Residents, developers at odds over gridlock solution

By MONROE ROARK
Staff Writer

Stop development until the federal government allows roads to be improved?

It's easier said than done, according to some who addressed the Peachtree City Council on the subject last week.

Residents, government leaders and developers discussed the proposal for two hours Thursday, and may have left with more questions than when they started, if that's possible.

The pleas of local subdivision dwellers rang out alongside the opinions of land owners and developers, with a couple of attorneys thrown in for good measure, as all addressed the City Council and gave their take on what Mayor Bob Lenox said was possibly the most complicated issue the city has ever faced.

No action was taken by the City Council, which initiated the public hearing amid thoughts of a possible traffic impact ordinance, or even a building moratorium, as a way to curb spiraling traffic gridlock along the Ga. Highway 54 corridor, specifically near its intersection with Ga. Highway 74 and on to the Coweta County line.

City staff recommended drafting and adopting an ordinance, with development director Jim Williams saying that a “sledgehammer approach” could do more harm than good, as the economy of the city as well as the state could be affected because of the close proximity of the industrial park.

Ed Ellis of Dames and Moore, the traffic consulting firm that is creating a model for the corridor to help measure the impact of proposed development, praised the City Council for taking transportation into consideration in its land-use decisions. “Not everybody does that,” he said.

But attorney Doug Dillard, who frequently represents developers in rezoning requests, suggested that transportation is not and should not be an issue, at least where zoning matters are concerned. “Georgia courts have held since 1961 that you can't deny zoning based on traffic,” he said.

“There is no relationship between land-use laws and transportation patterns,” he added, placing some of the blame for the city's current traffic mess on its own planning, or lack thereof.

By “segregating” development into specific areas — such as industrial, commercial and residential — planners in Peachtree City and other areas through the years have forced people to get in their cars to go from one place to another, he argued.

As for Peachtree City specifically, Dillard said that “historical decisions” by the powers that be since the city's inception have “funneled everything into [highways] 54 and 74.”

Future development, both residential and commercial, will continue to raise the traffic levels because of the life-styles of Georgia residents, Dillard said. “We're not getting out of our automobiles.”

One local land owner, whose property was perhaps the main motivation for the current frustration of local residents, asked the audience as well as the City Council to simply treat his family equally under the law.

Bill Huddleston, who along with his siblings owns more than 40 acres on the north side of Hwy. 54 west of Hwy. 74, has come under fire for a recent application by RAM Development to put a Wal-Mart superstore and Home Depot retail center on that tract, with the main entrance directly across from Planterra Way.

Huddleston said he can sympathize with the feelings of local residents concerning the use of his property, which he said has been in his family for 50 years and has been zoned commercial for more than 20 years.

“Put yourself in my shoes,” he said. “Anyone with this land would do the same thing.”

He did suggest, however, that the timing of this issue was a bit questionable, and that these traffic problems existed five years ago or more but were not addressed.

Meanwhile, Huddleston cited safety and security problems that now exist with his land as two more reasons for a change. “It's not a farm anymore,” he said.

Mayor Pro Tempore Annie McMenamin admitted that the city did not address the traffic problem as quickly as it should have, saying that local leaders “sat complacently,” believing that the state would improve the two highways and that projects grandfathered in would not be affected by the current litigation related to the Clean Air Act.

“We were promised road work by 1992,” Huddleston replied. “You shouldn't have assumed anything until you see dirt being moved.”

The City Council voted to continue the discussion at the Oct. 7 meeting, at which time a draft of a proposed traffic impact ordinance should be ready for consideration.