Annex request tabled for PTC staff input

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Peachtree City’s annexation moratorium is still in place, at least for another two weeks.

A request to lift the freeze for consideration of a 364-acre subdivision north of the Centennial subdivision on McDuff Parkway was tabled by the city council Thursday night.

The issue was tabled because city staff is close to presenting council with a plan to handle future annexations in lieu of the somewhat clunky moratorium.

Council decided it would be better to wait a little bit longer to see if there is a better way to handle the annexation request. Council also tabled the request to lift the multifamily rezoning moratorium, which Wieland has requested to consider townhomes and duplexes for senior housing.

The annexation was actually proposed to Wieland officials by Mayor Steve Brown, who would like to see McDuff Parkway extended northward to link with Ga. Highway 74 as a shortcut for traffic around the often-clogged intersection of Ga. highways 54 and 74.

MacDuff Parkway currently ends at the city limits about a mile north of Hwy. 54. To extend it to Hwy. 74, an at-grade railroad crossing will be required to line up with Kedron Drive south on Hwy. 74.

Under the moratoriums, city staff cannot get into detail over any proposed annexation or multifamily housing rezoning until they get the OK from council. Traditionally, when the moratoriums have been lifted, they have only been done so for one piece of property at a time.

Dan Fields, vice president of John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, said the company wants to schedule a public planning meeting to get input on what Peachtree City residents would like to see developed on the property.

Fields said the company purchased the property from Pathway Communities in February with the intention of developing it according to the county’s R-70 zoning, which requires a minimum of two-acre lots. But the company was receptive to Brown’s concept of developing a plan so the property can be annexed while providing the extension of McDuff Parkway to help move traffic in the area.

A number of citizens urged council to lift the moratorium so the plan can be considered to provide traffic relief.