree City for the purpose of providing Peachtree City with additional infrastructure.” Fields wrote that should the city lift the moratoriums, the “charette” would “bring together the staff, annexation committee, churches, citizens, seniors, Realtors, adjacent property owners, land planning specialists and other interested parties.” Fields concluded, “This community’s input will be critical in developing a realistic, creative proposal” that is “at the same time economically feasible.” According to Brown, public opinion has favored the city doing something with the land, which is cutoff from the rest of Fayette County, hemmed in by Peachtree City’s haphazard western boundary, Tyrone’s busy industrial district and the Coweta County line. Even the political action group DIRECT Pac, which has opposed Brown on a number of high-profile issues in the past year, has come out in support of an annexation. But a sizable portion of the acreage is undevelopable because of wetlands or underground rock, officials say. And no one is certain what remains of the “Peach Pit,” a now-closed landfill where illegal dumping was allowed to go on for years. Brown’s entire argument hinges on Wieland’s tentative pledge to provide a crucial traffic link between Ga. Highway 54 West and Ga. Highway 74 North via an extended McDuff Parkway. But doing so would require a grade-level crossing of the busy CSX railroad tracks to Hwy. 74 near the Comcast Cable offices, an expensive proposal that’s already been criticized for safety and access concerns. McDuff currently ends at the city limits about a mile north of Hwy. 54. Brown has also indicated that Wieland might foot the bill for expanded recreational facilities or a new senior citizen’s center within the 350 acres, and include a mix of upscale single-family housing and empty-nester homes that won’t overburden the school district. A shopping village, hotel and church or private school were also drawn on the earliest site plans for the project. Wieland’s design team has not confirmed or denied any of Brown’s recommendations. Details for holding the proposed “charette” will likely be discussed by the council when they take up Fields’ letter the first week of May.

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