Three potential areas for growth of city boundaries

At its retreat last week, the Peachtree City Council was briefed about several potential areas where the city might be asked to annex land into its boundaries.

Among the drawbacks on all of the potential proposals, however, are the increased impact on the city’s public safety services, the impact on the school system due to density changes, said City Planner David Rast.

The largest tract was to the north of the Kedron Estates subdivision in a 233-acre tract that is owned by several people, Rast said. The main benefit of this tract is it would give the city land necessary to build the long-planned “northern collector road,” Rast said. The road, he added, could be built by the developer at no cost to the city and also provide an alternate exit from the Kedron Hills and Smokerise subdivisions.

One other concern is how the city might limit future annexation requests in the area, Rast noted.

Rast also explained two smaller tracts located in Wilksmoor Village, both of which are adjacent to the land owned by Scarborough Properties that has been approved to develop as an active adult subdivision. One of the tracts is 90 acres and the other is 34 acres.

The other area for potential annexations is off Ga. Highway 74 south: one 79-acre parcel next to the city’s Meade Field recreation area and the other a 49-acre residential area south of the Wilshire Estates subdivision.

The 79-acre site has already been zoned by the Fayette County Board of Commissioners for a shopping center, but the company that owns the parcel wants to be in the city limits and have sewer access to it can increase the size of its development, Rast said.

One of the benefits, however, would be the possible construction of a road to connect Redwine Road directly to Rockaway Road, Rast said. There also might be a possibility of expanding Meade Field, Rast added.

One downside would be that the property owner is seeking a more intense development retail-wise.

Councilwoman Cyndi Plunkett noted that the shopping center, if it remained in the county as approved, would still compete with the city’s retail areas.

The 49-acre site south of Wilshire Estates fronts on Redwine Road and has multiple owners. Several council members said they would consider that zoning only if all parcels were considered at the same time and the density change isn’t overwhelming.

Mayor Harold Logsdon said he would be “hard pressed” to approve an annexation of that parcel if it had a commercial component.