OPINION — Point-Counterpoint

[Editor’s note: The following three letters from a mayor, an ex-mayor and a county commissioner lay out varying positions on the growth of Peachtree City, annexation and the TDK Boulevard Extension into Coweta County. We present them here as a point-counterpoint informational forum.]

Peachtree City Mayor Harold Logsdon on TDK: “My position was two lanes or no lanes — anything more will bring too much traffic to Hwy. 74.” On annexing the West Village: “The developers should pay for the project, but the developers must be able to build enough homes to cover the costs.” On more big boxes: “We collect significant tax revenues from commercial developments, both in property taxes and in sales taxes, that help to fund programs and service our residents expect, including recreation programs and facilities and public safety staff and equipment. ... I confess I am still not fully decided on this issue. We have some big box stores in this town that fit well into the developments they occupy. We have others that do not.”

Ex-Mayor Steve Brown on TDK: “TDK will specifically enable the development of a massive Pavilion-type shopping center drawing significant traffic onto our roads and depleting our Fayette County sales tax revenues. The new TDK residential traffic will drown Peachtree City and Tyrone commuters in a sea of cars.”

Fayette County Commissioner Peter Pfeifer on annexation: “If I were a member of the Peachtree City Council, I would not vote to annex this property unless ... It would have to be annexed at the current zoning, which is one unit per two acres. Or, a yield of one unit per two acres. ... The developers would have to agree to put in sufficient access, including a bridge over the railroad tracks, from Senoia Road or from Ga. Highway 74. Access from MacDuff Parkway should no wider than it is now so that it provides an alternate access for those who live off MacDuff and does not become a bypass for those coming down Hwy. 74 and going west on Ga. Highway 54 or those coming from the west on 54 to go out 74.”

[Editor’s note: The following are the letters received from Logsdon, Brown and Pfeifer.]

PTC mayor on growth, TDK bridge, annexing

By MAYOR HAROLD LOGSDON

Cal: Thank you for the thoughtful and thought-provoking column on dreamers and dreams in last week’s Citizen. I hope every resident of Peachtree City takes the time to read it because it gives some outstanding perspective on Peachtree City’s history when it comes to growth.

I, too, moved to Peachtree City with a dream of finding a wonderful place for my family to live. I also found it, although it was a different Peachtree City in 1996 than the one you found in 1977. We didn’t have the open fields and livestock that your family saw, but we found good golf courses and enjoyed many miles of paved paths winding through the woods. We could eat at a variety of restaurants without driving for miles.

All in all, I also think I found just about the best place on earth for my family. I also think that the trade-offs of what your family had for what mine did were acceptable.

Interestingly, I think the trade-offs made for the growth of Peachtree City were also part of the dream — that growth up to a point could come and Peachtree City would still keep a unique sense of home for its residents, old and new. Balance in the growth and the decisions made between protecting what was good and building what was needed was the most important element. It still is.

We are now living in a Peachtree City that differs from the one either of us moved to. We are actually very near the end of the residential growth phase. In 2006, Peachtree City issued permits for 112 new residential units. That is a far cry from the hundreds of homes per year built in the 1980s and the 1990s — as many as 500 to 800 new homes a year in some of those years.

Instead, we are now faced with how to deal with the growth coming to the areas around us in Fayette and Coweta counties, growth that Peachtree City, in part, started by proving how desirable this part of Metro Atlanta could be.

We’re also faced with meeting a lot of expectations of Peachtree City’s residents, old and new. Residents who moved here liking the safety, the paths, the huge variety in recreation, and the trees that line our streets, paths, and neighborhoods. Residents who don’t like the traffic on our highways.

You made several good points in the column, many of which I agree with and some I do not. Interestingly, many of them influence each other, starting with the changes over the years made to our “plan.”

As you noted, the population figures decreased drastically over the years. The plan for huge numbers of apartments was scrapped.

These are good things. But there was a trade-off. As we reduced our total population and the lower-priced homes and apartments, we also reduced the availability of labor for our industrial park, which is an important tax base for the community. As a result, many of our employees must commute to Peachtree City from other places, especially Coweta County.

This brings us to TDK Boulevard. I agree with you, Cal, that we need a two-lane connection to Coweta in this area. It will help employees reach our industrial park. I also think it is important to have an alternate route as the surrounding areas (Fayette and Coweta) grow so that Highway 54 does not become gridlocked. A two-lane road will accomplish this without over-burdening Highway 74.

Where I disagree with you is the part about the state paying for anything more than two lanes. The state has dictated that there must be a four-lane bridge, and the Coweta County developer has volunteered to pay the difference. However, I believe GRTA has exceeded its authority in placing the burden on us to install it when we have no say in the projects that are helping to fuel the need.

In my conversation with [Citizen reporter John] Munford last week, I stressed that my position was two lanes or no lanes — anything more will bring too much traffic to Hwy. 74.

You also mentioned the dead-end, two-lane MacDuff Parkway, and I see that as a real problem for the residents who live there, and lived there before I took office. I feel that connecting MacDuff Parkway to Hwy. 74 is important, but I do not believe Peachtree City’s current residents should have to pay for the road or the necessary bridge over the railroad.

That is where the annexation question comes into play. The developers should pay for the project, but the developers must be able to build enough homes to cover the costs.

This does not mean unlimited numbers of homes — the Council and I have already turned down the request to include multi-family townhomes in the area. Having half of the proposed homes geared toward retirees, who will not burden our school system, is an important element that will help to balance the impact of the growth.

I also maintain that, even with the annexation, we should remain at the 40,000 figure for Peachtree City’s build-out population, and as we work with the developers, I think this is achievable.

Finally, we are facing the question of big boxes in additional commercial development. I confess I am still not fully decided on this issue. We have some big box stores in this town that fit well into the developments they occupy. We have others that do not.

We collect significant tax revenues from commercial developments, both in property taxes and in sales taxes, that help to fund programs and service our residents expect, including recreation programs and facilities and public safety staff and equipment. The sales tax revenue increases based on the success of the businesses and centers with anchor stores generally perform better than those without them.

Finally, we now have a population that will support certain levels of retail, and many of these stores are determined to come to the area. We could certainly give a blanket refusal, but there is a large retail development planned on Highway 34 just outside our city limits.

If they locate there instead, we still get the traffic and problems associated with large commercial developments, but we receive none of the tax revenue.

I will ultimately wait until I see exactly what is being proposed — it is still at the Planning Commission level but the process is moving forward and should be before the Council and me in the next couple of months.

On a final note, I would like to again like to invite you to call or e-mail me to discuss these issues in more detail. Any citizen is welcome to do the same.

I know we will not agree on every element that makes and will keep Peachtree City as our dream city. However, I think we both agree that what we have is worth fighting to preserve, and that will require planning into the future long past when the development within our borders is complete.

Thank you for taking the time to read my comments.

Harold Logsdon, mayor
Peachtree City, Ga.

[Harold Logsdon was elected mayor of Peachtree City in the fall of 2005 and has served since January 2006.]

TDK Extension will be traffic disaster for PTC

By Steve Brown

Mayor Harold Logsdon is demanding two lanes instead of four for the TDK Extension. This is remarkable because when the mayor voted in December to accept the right-of-way as the developers wanted, the mayor told us “that it was better to have the land under city control so the city can ultimately decide whether to build the road or not” (Citizen, Dec. 14, 2006). Another smokescreen — he was always going [to be] building the road.

Mayor Logsdon has made it clear to Coweta County officials that he is very willing to build a two-lane road, as the newspaper article explained, “By not stalling the TDK Extension, the city will be doing its part to cooperate on a regional basis” (Citizen, Feb. 2). He is doing his part to contribute to developer largesse and not to his constituents.

The justification of TDK has consisted of one embarrassing lie after another. On March 9, 2001, it was reported, “The TDK extension is predicted to help ease traffic on Georgia Highway 54 West as Coweta County residents coming to work at the [Peachtree City] industrial park will be able to take that route instead.”

On April 13, 2001, we were told, “According to traffic forecasts, that [TDK] would reduce traffic on Hwy. 54 in Peachtree City by 20 percent.”

The Fayette Chamber of Commerce chimed in saying, “Many studies have been made at great cost to the city. As traffic continues to worsen along Ga. Highway 54 (particularly after the opening of Wal-Mart and Home Depot), the necessity of extending TDK Boulevard into Coweta County becomes even more obvious” (Dec. 18, 2002).

A May 4, 2001 headline read, “TDK Extension could lighten traffic.” You can find these types of assurances being made by all the pro-TDK profiteers. How could anyone not want to buy into those wonderful claims?

Even State Rep. Mitch Seabaugh and U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland got into the TDK act. “State officials, including Seabaugh and Westmoreland, eventually got involved in creation of the project, citing the need to alleviate traffic on the stretch of Ga. highways 34 and 54 between Newnan and Peachtree City” (Citizen, Dec. 14, 2004). However, the two political figures neglected to tell the public they were hauling in big campaign checks from the property owners/developers on the Coweta County side of the proposed road.

Take a look at what happened when the logic of the developer-driven TDK was questioned. “The project would extend TDK Boulevard into Coweta County via a bridge over Line Creek and was originally envisioned as a way to free up traffic on Ga. Highway 54 West by rerouting employees to the city’s industrial park. But Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown is worried that Coweta officials may allow rampant development of the area and create more of a traffic problem than a traffic solution” (Citizen, Mar. 22, 2002).

The article continued, “[Coweta Commissioner] Hunter also disputes [Brown’s] concerns about development in the area. ‘That’s not a concern of theirs. It’s far easier to build something in Peachtree City than Coweta County,’ Hunter added.” The article closed, “Hunter reiterated his position [on traffic relief] and dismissed Brown’s take on the [TDK] project as ‘hogwash.’”

Everyone now knows the painful truth about TDK and how it will force Peachtree City’s roads to be used as a congested doormat for a new massive city-sized development in the next county. All the rhetoric about traffic relief, traffic reduction, alternative route to the industrial park and no large developments in Coweta were lies.

TDK will specifically enable the development of a massive Pavilion-type shopping center drawing significant traffic onto our roads and depleting our Fayette County sales tax revenues. The new TDK residential traffic will drown Peachtree City and Tyrone commuters in a sea of cars. The reality that three members of the City Council continue to support going ahead with TDK is mind-boggling.

Mayor Logsdon has only given two reasons for proceeding with TDK, a project which financial benefits for some of his campaign contributors. First, he says the plan to extend TDK has been on the planning books for over a decade; therefore, we must build it.

Actually, what the mayor fails to tell everyone is that the comprehensive plan for the land in Coweta abutting the proposed road has always been zoned rural residential at a drastically lower density than what Coweta currently demands. In addition, there has never been 1 million square feet of retail and office space in the Coweta plans before either. Coweta County made radical changes and we should automatically reconsider the project based upon those changes.

Second, Mayor Logsdon said, “I just think it’s the right thing to do for the citizens of Peachtree City and Fayette County” (The Citizen 7-13-06). However, all the traffic data shows great harm to Peachtree City and Fayette County, and he has not been able to provide a single logical reason as to why extending TDK is the right thing to do.

There is no intelligent justification for building TDK and no rational explanation for building it with only two lanes causing a multitude of future problems. In fact, a logical planning assessment of TDK and the adjoining development would dictate the road be built to a four-lane standard.

I must agree with GRTA, if we are going to enable the massive development in Coweta County with the construction of TDK, we must have four lanes or most of our other roads will be choked down to a halt. Rectifying those future secondary road problems will require a steep tax increase.

Mayor Logsdon’s cry for improvements to the Ga. Highway 74 interchange with Interstate 85 appear shallow when he makes it possible for an entire new city to start driving up Hwy. 74 with us. With TDK and a large Westside annexation we are adding considerably more traffic volume which will negate any road improvements we construct to the I-85 interchange.

All of the Development of Regional Impact studies show the Hwy. 74 and Hwy. 54 intersection will be drastically impacted by the TDK developments. Even a TDK study from URS (formerly Dames & Moore) in 2000 identified that intersection as a major choke point.

Unfortunately, there are no funds in the roads SPLOST for modifying the intersection of hwys. 74 and 54, one of the reasons I opposed the referendum. Mayor Logsdon has no plan to resolve the extensive gridlock we will experience at the intersection of hwys. 74 and 54, Crosstown Road and beyond.

We need to wake up! TDK and the development it enables will cause a sub-regional traffic disaster which is why GRTA is trying to force us into some very expensive traffic improvement projects.

We find ourselves with three City Council members wanting to build a road established on a series of lies about traffic relief. The road presents no positive benefits for Peachtree City and Fayette County and will be the antithesis of traffic relief.

We do know that the road will benefit some politically active developers. We also know Coweta County stands to reap over $1 billion in taxes and fees on the deal. However, the worst part is we have no way of mitigating the destructive impacts of the TDK developments on our local roads.

Until the mayor and council can generate some positive reasons for building the TDK extension, reasons that benefit the citizens of Peachtree City and Fayette County, the project should be halted indefinitely.

Steve Brown
Peachtree City, Ga.

[Brown served as mayor of Peachtree City from 2001 to 2005.]

Pfeifer: Don’t annex unless it’s low density

By Peter Pfeifer

I believe that I should express my opinion of the potential annexation, by Peachtree City, of the so-called “West Village.”

Annexation is not a right. The property owner can apply but the answer does not have to be “Yes,” unless there is a clear benefit to the city.

If I were a member of the Peachtree City Council, I would not vote to annex this property unless the conditions listed below were met.

It would have to be annexed at the current zoning, which is one unit per two acres. Or, a yield of one unit per two acres. I don’t think that the city currently has a zoning category that would fit this, but they can design one.

The developers would have to agree to put in sufficient access, including a bridge over the railroad tracks, from Senoia Road or from Ga. Highway 74. Access from MacDuff Parkway should no wider than it is now so that it provides an alternate access for those who live off MacDuff and does not become a bypass for those coming down Hwy. 74 and going west on Ga. Highway 54 or those coming from the west on 54 to go out 74.

This land is expensive. All land in Fayette County is expensive, and can be even more so in Peachtree City. No one can afford to buy it, and develop it, unless they are going to get a substantial amount for the housing or buildings they put on it.

I don’t believe that this property can be developed at any density, and be sold to the type of people who would consider such a substantial investment unless it has much better access it than it does now.

This is not our problem; it is the developer’s problem. Let’s let them fix it and finance the fix.

Some of the proposed land uses I have seen, or heard about, are high-density housing, schools, recreation and commercial. This will make current traffic and service issues worse, not better, than they are now, even if MacDuff is extended.

Unless these conditions were met, I don’t see any reason to annex this property into Peachtree City. The short-term surge in income (taxes and fees) into the city will be outweighed, over time, if this area needs substantial service provision due to high density housing or commercial.

The type of dwelling, for older people or for younger families, simply will determine the type of services, not the volume of services. All people need services.

Peter Pfeifer
Fayette County Commission, Post 3
Peachtree City, Ga.

[Pfeifer is serving his second four-year term on the Fayette County Commission.]

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