Peachtree City has discovered that a moratorium on multifamily development doesn't work, so the city's next move could be a moratorium on multifamily zonings and rezonings.

The City Council will conduct a public hearing on such a moratorium at its meeting Thursday Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Also scheduled for public hearing is a recommendation from the planning commission to rezone four acres of Eric Edee's property on Ga. Highway 74 to an apartment classification. Edee owns a total of 21 acres at the site near Kedron Drive, 17 of which is already zoned for up to 10 units per acre, but four acres of the site's interior has an agricultural zoning designation.

City development services director Jim Williams has said the rezoning of the four acres, and subsequent development of all 21 acres, is preferable to any site design for apartments on the 17 acres. The rezoning is listed as one of the conditions under which Edee will drop legal demands for damages as a result of the 1996 multifamily development moratorium. As a result of Edee's lawsuit, the moratorium was declared invalid by Fayette Superior Court Judge Paschal English, and the city has appealed. City attorneys have advised that higher courts are not likely to reverse the decision.

A "development agreement" has been hammered out by the city and Edee, providing both for the rezoning process for the four acres, and for green buffers for the apartment complex which Williams describes as "excellent."