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Public gets more notice for site plans

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizen.com

Peachtree City has dramatically revamped its site plan review process, giving more time for city staff to review development plans and requiring signs to notify the public and nearby landowners that a plan has been submitted for a particular parcel.

The signs will also note that information on that particular plan will be available on the city’s Web site and at City Hall so concerned citizens can review them, said City Planner David Rast.

With the ordinance changes adopted by the City Council Thursday night, staff will have 20 working days (excluding holidays and weekends) to review site plans, which should be sufficient, Rast said.

Often, the Planning Commission gets information about plans it will consider either on the Friday afternoon or Saturday before their Monday meeting, Rast added.

One new element of the ordinance will allow the commission to have more time to ponder a proposal, as plans must first be considered at a workshop meeting during which the commission will not take a formal vote.

The commission has been using the workshop format for the past several months and it has worked out well, Rast said. Developers can use the commission’s comments at the workshop to tweak their plans, improving them, he noted.

Rast also said the city has been trying to notify adjoining property owners and homeowners associations about significant developments that are proposed “and we will continue to do so.”

Rast said he has been disappointed with the quality of some of the plans submitted recently to the city for certain developments because they haven’t been thoroughly fleshed out.

“We spend a lot of time telling consultants what they have to submit,” Rast said.

Another new requirement puts an expiration date on site plans. Plan approval will expire after 12 months if construction doesn’t begin on a particular plan, Rast noted. Also, no site clearing of vegetation will be allowed until both the conceptual and final site plans have been approved.

“This is light years ahead of where we were before,” Mayor Steve Brown said after the new ordinance was passed by council unanimously.