In the spirit of cooperation, Coweta County and the city of Newnan have agreed to work together to restripe and make Lower Fayetteville Road a safer street for all the county's residents.

City officials agreed to pay just over $4,000 for the county to restripe a 1.8 mile portion of the curvy road that has become an alternative to Ga. Highway 34 for commuters between Newnan and Peachtree City.

County Administrator Theron Gay also noted during Tuesday's commission meeting that the city will join with the county's call to the DOT asking for the road to be resurfaced and widened.

The road is unique in that it meanders in and out of the city limits of Newnan after a spate of recent annexation by the city. The road is expected to become even more crowded when Pathway Communities' planned community of SummerGrove comes on line in the next few years with 2,500 residents.

In other news from the commission meeting, the board refused to grant a variance to a developer who has a house under construction in the area. The house encroaches just over a foot on the side property line and the commissioners expressed displeasure that the developer was seeking a variance.

Late last year, the board instructed staff to find a way for these situations to be addressed before it got to the stage of a house foundation being poured and a variance being sought.

"This is the case of a builder setting a house down where it doesn't belong," said Chairman Lawrence Nelms.

Commissioner Vernon "Mutt" Hunter agreed with Nelms and said he did not like the position the commission is being forced to take.

"It makes the board look awful by not giving a young couple access to their house," Hunter said.