Anne Cowles' article on Peachtree City in the AJC [Sept. 20] presented a good look at Peachtree City's past and present. However, if Peachtree City is to be used as a “concept” for intelligent growth, we must deliberate on what lies ahead in the city's future.

The article stated that many large retail companies avoided Peachtree City due to insufficient population in the past. At present, we are reaching our build-out population of 30,000-plus and our neighboring, smaller cities are growing at a rapid, double digit rate. The large retailers like Home Depot, Wal—Mart, Staples and others are now starting to pour into our city limits.

Up to this point, most of our traffic congestion has come from employees from other counties going to and from our industrial and retail areas. I contend that it is the lack of the large retail outfits that made driving palatable in Peachtree City.

Mayor Mike Wheat in neighboring Fayetteville stated in the local Fayette County newspapers that their traffic problems stem from 100,000 non-Fayetteville residents entering their city everyday to shop. Peachtree City will approach Fayetteville's traffic levels in the near future without the benefit of being able to widen our two main state highways unless appropriate action is taken.

Federal ozone/highway funding regulations, an influx of industrial employees, large commercial developments and the increase in traffic lights and developments between Peachtree City and Interstate 85 could turn the city into a traffic bog. Daily commute times from Peachtree City to Atlanta could easily double within the next five to ten years. If you think that such a prediction is far-fetched, study what has happened to various cities in the north metro area.

Peachtree City's only savior for its future traffic predicament is for the city council to pass a traffic ordinance which would not allow any development to proceed if traffic studies show that the development will have a negative impact on traffic.

We are now waiting to see if the council will allow estimated traffic values from large developments already approved yet not already built to be added to the traffic baseline for determining traffic impact.

A developer has requested being “grandfathered” into the traffic baseline because of moneys spent on the new Line Creek Parkway. The Line Creek Parkway simply allows hundreds (or thousands, depending on the extent of development) of new automobiles to file onto the terribly congested Ga. Highway 54 West.

Surprisingly, Peachtree City officials still have not denounced annexation plans near Ga. highways 54 and 74 which would greatly add to our current problems. The Peachtree City land use plan is up for revision in the year 2000 and annexation could be part of that revision.

The federal ozone regulations have forced us to stop taking an archaic one-development-at-time planning approach. Now, finally, we must consider the big picture. These development and traffic issues could be the hot topics of our next election.

Steve Brown
steve_ptc@juno.com
Peachtree City



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