The Peachtree City Council has begun the detailed process of examining permitted uses for each zoning district in the city.

Proponents of the process say it will result in a “tightening” of the city’s zoning restrictions.

City Planner David Rast said another focus of the city’s zoning overhaul is the improvement of definitions in the ordinance to make it clearer, “more specific,” and less open to interpretation.

One possibility discussed during a Monday night council workshop is eliminating the allowance for a guest house to be built on an estate residential lot in addition to the primary home on the property.

Although the current ordinance allows guest houses and requires that persons living there not be charged rent, the city has previously turned down a request from a property owner to sell a guest house while keeping the primary home on an ER lot.

Another loophole that might be closed is on property zoned general residential or single family designations R-10, R-12, R-15 and R-22, which currently allow an “unlighted, regulation size or par three golf course.”

City staff had proposed taking out a marina use under the open space zoning designation, but Councilwoman Cyndi Plunkett asked why, and Councilman Steve Boone said it might be possible to have a marina built on Lake Peachtree or on the new Lake McIntosh.

The discussion took place in a special called meeting Monday night, and future meetings will be necessary to massage and update the recommended changes before they’re ultimately voted on by council.

For example, there were no recommendations yet for the airport industrial zoning category, as staff needed time to meet with Falcon Field Manager John Crosby to get input from him on the airport’s direction for the future, Rast said.

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