Council to consider proposal Thursday night

Officials at First Baptist Church in Peachtree City have made significant changes to their proposal for a land swap for city-owned property to make way for a community center on Willow Road.

The new proposal will be considered by the Peachtree City Council at its 7 p.m. meeting Thursday at City Hall. Council will only consider the land swap and tennis court relocation issue only. If approved, the site plan would advance to the city’s Planning Commission for consideration.

The church has decided not to seek property that currently is a playground off Hip Pocket Road and Pebblestump Point; they had initially proposed to relocate that playground so the Pebblepocket tennis courts could be moved there.

Instead, the new proposal calls for the tennis courts to be moved to what is now an open field on the opposite side of the Pebblepocket swimming pool.

The new location allows for berms and landscaping to screen the courts and lights from existing homes on Pebblestump Point, said City Planner David Rast.

The changes have come as the result of meetings with city staff and area residents.

“Several of the residents were concerned about adding lighted courts to the area, and there was a good deal of opposition to moving one of Peachtree City’s oldest playgrounds,” said church spokesman Randy Daughtry.

The church has also abandoned its request for some city-owned land in the greenbelt along Ga. Highway 54 adjacent to the current church property. This area is called the city’s Village Green and is host to a frisbee golf course.

The number of parking spaces associated with the plan has also been reduced, officials said. The original proposal was for 740 spaces, but the latest version is seeking 652 spaces.

The proposed community center would be 27,000 sq. ft. and would be made available to some city recreation programs. The proposed land swap will involve approximately two acres of city property.

Other changes in the proposal include:

• Reconfiguring the church’s existing parking lot so the existing entrance across from Willow Road is moved further north; and

• Reconfiguring the annex parking lot, which is across Willow Road from the tennis courts, so it will have access to Willowbend Road also;

Both these changes should help alleviate current traffic problems because churchgoers have to park along Willowbend Road, Daughtry said.

The plan also includes the addition of a path looping from Hip Pocket around Pebblestump and along Willow Road. City officials said this should help alleviate the golf cart traffic on that section of Willow Road, which currently does not have a path, forcing cart drivers onto the roadway to mix with auto traffic.