UPDATE 10:45 a.m., April 30: PTC’s village concept on the line in Callula Hill rezoning request

A controversial Peachtree City industrial park rezoning request has been delayed until May 11, according to a news release from the city’s Planning Commission, which had been scheduled to hear the plan in a called meeting April 30. The called meeting itself has been canceled.

At the request of the applicant, Pathway Communities, the public hearing scheduled to discuss the proposed rezoning of a 37.001-acre tract within the Southpark International Industrial Park has been continued to the next regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting on May 11, 2009, the news release from City Hall said.

The proposed rezoning from GI General Industrial to LUR Limited Use Residential would accommodate 80 single-family detached homes, an events center and 12 freestanding villas. The hearing had been previously continued from the April 13, 2009, Planning Commission meeting.

The villas would be rented in conjunction with the event center, Pathway officials have said.

The commission now will decide at its regular May meeting whether or not to recommend the rezoning to the City Council, which has the final say-so on the matter.

The site in question is part of the Southpark International Industrial Park. It is also separated from Falcon Field by two golf holes at Planterra Ridge golf course.

If ultimately approved by the council, the rezoning would be a significant departure from the city’s village concept and most recent land use plan, as the subdivision would not be directly adjacent to any other residential area.

According to city records dating back to 1987, officials have only approved two rezonings from general industrial to residential uses. In both such cases, the parcels were not physically connected to the industrial park.

The first industrial to residential rezoning happened in June 1987 for a 140-acre tract on the east side of Ga. Highway 74 South across from Meade Field that became the Wilshire Estates subdivision. The other was in September 2000 for a 180-acre tract that ultimately was developed as the Centennial subdivision in the city’s Wilksmoor Village.

Pathway Communities has argued the land’s proximity to Lake McIntosh makes it a prime site for lakeview homes that would also border the Planterra Ridge Golf Course.

If the subdivision is approved, its initial road access would be through the Southpark industrial park. But later a new entrance would be built off an access road to Lake McIntosh that will extend from TDK Boulevard.

The Southpark industrial park includes mostly office and distribution facility uses along with some manufacturing. Companies there include Rinnai, Aventure Aviation, the Shinsei Corporation, FieldTurf, Metal Forming and Jasper Transmissions. But those sites are zoned for industrial use and ultimately could be used in the future by other companies that have a more intensive manufacturing type process.

The limited use residential and limited use commercial classifications would allow the city to specifically tailor the uses of the property and also enact special restrictions such as increased buffers.

The proximity to the airport may be an issue if the subdivision/event center is in the runway protection zone for Falcon Field.

The runway protection zone extends from the end of the Falcon Field property line in a trapezoid at either end of the runway. The zone starts 200 feet from the end of the runway and is 1,700 feet deep; at its farthest end it is 1,010 feet wide, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Peachtree City’s Airport Authority, which operates Falcon Field, has asked that an engineering study be conducted to determine if Callula Hill is in the runway protection zone or not.

Although the FAA discourages development in runway protection zones, the federal agency has no power over the zoning of off-airport property, Bergen said. That responsibility rests with local governments, she said; in this case the decision is up to the Peachtree City Council.

Falcon Field serves not only small engine aircraft but also corporate jets which can, at times, make a significant amount of noise at takeoff.