Citizen input sought for updating of PTC comprehensive plan

More than 30 people attended the first village-based comprehensive plan forum at Falcon Field in Peachtree City Aug. 23.

Although part of the meeting focused on information about the industrial park, residents were allowed to ask questions and make comments. They were also invited to provide written comments on sticky notes so those comments could be compiled into the process.

Why is all the public input necessary? According to City Planner David Rast, officials hope to garner public support for the plan, which will guide how the city is developed in the future.

That way, Rast said, “it’s a plan that can be supported and embraced by the community ... not just staff sitting in the office and writing these things.”

For example, residents are being asked to go online to participate in a visual preference survey, the results of which will be used to compile the city’s set of design guidelines for future developments. The survey is available at www.peachtree-city.org/plan; then click on the link to the left for “Visual Preference Survey.”

As for existing developments, some of the discussion at Thursday’s meeting centered on the need for redevelopment at the Braelinn Village shopping center. When questioned about what the problem is with recurring vacant storefronts there, Rast said developers have told the city that although the shopping center was the “cream of the crop” when it opened, it doesn’t have two strong anchor stores to help keep tenants in the smaller storefronts.

There is some hope, however, as the developers of a senior luxury apartment complex just across Crosstown Road near Peachtree Parkway have reached out to the company that owns Braelinn Village in an effort to improve the area, Rast said. The apartment complex will be close by and it’s expected to provide a solid base of consumers for the shopping center since the tenants will be able to easily use the golf cart path to shop there.

It may ultimately take some “thinking outside of the box” to help the shopping center, Rast said, noting that the shopping center is “kind of tucked away” off Crosstown Road. Other village centers in the city are located off state highways.

One radical idea Rast suggested would be allowing signs for the retail center to be located off Ga. Highway 74, but he quickly added why such an idea might not work since “everybody else would want one too.”

Resident Skip Mason asked if allowing big box retail stores was part of the comprehensive plan, and Rast said they aren’t. When Mason noted that the city already had several big box stores, Rast explained how the city’s plans in the 1970s had earmarked the Ga. Highway 54 west corridor — now home to the Wal-Mart and Home Depot big box stores — as a regional shopping center.

Of course back then there was no such thing as big box stores, Rast noted. The Wal-Mart and Home Depot parcel was all initially zoned for general commercial use, along with the property for the Summit Apartments and the Cedarcroft subdivision, Rast noted.

Mason noted that the public never knew such documents existed, and he complimented city staff for seeking the public’s input on future plans.

On other development issues, Rast noted that even with the future development of the city’s West Village through newly annexed land, the city will likely end up with a population of about 40,000 people, up from the current level around 36,000.

The possibility of commuter rail was also briefly mentioned, as Rast said that it was initially considered to locate a rail station in Peachtree City as part of a grant application for design funding from the Atlanta Regional Commission, but ultimately there was such a citizen outcry that the rail concept was pulled from the proposal, Rast said.

It may also be that the current CSX rail line is too busy to accommodate a commuter train, though there are ideas floating about to build a second rail line parallel to the existing line, Rast said.

The state has plans for such a train to stop in Senoia, Peachtree City, Tyrone, Fairburn and Union City, but the program is in the state’s “long range plans,” Rast said.

Another resident said he thought it was important to improve recycling options in the city. City Manager Bernie McMullen said that the city may be able to make that happen if the city council approves a trash franchise agreement, which would require residents to use a single provider. As it stands now, only one trash provider in the city is accepting new customers for recycling.

A trash franchise deal would likely include a requirement for the provider to accept recyclable material, McMullen said.

As for the industrial park’s future, a big chunk of the development will actually occur on the property of Falcon Field, Rast noted. The industrial park has 2,780 acres that host 78 major businesses with nearly 7,000 employees, Rast said.

Most of the undeveloped property in the industrial park belongs to Pathway Communities, Rast noted.

Steve Fraas, chairman of the Peachtree City Development Authority, said one of the things existing industries want is to maintain the city’s quality of life, and they also value the quality schools and activities for children.

Many of the businesses in the industrial park use the CSX railroad line for transportation, Fraas said. Some are also starting to expand, such as Halla, and those businesss in particular want to see the work force grow, Fraas said.

Another concern of the largest industries in the city is school redistricting, Fraas said.

The city development authority works with the Fayette County Development Authority to attract industry, Fraas said, and the goal is to attract corporate headquarters whose employees can also live in Peachtree City.

Some of the older buildings in the industrial park have been renovated to make smaller offices also, Rast said.

The city is also hoping to extend the path system into the industrial park, Rast said, noting that employees of the Federal Aviation Administration and Cooper Lighting have called the city regularly to inquire about the status of a golf cart path bridge that will allow them to drive their golf carts to work from the south side of Peachtree City.

The next community forum on the comprehensive plan will be held at the Gathering Place recreation center at the city’s recreation complex on McIntosh Trail Thursday, Sept. 13 from 7-9 p.m.