I completely agree with you. I feel the same way. The problem here is that the way SOME PTC residents have reacted could be construed negatively. People have resorted to singling out neighborhoods WITHIN our PTC community and saying "it's not fair" when a more appropriate response would be to unite as a community and push for what's best for our kids. My kids go to Crabapple, my neighborhood was left in Booth and McIntosh, and there are some people from your neck of the woods saying some not so nice things about my neck of the woods because they're mad. The PTC residents are doing the dividing and conquering for the FCBOE - they don't have to do anything but sit back and watch the fur fly.

The only dividing and conquering being done is by a few wackos on the web. The residents involved in this redistricting, and I am one of them have been very supportive of all the people involved. Everyone supported each others neighborhoods and it was uplifting to see all concerned clap for each other at the meeting Everyone had valid points of view. I have also received a lot of emails from friends in neighborhoods not affected encouraging us to speak out. The BOE in their effort to use a scalpel approach fueled the fire. Taking small pockets of children from various different parts of the county was wrong. Some of the subdivisions had just three children, how do you think they feel being taken away from their school. Everyone would have been accepting of the redistricting plan had their elementary schools' communities been represented in the new school. This would be the same for all parts of the county and this is what would have been best for our kids. It does not seem to be a hard concept to grasp.

I wish you were correct, but there are a few of the (same?) wackos publishing free speech blurbs in the paper. I was at the meeting last week, and the points were valid for the most part. I agree that taking pockets of kids from several areas was not the best approach. I know exactly how those small subdivisions feel, my area was in the same boat when they were planning to send us to FRMS! The real problem is the location of the school. If there is a better way, what is it?

Cruise around this blog. I'm starting to feel a little Bored (sic) Of Educating ya'll on the same facts. Ya . . . we got it . . . development . . . Fayetteville . . . Tyrone, WTH does this have to do with ripping apart PTC.

Yes I do make a living in the real estate industry - so what? The point I was trying to make is that the all of the school children on the outer limits of Peachtree City are going to be shuffled eventually because of the rapid growth in the county. Large school sites in certain areas are limited, so drastic shifts will be necessary.

What you pea brains need to worry about is the big Wieland development proposed on Peachtree City's westside. You are really going to see some shifting when that baby goes up. You are probably looking at 1,200 students IN ADDITION to what they are already building now in Cedarcroft and Centennial.

Choke on that for a while!

say anything about you being in real estate. Why are you so touchy?

That's the bad thing about being a fleecer. It just takes one sheep to struggle and say baa before the entire flock is a real pain to deal with.

Baa, Baa, Baa

P.S. Love your Reaganesque sayings, "Choke on that for a while!"?!?!?!?!

Without good schools Fayette County is just another inferior southside county. If you lose your tax base and people start to move because they are dissatisfied, schools will very quickly go downhill. Clayton County used to have Blue Ribbon schools, Mundy's Mill Middle and Jonesboro Junior High even I can rememeber. Keeping parents involved is the only way forward.

Great point Ardenlee Upgrade.

That is so true, and maybe it is time to move on when people are writing 'special permision' letters for kids who live in Clayton to go to school here.."his last ...FEW...YEARS" to play football for Whitewater when they are moving other kids out of that district. It just isn't right. Why stay and see your tax dollars used on Clayton county kids when your own kids have needs?

True Dat ardenlee. Word.

how PTC has just been silent on the West Village. Does the defeat of Lenox's grand annexation ring any bells. CruiserMAN aint new to the party and the fight, baby.

And I love the definition of what's being moved as the "outer limits" of PTC. Check out the maps, there is a swath that cuts like the panhandle of Florida through the heart of the city. It'd be kinda cool if it weren't so sad.

Face it, you've shown your hand.

Love the pic of Ronnie.

foot in your mouth! I love it!

I rest my case about impact fees! CCB just admitted being in real estate and he shares the feelings of the developers, they don't care if we choke on the congestion or hang our kids on nails. They are in for the quick buck and out. Every overcrowded sub that they get to build the way they want is another nail in the coffin for our schools. I repeat what I said earlier. You have to stop letting them build on such ..SMALL...LOTS. At every hearing on a new development, the town council should be read the letter from the school board on the impact that neighborhood will have on the schools. How many kids will be displaced, etc. and some hugh impacts fees are in order. These developers are making money hand over fist and it is at the expense of us and our kids.
People are going to HAVE to start going to these planning meetings and getting involved. Don't you know they use the fact that you are working to pay the rent and when at home too busy raising your kids to come to these meetings? You are being had. You can help yourselves by putting a curb on all this new out of control development. and Yes, Weiland is the worst by far. He builds houses big enough to start your own tribe in. Then he writes the covenents, not ....ONE... of his monster developements has anywhere in the covenants that you can't ...RENT..or lease these monsters out. It should be in there. What then happens is that the owners of some of these rent these to the gov for sec 8 housing, and with that comes Aunt Susie, Uncle Joe etc. and 2 or 3 sets of kids living in the same house and clogging the schools.

You guys are a few beers short of a six pack! Obviously, you don't read this site much. I've made several stands for quality development on this site. In fact, I condemned the blatant lying from government officials and the Chamber of Commerce regarding the real reason for the TDK extension. Such foolish acts makes the entire industry look bad.

I was trying to get you to look at the big picture instead of the situation today. Things are going to change and the fight you are having today will seem like the good old days.

They get paid when you buy a house. The get paid when you sell a house. Anything that 'stirs the market' means people are buying and/or selling a house. Uh, I'm going out on a limb here - they uh - 'like it'.

Rent & lease are not dirty words or bad things. I have personally been on both sides of of a rent/lease situation in "executive rentals". If I have to be relocated out of the state or country for a temporary assignment, I think I have the right to rent my home to another professional in a similar situation for 6-12 months or more, and I shouldn't be forced to either buy a home or live in a traditional apartment complex during a temporary relocation. In my opinion, Wieland's half-a-million dollar homes are much, much more likely to be the occasional "executive rental" and NOT a section 8 rental property! What homeowner in their right mind would buy an expensive house and then subject it to the wear and tear of section 8 renting?? That's absurd. I also have experience in owning and maintaining "non-executive" rentals, and I assure you, a Wieland subdivision is not what typical landlords or tenants are looking for in *affordable* rental properties (yes, I am talking about that happy medium between expensive mcmansion and run-down dump). And section 8? Please - are you crazy? No one would let an expensive house become a section 8 rental property...talk about losing your investment!

Secondly, while Wieland covenants do not forbid leasing your property, there are other covenants that safeguard against rental "abuse". There are strict property covenants regarding maintenance of the property and vehicle parking. Anyone who wants to cram several families into a Wieland house are going to have problems with transportation. If you are only allowed to park 2 or 3 vehicles, including a golf cart on your property, and considering PTC doesn't have public transportation - well, several family members are going to be stuck doing a lot of walking or bike riding to get around town. Last time I looked, I didn't see whole "tribes" walking and biking to work from Wieland subdivisions. Anyway, you have to submit in writing to the HOA any lease agreements for your property. No HOA is going to allow multiple families to move into one house. I understand that there are homes in Glenloch where multiple families are moving into one home - but those are not in a Wieland HOA (or any HOA as far as I know) nor are they half-a-million dollar homes!

Why is Wieland always the villian on these blogs? Cedarcroft, which has much higher density than Centennial and much less stringent covenants, rarely gets mentioned. Cedarcroft is in the midst of building a large number of high-density, family-friendly homes while Centennial is close to being built out. In fact, several of the homes under construction in Centennial right now are more "empty nester" type homes than young, growing family type homes (go ask any real estate agent). School system employees have admitted to me that they over-estimated the number of children that would come from Centennial. I don't understand why Wieland gets all the blame for PTC's concerns & woes.

Have any of you driven into Centennial lately and seen the kids playing in the huge green spaces or families gathering to talk and "be neighborly"? There are many other subdivisions in PTC where all the neighbors do is "smile and wave" as they pull into their garages with automatic garage door openers, never to be seen again until they emerge again from their garage. Wieland likes to put large green spaces in his neighborhoods and covered front porches on many homes to encourage people to come outside and be with their neighbors. And no, I do not work for Wieland, but I know people who have worked with Wieland for years.

I find it frustrating that so many people on these blogs are quick to latch onto a "problem" or idea without thoroughly examining the facts. Bashing Wynnmeade has finally fallen out of vogue here, but now we're on to villifying Centennial. Who's next? Maybe I'll start printing up t-shirts so we can all keep up with who is evil in PTC (or maybe I just want to make a profit off your hate campaigns.... how very capitalist of me).

You sure do know the ins and outs of his convents. It is real simple, put it in the covenants those houses can't be rentals or leases. Your loud squealing makes me think I hit a nerve. Good! And yes, people do section 8 housing in some big houses? Why? the gov always pays on time and you get a right off. If you get renters insurance, if they tear it up, you can replace the insides. Some of the neighbors in there would beg to differ with you. The people that buy those houses to live in themselves don't like it either and voice their feelings.

How many rentals have you owned or managed? How many rentals have you had to repair? When was the last time you filed an insurance claim - did you have to pay a substantial deductible and/or did your insurance rates go up after the claim? Would you want to go through that process on a regular basis? And tax write-offs aren't all they are cracked up to be. When I manage a rental property, I actually want to make an income from it, not just get a tax write-off. My best properties have been long-term rentals where the tenants help maintain the house. Those properties provided reliable monthly income in addition to a very nice increase in property value. Buy high/sell low just doesn't work for me as an investment strategy.

As for the covenants - they aren't top secret documents. Every Wieland homeowner has a hardcopy of them plus access to a PDF copy online. It's not rocket science to get your hands on them. FYI, my information comes from friends and family who are real estate agents, current or former Wieland employees, and Wieland homeowners.

Loud squealing? Nah. I just get weary of the misinformation that gets blogged here, but I don't lose sleep over it.

I should clarify one thing, though.... I really do understand that Southampton has issues, but whatever happened there wasn't a "Wieland thing" or even a "Tyrone thing". When that neighborhood was first built, several Wieland employees jumped at the chance to buy a house there - it was a great neighborhood. Then things started to deteriorate, and lots of people are still scratching their heads and wondering why. Wieland has neighborhoods all over the Southeast, and to my knowledge, there isn't another one that has had the problems like Southampton has. So maybe there is now a rental problem in Southampton? Is that what you are talking about? I don't know anyone who lives in Southampton now, so I can't speak to the facts there - but maybe you can? I, too, am very interested in where these cramming "tribes" into large homes and rental problems are. Please enlighten us.

I have owned 4 rental houses and will never ever do it again. How do I know about section 8? People called me on one of my houses n told me that they qualified it and the gov would pay. I checked it out and it is good for the owner, but on principle, mine, I didn't want to do it.
How do I know some of Weiland's are rental? Well, some have had signs in the yard. Then a while back, I got involved in local politics to help some friends get elected. I wound up going door to door with petitions on several occasions as well. When I tell you I knocked on every door in Tyrone at one time or another, please believe me.
I went into the Southhampton and the Estates. When we had people sign the petitions, we asked if they were voters and residents. Most people were very helpfull and they would say, oh don't go there, that one and that one is a rental etc. I was stunned. My thoughts were who on God's green earth would buy such an expensive house to rent out and second who the $ell would rent a house that expensive instead of buying one? It made no sense at all. The ones I owned were much smaller.

Why wouldn't you "go there?" Don't you know that voters are not property owners only? Renters vote.

but...sometimes you can go to a house n people will have company and everyone will sign your petition or whatever, when the petiions are turned in, someone was checking to see if they were valid signatures, if the names didn't match up as living at that add or old enough to vote...guess what the signatures were thrown out. I didn't make up the rules. The question started...how did I know some of these places are rentals. This is how I know.

Anyway, I was talking to a bank pres one day who told me he had heard they were section 8. I guess he would know. And I guess the neighbors know they are rentals as well.
THEN, when the school board turned me down about moving my child and I realized I had a lot todo to my house to get it on the market, much less sell it, I panicked and decided I would rent one in another school district till mine sold. I called around on some adds and my questions were always the school districts first. Some of the houses that I called on were in the Estates and South Hampton. One realestate lady owned one of them. That is how I know there are. rental houses there.

I'd like to see this for myself.

We aren't whining...we don't like it and that is our right! Who are you? A developer that we need to reach into your pockets? We will do that. We are trying to help, you are whining, so if you don't have any suggestions...go whine some place else cowboy!

This was not a give and take, bull session. Just people presenting and the board was only allowed to listen without comment.

Sooo, the board has said nothing about it.

I dunno who set this up this way, but that's how it went.

Thanks for askin'.