First Baptist Church got the blessing it was looking for Thursday night when the Peachtree City Council unanimously voted to approve the concept of swapping some city-owned land so the church can build a community center on land occupied now by one of the city’s first public recreation areas.

The vote did not officially approve the land swap, but it gave church officials some official direction from council on how to proceed.

Church officials have said they would purchase land of equal value that the city wants or needs to include in the swap, but a particular parcel to give the city has yet to be identified.

As part of the current plan, the church would increase its parking by roughly two-thirds from 390 spaces to 652 spaces. The development plan will not require a rezoning, church officials noted.

The City Council must formally approve the land swap at a later date or the church will have to significantly alter its current development plans. If council decides to approve the land swap, it could attach stipulations about the development, officials said.

Thursday night, several long-time residents in the area asked council to consider the impact the development would have on their homes. Under the proposal, the church would rebuild the Pebblepocket tennis courts in an open field on the other side of the Pebblepocket Pool.

The church’s current drawings show the community center resting on the site where the tennis courts are currently located.

The church also plans to demolish three existing apartment buildings it owns directly across the street from the main church building; that area would be turned into a parking lot. The church also wants to expand its parking lot across Willow Road from the church campus. That lot is adjacent to the Willowbend retail center.

The church is also wanting to relocate an entrance off Willowbend Road to its main parking lot so it would be further away from the intersection of Willow Road and Willowbend Road. That should help alleviate traffic problems experienced by residents of the nearby Twiggs Corner condominiums, said church spokesman Randy Daughtry.

Ultimately, the church will need between two and two and a half acres for the project, Daughtry said. The current 27,000 square-foot plan, which might change somewhat, contains a 10,000 square-foot gym area with a stage, another 6,000 square-feet of classroom space and a 2,000 square-foot youth center area that will have TVs, stereos and games in addition to a coffee shop and snack shop, Daughtry said.

The church wants to use the community center for a weekend-evening teen program with activities for all teens, not just those who are affiliated with the church, said church spokesman Randy Daughtry.

That program “would be tailored for young people so they can just come and hang out,” Daughtry said.

Jim Sherrill, who has lived on Hilltop Drive for 40 years, said he was concerned about how other teen centers have fared in the past, needing attention from law enforcement as problems arose.

“I certainly don’t want to see law enforcement taxed,” Sherrill said.

Sherrill said he also is worried about the city setting a precedent with the land swap, which would reduce city-owned greenspace.

Stan Neely, who has lived at the corner of Willow Road and Pebblepocket for 36 years, said the church’s plan so far showed a lot of asphalt and pavement.

Another resident worried about the tennis court being moved closer to her home; she said the noise there already keeps her awake at night.

Daughtry said directional lighting would be installed to minimize the impact, and the church would use tall-growing leyland cypress trees to serve as a natural barrier to the tennis courts.

“I hate to see the city give up city property that was given to us as greenspace,” said former City Clerk Frances Meaders, who also lives in the area. “We believe that land belongs to the citizens.”

Monday afternoon, Daughtry said the church hoped to address citizen concerns during a workshop on the plan at a future meeting of the Peachtree City Planning Commission.

One of the pluses of the proposal is the church’s offer to open up the community center space for programs offered by the Peachtree City Recreation Department. There would be no cost to the city for utilities and there would be no rental charges, Daughtry said.

The only time a cost might occur is if an instructor needs to be hired or for class materials that might need to be purchased, he added.

Mayor Harold Logsdon said the center would help alleviate crowding issues with some city leisure programs including the bridge groups currently meeting at the Gathering Place senior citizen’s center.

Councilman Stuart Kourajian said the church’s use of the facility could increase over time, so he wants to see a guarantee of how much time the city will be allowed to have its programs hosted at the community center. Daughtry said that was something that had been considered but hadn’t yet come to fruition.

“We were very close to that, but we felt that was getting too close to the church and state separation issue,” Daughtry said.

Daughtry also said it was “highly improbable” that the church would use the facility most of the time.

The church and the recreation department will have one representative each to meet quarterly and plan the center’s schedule ahead as far as six months or more in advance, said Randy Gaddo, director of the city’s leisure services division.

Opening up the community center for all residents “is a way to show our community how much we care about them and how much we want to be plugged in,” Daughtry said.

The center will include a gym which can be used for basketball, which would alleviate an overcrowding situation currently experienced with the city’s basketball recreation program, Daughtry said. Now participants are put on a waiting list, but the church plans to offer its own basketball league as another option, Daughtry added.

Daughtry also said the church could just make its gym available to the city’s basketball league.

In the unanimously-approved motion to sign off on the land swap concept, Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford said the vote “would not guarantee that the land swap will take place.”

Prior to presenting the plan Thursday night, the church has met with nearby residents and city officials. As such, the church abandoned its original plan to relocate the tennis courts to the current site of the Pebblepocket playground, which will now remain intact.

“We just continue to enjoy a good working relationship with them,” Daughtry said of the church’s neighbors in the area.

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