A decision on a proposed 77-acre annexation for south Peachtree City may come from the City Council Thursday night.
Southern Pines Plantation wants to create a 90-home subdivision with two office buildings fronting on Ga. Highway 74 just south of the Meade Field sports complex.
The matter was up for discussion at the Oct. 4 council meeting but a decision was postponed due to a myriad of questions that council wanted to be resolved: from the long-term cost of providing services to the subdivision to the impacts on schools and recreational programs.
Another question on the table is whether the annexation would have a negative impact on homes for sale in the same price range, around $350,000. Although the city’s planning commission narrowly recommended approval of the annexation on a 3-2 vote, the two dissenting members were concerned about the effect on the sale of existing homes.
The answers, which were being researched by city staff and expected in a memo to council Monday, were unavailable as of press time Tuesday afternoon.
The subdivision, called The Gates, would be served by an existing traffic light at the intersection of Ga. Highway 74 and Redwine Road near the Starr’s Mill school campus.
The site, which is in unincorporated Fayette County, is currently zoned for a mix of commercial and office use at a size similar to The Avenue at Peachtree City shopping center, city officials have said.
The property is surrounded by the Meade Field recreation complex to the north and an office development across Ga. Highway 74 which are inside the city limits and also a day care center and a subdivision which are both part of the unincorporated county.
The development would be served by an extension of the city’s sewer lines and developer Southern Pines Plantation has committed to paying to attach the Meade Field restrooms to the sewer line and also build a cart path from the development through Meade Field.
SPP also has promised to keeping any sewer mains 201 feet away from its property line to give the city control over any potential future extension of the sewer system beyond the property. This is to counter a state regulation that requires a utility to provide sewer service if a new development is located within 200 feet of a sewer main.
SPP is also planning to “provide reasonable funding” for construction and maintenance of a gateway sign for the city.
SPP attorney David Kirk told council Oct. 4 that the anticipated traffic per day for the site was 1,100 trips compared to the predicted 12,700 trips per day that are anticipated if the property remains in the county as zoned for a 177,000 sq. ft. retail and office complex that is roughly the same size as The Avenue shopping center. However, the county-zoned site has remained undeveloped for more than a decade, indicating there may be little market interest in an unsewered location.
The office component of the plan is located closest to Ga. Highway 74 with two buildings of up to 10,000 sq. ft. each on either side of the access road leading back to the subdivision. The goal is for the office component to have some kind of medical use.
SPP is also committing to maintaining a 60-foot greenbelt and landscaped area along Hwy. 74 with a 50-foot greenbelt along the remainder of the property line.
