By MONROE ROARK
Staff Writer

While admitting that not everyone would be pleased by the outcome, the City Council of Peachtree City took what it believed to be the best step in resolving a contentious issue that has plagued the city for several years with a 4-0 vote to rezone the Hyde/Palmer property abutting Carriage Lane and Stagecoach Road, just off Ga. Highway 54.

The vote came at the July 15 regular meeting, two weeks after the City Council reached a settlement on a lawsuit that has been looming over the property for some time.

But the land owners' plan to build up to 12 residential lots on the 31.75-acre tract did not sit well with residents on Carriage Lane, who are especially upset that their street will be lengthened and their cul-de-sac eliminated.

Both Ronald Ranes and Thomas Haynes, owners of the two lots at the very end of Carriage Lane, said that they have no problem with the rezoning in general, but they bought their property so that they could live at the end of the street and they are very much opposed to anyone changing that.

“If this goes through, then I have no choice but to take legal action myself,” said Ranes during the public hearing last week.

Haynes suggested using Stagecoach Road as the access point for the proposed subdivision, where the 12th lot is currently situated. That lot is only one acre, and city staff recommended it be deleted and absorbed into the remaining 11 lots, all of which are at least 2.48 acres.

The council vote stipulated that no more than 12 lots be developed on the property. That wording was specifically asked for at the beginning of the hearing by a Hyde representative, who added that all other staff recommendations were acceptable.

Development director Jim Williams said that his staff has no problem with that, but the 12th lot as shown on the plan should not be allowed.

No one was thrilled with the proposal that was being presented, but no one saw much hope of a better solution.

“Just about anything that happens there will be unacceptable to the people in the area,” said Mayor Bob Lenox.

The city cannot deny the extension of Carriage Lane, Lenox stated, and the land owners can build 10 homes on the site without the rezoning or any other City Council approval.

Council member Carol Fritz inquired about the feasibility of a Stagecoach Road entrance, and Lenox said that the city could not impose a 12-lot limit on the tract if that option were utilized.

Among the other issues brought up that frustrated the City Council and the residents was the drainage problem in that area, which virtually everyone attributed to the nearby Publix shopping center that is not in the city limits.

This land has a long and stormy history, filled with controversial incidents such as Hyde's removal from the Planning Commission by the City Council a few years ago.

At one point, Lenox offered to buy the property himself for $700,000 just to put an end to the litigation.

“The city has fought long and hard on this,” said Mayor Pro Tempore Annie McMenamin of the battle over this property just before the 4-0 vote to approved the rezoning (Councilman Robert Brooks was absent).

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