Rushed to make a decision before a midnight deadline, the Peachtree City Council voted 3-2 Thursday to accept the right-of-way road path for the extension of TDK Boulevard.

Doing so does not require the city to build the road, said City Attorney Ted Meeker.

“We can plant flowers there if we want,” said City Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford.

Council members Stuart Kourajian and Cyndi Plunkett voted against the measure. But the other council members contended they’d rather control the property so the road can be built if necessary.

The decision came in a special called meeting Thursday night with city officials saying they were caught by surprise by a deadline to accept the right-of-way that was in a separate real estate transaction between Pathway Communities and the Peachtree City Airport Authority.

That transaction allowed the authority to acquire land for its runway safety area, and a draft of the documents reviewed by the city did not contain that deadline, Meeker said.

The deadline was discovered Tuesday during a meeting to interview applicants for the city’s Airport Authority, said City Manager Bernie McMullen. The language had been added to the real estate contract sometime in the final two weeks before the deal closed, Meeker said.

The contract also requires the road to be built within three years or the right-of-way will revert back to Pathway Communities.

The TDK Extension has garnered more interest recently with the announcement that a developer wants to build a 3,000-home development in Coweta County that would be right off the new road. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority ultimately wants the TDK Extension to be a four-lane road, but Council was resolute at its Thursday night meeting that if the extension is built it would only be a two-lane thoroughfare.

The right-of-way is 80 feet wide, enough for two lanes of traffic but no more, Mayor Harold Logsdon told The Citizen. Logsdon also said that county officials have committed that if Peachtree City decides it doesn’t want to build the TDK Extension, they wouldn’t build it.

Under a special contract, Fayette County officials are responsible for the actual road construction while Peachtree City is responsible for engineering and right-of-way acquisition.

Council agreed to host additional public meetings about the TDK Extension after the first of the year at Plunkett’s suggestion.

Most of the citizens who spoke Thursday night strongly opposed accepting the right-of-way. Several in the crowd resorted to mock laughter at one point, drawing the ire of Rutherford.

“I’m glad you think this is a laughing matter,” Rutherford said, adding that she had to make a decision that was best for all of Peachtree City and not just the people who appeared to oppose the matter.

Meeker said Pathway Communities refused to grant an extension on the deadline but the company indicated it would grant the right-of-way at a later date when necessary if the city still wanted it.

Kourajian said he worried why Pathway was in such a rush to have the city accept the right-of-way, and he didn’t feel comfortable accepting the property without more information.

“What do they know that we don’t know?” Kourajian said. He said he felt “bullied” by Pathway Communities and GRTA into making a hasty decision.

Kourajian suggested encouraging Fayette County to withdraw its support and funding for the road until several conditions could be met in a comprehensive traffic plan, including the provision for an alternate primary traffic route to I-85 and addressing of traffic congestion in Peachtree City.

Rutherford asked how the city knew Pathway would give the right-of-way property to the city at a later date if Council decided not to accept it immediately. Meeker replied that a company representative said Pathway would do that.

“And I should trust them for what reason?” Rutherford replied.

Former Mayor Steve Brown also addressed the council, saying that Coweta County has made it clear they are going “full bore for this community-style development.”

“The enabler for that is TDK,” Brown said.

Rutherford noted there will be several more chances to halt the road project if necessary.

“This is not a final decision,” Rutherford said. She added that if council doesn’t cooperate with Coweta on TDK, the city will have “no voice in what they’re going to do.”

login to post comments