Developer wants 80 homes, event center overlooking Lake McIntosh … near Falcon Field
A Newnan company has renewed a bid to rezone 37 acres of industrial property near Lake McIntosh and Falcon Field in Peachtree City to develop an 80-home subdivision and an “event center” with 12 overnight villas.
The Callula Hill proposal was the center of controversy when it was withdrawn in July 2009 by Pathway Communities. The 37-acre site is on land zoned for industrial use and is surrounded by tracts already used by industries and businesses; it is not contiguous to any residentially-zoned property.
The parcel is also adjacent to the Planterra Ridge golf course and near the future Lake McIntosh, both of which make this site ideal for residential development, Pathway officials argued in 2009.
Part of the plans include lake view homes which would not have access to the lake. The land is currently zoned for industrial use and the rezoning request is for limited use residential.
The Peachtree City Planning Commission is scheduled to review the proposal in a workshop format with no vote anticipated on Aug. 13. The plan is for the rezoning public hearing in front of the planning commission to be heard Sept. 10 with a potential vote from council at the Oct. 4 council meeting, according to city planning staff.
When the proposal was under consideration in June 2009, former Falcon Field airport manager Jim Savage noted that planes might fly above the subdivision and event center at less than 150 feet if it were to be developed. On takeoff during summer conditions, jet aircraft and large propeller powered aircraft may take off less than 200 feet above the ground, Savage added.
The site has a new owner, a company in Utah, and a new developer: Phoenix Development Team of Newnan. Phoenix is staffed by former Pathway staffers Gene Lavine, Jeff Carson and Peggy Sullivan. The property is now owned by Lake McIntosh Vista, LLC, which has an address in Peoa, Utah.
Phoenix is renewing the exact same application made by Pathway in 2009, which proposes “three major park areas” with active and passive activities for residents along with a fitness trail and a multi-use path system.
The event facility proposed for the site would be on eight acres and the entire parcel would reserve five acres for greenbelts and open space. The proposal also included locating the homes using five-foot setbacks from the road serving the development.
The planning commission in 2009 voted 3-2 to recommend rezoning for the parcel, but the two commissioners who voted “no” cited the potential problems of being located close to the airport and businesses in the industrial park.
Since the developer withdrew the proposal in July 2009, the City Council never acted on it.
The final say on all rezoning matters rests with the council, as the planning commission is tasked only with making recommendations when evaluating a rezoning petition.
Pathway had proposed adding a deed covenant noting that the subdivision “lies immediately adjacent and contiguous to the well-established flight path used regularly by aircraft approaching and departing the runway at the airport.”
The development will require the extension of Husky Drive to the property, a cost that will be borne by Phoenix Development. To address a problem with connectivity to the city’s golf cart path system, Pathway proposed to build a golf cart path along Dividend Drive from TDK Boulevard up to Kelly Drive where a current cart path crossing exists to traverse Ga. HIghway 74 and link to the rest of the city.
Phoenix is estimating that the development will add approximately 900 trips per day onto Ga. Highway 74 south compared to the 2007 usage of 16,000 trips per day prior to the road being widened to four lanes.
