Pathway seeks rezoning continuance; re-annexations withdrawn

A proposal to rezone a 37-acre industrial tract near Falcon Field for an 80-home subdivision and event center will not be voted on Monday night by the Peachtree City Planning Commission.

A public hearing on the plan has been postponed as Pathway Communities has asked the item to be continued.

Meanwhile the public hearings for two proposed re-annexations from John Wieland Homes and Brent Scarbrough and Company are also due to be postponed as both projects have been withdrawn, officials said.

At first blush, the proposal from Pathway Communities for Callula Hill appears to be at odds with the city’s vaunted land use plan. For years, the land use plan has designated the property for industrial use.

But a 1985 version of the land use plan contemplates the production of medium and high density multi-family development adjacent to the industrial park to serve as homes for employees of the industrial park and to maximize the number of people who could enjoy the lake amenities.

Also at issue is whether the subdivision fits into the city’s “village concept,” because it would not directly link to other residential neighborhoods in either the Wilksmoor or Braelinn village areas.

The Planning Commission meeting begins 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall. The commission’s vote constitutes a recommendation that can be accepted, ignored or altered by the City Council which has the final say-so on all rezoning matters.

Pathway officials contend that the property is far better suited for a residential and commercial use because of the heavy topographic slope that will lead to dramatic vistas of the under construction Lake McIntosh reservoir and the Planterra Ridge Golf Course.

But the proximity to the airport has some opponents contending the rezoning should not be approved. Pathways argues that the planes coming in and out of Falcon Field, which include some corporate business jets, will not fly directly overhead but instead fly a traffic pattern over the lake property, which is to the west of the proposed subdivision.

The commission is also expected to hear two petitions to re-annex nearly 800 acres north of the current terminus of MacDuff Parkway and west of Ga. Highway 74 north.

Both proposals include the exact same density as before: 650 homes on 400 acres owned by Brent Scarbrough and Company and 475 homes on 379 acres owned by John Wieland Homes.

The developers are asking the city to “reaffirm” the annexations to rebuff a pending citizen lawsuit that threatens to overturn the annexations based on a technicality. That lawsuit has been dragging on in part because of a cut in state funding for senior judges, according to Wieland Vice President Richard Bacon.

MacDuff is being extended northward by both developers, which was one of the conditions of the rezoning. That road extension includes a new bridge that will be built over the CSX railroad.

MacDuff will ultimately link with Old Senoia Road and give access to Ga. Highway 74 north. Doing so will relieve numerous complaints from residents currently living off MacDuff who must fight through heavily congested drive-time traffic on Ga. Highway 54 West to get home each day.