PTC can override GRTA conditions if necessary

The Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority haven’t yet begun reviewing a proposal to build two large subdivisions with more than 1,600 homes in west Peachtree City, officials said.

GRTA can require transportation improvements to be done in conjunction with the development, and those improvements are the responsibility of the city to be completed by the time the development is built out.

“Our goal is to mitigate any negative impacts on the transportation network,” said William Mecke, GRTA communications director.

Although GRTA can withhold state and federal transportation funding if the city doesn’t implement those improvements by the time the development is completed, the city can override the requirements with a vote of at least three-fourths of the City Council. If such a vote occurred, GRTA would not be allowed to withhold any transportation funds, Mecke said.

GRTA could recommend improvements such as the realignment of a subdivision entrance to line up with an existing road, the addition of sidewalks, a traffic light, use of right-in, right-out intersections and, typically if proposed by the developer, the addition of a new road, Mecke said.

“It really depends on the particular case,” said GRTA Land Use Planner Robin Bechtel.

Developers who are dissatisfied with GRTA’s initial decision on the project also have the chance to appeal to the full GRTA board, but typically the collaborative process means they aren’t surprised by any of GRTA’s conditions, Mecke added.

GRTA of course doesn’t want it to come to that. Instead, the agency wants to get the city and the developers to come to some middle ground, Mecke said.

Bechtel said the agency has really improved a number of large-scale projects in the metro Atlanta area. “... It’s a cooperative process. The developers and the cities and counties work closely with us.”

GRTA has a 35-day window to review development plans once a traffic study and other details are submitted by developers, Mecke said. But that review process hasn’t begun yet because the developers involved have yet to file a more detailed application along with the traffic study, officials said.

There isn’t a public comment process built into GRTA’s timeline, but the agency does accept comments on projects. Mecke said, citizens can have more of a say on a project by voicing concerns to local governments and the ARC, he added, particularly if residents want to flat-out halt a project. GRTA has no power to do so, he noted.

ARC will merely issue a recommendation on whether or not it the “West Village” plan from is in the best interest of the region, said Haley Fleming, senior planner for the ARC. Input from city officials will be an important consideration during the ARC’s plan review process, Fleming added.

“The city will be at every meeting,” Fleming said. “Their response back to it is very important in what we’re looking for.”

ARC will make sure the detailed application is complete within five days of receiving it and then the agency will transmit a preliminary report to local governments in the area for comments within a 10-day time frame. In particular the report will be sent to the county, Tyrone, Coweta County, Senoia and the Georgia Department of Transportation, Fleming said.

The ARC review process could take up to 35 days, but it could take longer if there are various issued to be hashed out with the developer, Fleming said. Ultimately, if ARC staffers decide the development is in the best interest of the region, the plans can be recommended for approval on an administrative basis, Fleming said.

If ARC staff recommends that the development is not in the region’s best interest, then the matter must be voted on by the full ARC board, Fleming said.

If the density of the proposal is changed by more than 20 percent — which is a possibility given some feedback from several City Council members — the City Council could then give tentative approval before it goes back to the ARC and GRTA for reconsideration, Fleming said.

The property that would be annexed for Wieland and Levitt is currently located in the unincorporated Fayette County area and it is zoned for residential development with a minimum lot size of two acres.

Wieland also wants to rezone a 79-acre parcel just to the east of the proposed annexation area, across the CSX railroad tracks. That parcel, which would contain 335 townhomes, is currently zoned for general industrial use.

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