The Peachtree City Council has agreed to explore an annexation which would add 90 single-family homes and two office buildings to the city’s southern limits off Ga. Highway 74 south near the Meade Field recreation complex.
At its meeting Thursday night, council agreed to allow city staff to vet the proposal for a 77-acre tract that is currently in the unincorporated county and zoned for a shopping center and office complex.
While annexing the property into the city will give the property more cachet from a marketing standpoint, one of the biggest factors is the need for sewer for the property. If the parcel remains in the county, it will lack sewer access unless both the city and county governments agree.
It has been a long-standing practice to disallow sewer in unincorporated Fayette County, which has been a significant factor in controlling growth there.
Because of that issue, the city is likely to ask Southern Pines Plantation to provide a 200-foot boundary around the property to make sure the city will not breach a state law that requires sewer service to be offered to a property if it is within 200 feet of a sewer system.
SPP’s 77 acres is along the western side of Hwy. 74 bordered by the Brechin Park subdivision, also in unincorporated Fayette County, and is also near the Starr’s Mill school campus.
SPP is proposing for the development to be accessed at the existing traffic light at Hwy. 74 and Redwine Road.
The proposed office development pitched under the latest annexation proposal from SPP would be “in keeping with the nearby medical offices along Hwy. 74 across from the subject property.”
SPP is proposing to include an amenity center and several “pocket parks” and the subdivision would connect to the adjacent Meade Fields recreation area via cart path.
SPP is also proposing to connect to the Peachtree City sewer system, which is operated by the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority. If that connection is approved, it could ultimately lead to sewer being extended underneath Ga. Highway 74 to two existing office buildings and beyond to what is now a horse farm also located in unincorporated Fayette County.
Attorney David Kirk said the density sought for the project was about two homes per acre, and the tentative price point is in the mid $300,000 range, though those details will be worked out as the plan progresses.
Councilwoman Vanessa Fleisch said the concept of residential development on the site has been well received by others who live in the area.
Fleisch said the residential proposal might be a good opportunity compared to a potential shopping center on the site.
The site was rezoned by the Fayette County Commission in 2000 for a mix of retail and office uses but no development has since occurred on the site. The site has been approved for 177,000 sq. ft. of retail and office space.
In 2009 SPP was unsuccessful in petitioning for annexation of 18 acres to grant sewer access for the proposed shopping center.
In 2010, SPP asked the city to annex the entire parcel and rezone it for light industrial use to make way for a company that would be relocating to the area. That project, however, never came to fruition and the property has remained undeveloped.
SPP’s latest proposal does not include a shopping center.
