Officials at Peachtree City’s First Baptist Church are being urged to locate their proposed community center on church-owned property at the corner of Willowbend Road and Hip Pocket Road to avoid disturbing the city’s Pebblepocket tennis courts and nearby greenspace.

The church is hoping to build a community center on the site of the tennis courts, and it has pledged to rebuild the tennis courts on the other side of the Pebblepocket pool. But at Monday night’s meeting of the Peachtree City Planning Commission, several residents in the area said they still have concerns about traffic, the lighting of the new tennis courts and losing some of the city’s greenspace.

Planning Commission Chairman Dennis Payton said the church could still accomplish its goal by building the community center at the intersection of Willowbend Road and Hip Pocket, which is directly across from the church.

“I do believe that location would be best as far as traffic and aesthetics,” added Planning Commissioner Theo Scott.

Church officials reasoned that putting the community center too close to the church might turn off some persons who might otherwise patronize the center, said church spokesman Randy Daughtry.

“We are aware that a church facility can be off-putting to non-church members,” Daughtry said.

Planning Commissioner John McCann said the building could be designed so it would be more attractive to youth in the community.

The commission was discussing the project during its workshop session and no vote on the existing plan was taken.

The church’s current plans are to tear down the three apartment buildings and construct more parking on the site at the corner of Hip Pocket and Willowbend. But church officials would look at building the community center there instead, Daughtry added.

The church’s current proposal would increase the amount of parking spaces from 390 to 652.

Daughtry said the church previously considered putting the community center on a parcel at the corner of Willowbend and Willow Road, adjacent to the Willowbend retail center. He said the church would look into the commission’s recommendation.

The community center, which would house church programs and city recreation programs, would be between 25,000 and 27,000 square feet as currently envisioned, Daughtry said. It would include a gym with a raised walking track which can be used at all times, and a 2,000 square-foot teen hangout area with televisions, electronic games and pool tables.

The rest of the facility is designed to be multi-purpose, Daughtry said.

The church plans to build a walking trail around the property that will link with the city’s golf cart path system, though it will not be designed for golf cart use, Daughtry said.

Andrea Bergen, a resident of Twiggs Corner Condominiums, urged the planning commission to consider the the ramifications of losing the greenspace where the tennis courts would be moved. The space is used by children who fly kites and kick around soccer balls, she added.

“I propose you put it where the existing buildings are,” Bergen said.

Several other residents who lived in the area also spoke to the commission, complaining about the potential loss of greenspace, the project’s traffic impact on the area and the lighting of the tennis courts. Many of those who spoke have lived in their homes for 30 years or more. The area is one of oldest in the planned city.

Daughtry said the church had met with citizens and incorporated changes to the plan based on those concerns, including the use of directional lighting at the new tennis courts. The church also abandoned a plan to relocate the tennis courts to a nearby playground after citizens complained they didn’t want to lose the playground, Daughtry added.

The city was given the greenspace by a former development company, and the deed stipulates that it must be used as open space or for recreation purposes, said City Manager Bernie McMullen.

Steve Bingham, the church’s executive pastor, said the church wants to build and operate the community center to benefit everyone, and he hoped neighbors in the area would use the facility too.

“We are going to do everything we can to serve and to stay,” Bingham said. “If there are requirements and restrictions to comply with, that’s what we’ll do.”

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