Questions for Peachtree City candidates

1. Based on current zoning, there are roughly 1,400 more homes to be built before running out of virgin residential-zoned space. Do you see any need for the city to expand its borders through annexation for any zoning category? Why or why not? Please explain what type of development — if any — the city needs more of, how it will be paid for and where you think such annexation makes the most sense.

2. Do you support the rezoning of industrial-zoned property to any residential use? Also tell us specifically whether you support or oppose the Callula Hill project that would convert land in the city’s industrial park into an upscale “lake view” subdivision, and if so, tell us why or why not. Also, spell out whether this proposal does or does not represent spot zoning.

3. This has been one of the most painful budget years in the city’s history. Grade the City Council on personnel cutbacks and how it handled the funding shortfall. Explain exactly what you would have done differently.

4. If the city had to cut another $1 million out of the coming year’s budget, what specific actions would you take to balance the budget?

5. Under what conditions — if any — would you support an increase in the city property tax?

6. What is your opinion about Peachtree City selling city streets to a developer so as to enable a much larger shopping center to be built on Ga. Highway 54 West?

7. What will you vote to do to insure that the city’s existing village centers remain economically viable?

8. Will you vote for or against the countywide SPLOST renewal? Why or why not?

9. Describe your general political philosophy, particularly regarding local government.

Answers from Bob Walsh, candidate for Post 3

1. Any annexation needs to be a logical extension of our current land use plan, must fit into our village concept, and needs to meet the mission statement of the 2007 Comprehensive Plan. We should not chase expansion under the guise of controlling it, because it can weaken our villages and damage the character of Peachtree City.

We do not need annexation, but we do need redevelopment of existing, vacant retail and industrial sites. We need more light industrial business, and I would like to see a corporate headquarters locate in the site where Callula Hill wants to put a residential development. We need to maintain the balance among residential, retail, and industrial citizens.

2. The kinds of industrial citizens we have in PTC such as Hella, Cooper, Panasonic, and so many others are a tremendous asset to balance our community. They bring a great mix of skilled, administrative, and management jobs that support our property values.

Allowing residential development in an industrial zone, such as the Callula Hill proposal, would move us toward an unbalanced mix. Worse, it will make the remaining industrial zone less attractive to businesses, which want to be good neighbors by insuring their activities do not disturb residents.

It also stretches our police and fire services, which would then need to provide a higher level of support to an area outside the normal residential footprint.

The lake view is not only an asset for residences — it will be an asset to our industrial zone as well. A lakeview industrial site may very well entice a terrific new corporate citizen to Peachtree City as a headquarters location — that’s what we should strive for, and which I will encourage our Development Authority to pursue.

3. One way that the city tried to offset declining tax revenue was with higher user fees. The current council revised fee schedules for the Kedron pool to adjust the balance between what users pay and what the city subsidizes. While this was necessary, the dramatic change in user fees may very well cause disadvantaged families to forgo participation.

If an activity is worthy of being subsidized, we need to consider a two-tiered fee system so that disadvantaged families are not priced out of the activity. I will recommend that this be studied for all recreation that the city subsidizes.

There is concern that if SPLOST does not pass, that golf cart path maintenance will suffer. I recommend that if SPLOST does not pass, then the city should revisit the implementation of an annual users fee for golf cart owners. Roads are paid for by users through gas taxes and vehicle ad valorem taxes, but there is no similar mechanism for cart path users to share the cost of the system. We need to allow path users to partly cover the maintenance costs, although significant subsidy from the city will always pay for the majority of this cost.

4. This question assumes that the current recession deepens and continues well into 2010. In that event, there needs to be more than just general belt-tightening; we need to address both costs and revenue. While I do not want to do it, in the face of a million-dollar shortfall, I would recommend that we consider an annual usage fee on golf carts to defray part of the cost of maintaining our cart path system. A $20 annual fee — 40 cents per week — would raise approximately $200,000 dollars. I would also recommend using a portion of the excess reserve to pay off debt, thus decreasing our interest payments.

As a last resort we may need to consider deferring for one year the replacement of some of the police vehicles scheduled for replacement. This last possibility should only be considered under the most dire budget situation, because if the vehicles are not completely reliable, then public safety is at risk, and the 2010 savings are only being deferred, making the 2011 budget more difficult to balance.

5. I am a fiscal conservative, but I recognize that Peachtree City offers a very high level of service to the citizens, which requires revenue to support. Our main source of revenue comes primarily from property taxes, with sales taxes second, and other revenue coming from fees and miscellaneous income.

I will resist raising property taxes unless two conditions are met: first, the citizens strongly support maintaining or increases in services that require added revenue, and second, the service cannot be funded through other means such as user fees. However I will not support any property tax increase as long as our reserve fund exceeds 30 percent of the budget, and it currently is well above that.

6. This was a huge mistake. If this construction goes through, it will create much more retail space in the West Village than was envisioned by our land use plan, and will make filling the available space in Braelinn even more difficult. It will make traffic along the Highway 54 corridor more difficult because it requires a traffic light that the Georgia DOT has rated “F.” Four of the 10 intersections with the highest incidence of accidents are along a three-quarter-mile stretch of Hwy. 54, from Planterra Road and eastward, and this development and light will add an unnecessary hazard to the most dangerous stretch of road in Peachtree City.

7. I will vote to support our land use plan and never support an oversized retail site as was done for Capital Cities on Hwy. 54 West. The fact that developers want to shoehorn in even more retail space indicates that there is a market for retailers, and we need to use that market by attracting them to the available space that already exists in the city.

To do that, we need to ensure the roads and intersections allow convenient and safe access — and that means not only roads, but also golf cart paths. We need to provide attractive landscaping of the city owned medians and buffers. We need to avoid diluting the village centers, which is what has happened with the overdevelopment of the Hwy. 54 corridor. We need to restore the balance of residential, commercial, and industrial citizens of PTC that is the mainstay of our land use plan.

8. I support the renewal of SPLOST. It is not a new tax, but a replacement for the previous SPLOST, which has been highly successful for PTC, but which expires this year. SPLOST brings revenue from visitors to Peachtree City and Fayette County, and helps us keep property taxes low by covering a portion of our infrastructure maintenance. Visitors use our roads and benefit from the protection of our police, fire, and EMT services while they are here, and SPLOST is a way for them to compensate us for this.

9. I am a conservative, and believe that government should act within carefully limited boundaries. If elected, I will always remember that I work for the citizens of Peachtree City. I will listen to them, and enforce our city’s ordinances and land use plan.