The Fayette Citizen-News Page
Friday, January 15, 1999
Mews to get second chance?

PTC Council may reopen discussions on proposed retail center

By KAY S. PEDROTTI
Staff Writer

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The Peachtree City Council may get an opportunity to reopen debate on The Mews development at Ga. Highway 54 and Walt Banks Road, according to Mayor Robert Lenox.

Lenox said that since last week's meeting, when a 4-0 vote denied rezoning which would have allowed the large "village" concept shopping center, "I have received calls from all of the council members, saying essentially that while the decision may have been right, the process we followed because of the time restraints was abysmal. There was not a lot of logical discussion by the council.

"We didn't look at all the issues involved and talk about them, and I think it's a very, very critical decision for the future of the city."

The mayor said also that city officials met Monday night with residents of Southern Trace, located behind the controversial property. Most of those who spoke against The Mews in the public hearing last Thursday said they lived in Southern Trace.

"They basically wanted to know what happens now," Lenox said, "and it appears that that property is going to be developed pretty fast, within the restrictions of the current zoning. I think they may not want some of the things that can be built there in their backyard. That meeting, to look at those issues with the Southern Trace residents, was one we should have had a long time ago."

Lenox commented that there also was a question as to whether the public hearing would be held at all last week. Council member Jim Pace was out of town and had reported that he wouldn't be at the meeting. Developer John Callaway had asked for a postponement because he wanted the issue to be heard by the full council, Lenox said, a position that was confirmed by Callaway.

"There were people who supported The Mews who did not attend that meeting," Callaway said, "because we had told them it would be tabled to the next meeting. Nobody was more surprised than I was to see Jim Pace." Pace was listed as having abstained from The Mews rezoning vote last week; neither Pace nor Lenox had time to make comments about their positions.

Lenox said the current thinking is that the council can, according to Robert's Rules of Order, "introduce a motion at the meeting on Jan. 21 to reopen the council discussion period." There would be no more public input, Lenox said, unless specific questions needed to be answered by Callaway or by city staff.

There would be "a series of decisions" for council to make, he added. First, they would vote on whether to reopen the discussion.

"If we vote not to reopen, then it's over. We're done," he said.

It's possible that discussion could resume immediately, on the 21st, if the reopening vote is approved, Lenox said, "but that wouldn't be quite fair." Another vote would then be taken to schedule the discussion for the Feb. 4 meeting, "to give us time to get the word out ... on Feb. 4, the council could have a more rational discussion and vote again," he added.

The mayor also commented that "there are about 10 major issues" that should be thoroughly explored, including the question of "whether we're willing to put up with more traffic in light of the fact that somewhere around a million, million and a half, dollars a year in income would be realized from the taxes on that shopping center, the biggest part going to the schools."

Debate at last week's meeting lasted about two and a half hours, forcing council's discussion period into a time frame of just "about 11 minutes," Lenox said, because of a city ordinance requiring council to end meetings at 11 p.m.

"We didn't cover ourselves with glory on that decision," he stated.


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