Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox's remarks to City Council last night about The Mews development concluded that a decision refusing to rezone residential property for the shopping center "was the right one."

Lenox talked to The Citizen prior to the meeting, outlining the planned announcement, made because there was previous public speculation by the mayor that the council might reopen discussion on the matter. He said the decision not to revisit the council discussion and vote was made after "individual research and soul-searching, as well as meetings with citizens," by the mayor and council members.

Factors that were considered, he added, included traffic, the city's Land Use Plan, neighborhood buffers, the "employment situation," and "Peachtree City's uniqueness and desires." Full explanation of the factors were to be made at the meeting (after press time), he said.

Meanwhile, supporters of developer John Callaway's upscale "village center" continue to fight for the 345,000-square-foot retail area. Cele Eifert of Peachtree City, retired U.S. Air Force officer, says she plans to mount a drive to collect signatures on a petition calling for a referendum to overturn the council's decision. She has asked City Attorney Rick Lindsey whether a Georgia code section allowing referenda for "repeals of resolutions" by municipal governments is applicable to this case.

Eifert's letter to Lindsey states, "If my interpretation is correct, I plan to ask the registrar of voters how many residents were registered to vote in the last general municipal election" in order to try to collect signatures from 20 percent of the voters.

Callaway says he was not notified by the city that the issue would not be reopened, after having been "told by the mayor that there (would) be a motion presented to rescind the vote and reconsider on Feb. 4th." Callaway said he had notified "all our tenants across the United States" that the zoning "was dead," but called them back to change the message when he thought the issue might be reconsidered.