Council may favor flat limit of 35 feet instead of up to 60 feet after review

The Peachtree City Council has kicked back for rewrite a proposal that would give the city some oversight of architecture on commercial buildings taller than 35 feet.

That proposal required buildings between 35 and the maximum height of 60 feet to have their building elevations reviewed by the planning commission for approval before the final conceptual plan would be approved.

But several city council members said they preferred lowering the maximum height of commercial buildings to 35 feet flat. Councilman Stuart Kourajian said developers could then apply to the city council for a variance.

Rast said with all due respect to council, he felt the planning commission members, some of whom are architects and engineers, would better be able to handle architectural concerns.

The height requirements were discussed in detail at a recent planning commission meeting. The commission ultimately decided to recommend allow buildings up to 60 feet because it could allow for some nice architecture to be possible, and the review would give the city some control over the project.

The city’s current ordinance allows up to 10 stories, but if the height is greater than 35 feet it must be approved by the fire marshal and building inspector.

At last week’s City Council meeting, Fire Marshal John Dailey said the 60 feet limit currently in the ordinance for other buildings was largely due to the capabilities of the city’s various fire apparatus.

“Once you get above six or seven stories, it gets a bit harder,” Dailey said.

Rast said the 60-foot mark also makes sense because in many areas the existing tree canopy doesn’t go much higher than that.

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