In Peachtree City, growth doesn't "just happen." It's a city known for serious controls, allowing few surprises to sneak up on unsuspecting residents or unprepared infrastructure.

Now the city is faced with the possibility that some kinds of growth possibly incompatible with the city's planned housing, carefully landscaped street scenes and complimentary commercial areas may occupy an unwanted "next-door neighbor" status. An area bounded roughly by the city limits on the south and east, Line Creek/Coweta County on the west and the city of Tyrone on the north, is poised for development. But Peachtree City doesn't know yet exactly what, how it will be done, or who will regulate it.

For the last several years, the city has studied the possibility of working with the several different property owners in the area to bring about annexation. There are several reasons why annexing would be a good idea, says Jim Williams, director of development services, the best of which is that the city would then have good control measures on things like the impact of a major CSX rail line, housing density and quality, Line Creek wetlands protection and other factors necessary to match the area to Peachtree City.

Last month, the City Council held a public meeting on the idea, inviting property owners and developers to make their feelings known about the process. Residents of nearby subdivisions showed up too. No one at that meeting actually opposed annexation, but several people including council members expressed serious reservations about bringing in another 2,000 acres of land, and the possibility of 6,000 more people, without a well-thought plan for land usage.

Jim Williams' and City Planner David Rast's vision is that the area could become a fifth village, complete with several different kinds of housing developments, a good collector road system, protection from industrial encroachment near the railroad, and the kinds of commercial and recreational facilities available in Peachtree City's other villages.

The city limits line takes a southern jog between the proposed Cedar Croft development and the north end of the Paller Land Investment property, leaving a "panhandle" cutout that all but excludes the Wynnmeade subdivision from "really connecting with the city," even though the subdivision is in the city limits, Williams says.

"At the very least," Williams said, "Peachtree City should annex that rectangular tract that 'dips down' from an east-west line about halfway between the pedestrian bridge just north of Aberdeen Parkway, and the MediaOne Tower. Then Wynnmeade would be better protected and the city could plan for north-south roads that would collect from both Wynnmeade and any new developments in the Pathway Communities or Katz properties."

The director speaks directly and knowledgeably about the whole process of creating a fifth village, which would be named "McIntosh Village," if it happens. He says it is up to the city to be visionary about future development, "but it's not always a popular position to be in." He says that the best interests of the city do often include trying to help control development in areas outside the actual town limits. Boundaries, he says, are "not the reasons to take an opportunity to relax our vigilance ... we truly believe that this concept can be worked out with the property owners, planned and zoned properly, and become a real asset to Peachtree City.