PTC planners discuss 650-unit senior subdivision; 403 acres in westside village already zoned for 55-plus-only; developer wants a few changes
Proposals for Peachtree City’s biggest residential development in nearly a decade got a polite reception Monday night by the Planning Commission, except for two requests from the developer.
All four of the commissioners present indicated their opposition to any notion of a gated subdivision with security entrances for the 650-unit age-restricted Cresswind development on 403 acres in Wilksmoor Village on the city’s northwest side.
Kolter Homes’ request for at least a 1,000-foot buffer from any new fire station also produced a negative response. A proposed new station is tentatively sited on John Wieland Homes land adjacent to the Cresswind project.
Vice Chairman David Connor said he would prefer that the development not be restricted to homeowners age 55 and above, but since the land was annexed about seven years ago with that specific condition in the zoning of Limited Use Residential, his objection likely will have no effect on the outcome.
Commissioner Lynda Wojcik raised concerns about room for cart path connections in the preliminary plans and worried that the small lots with narrow setbacks left little room to even accommodate carts.
City Planning and Zoning Administrator David Rast said cart paths would be shown on the next go-round of plans to allow a thorough vetting.
Fayette County Commission Chairman Steve Brown — sitting in the small audience — said he hoped the developer would consider adding space within each unit to store and park golf carts, given the city’s image as a golf cart community. Brown, a resident and former mayor of Peachtree City, said the city had “missed the boat” in previous development planning by not requiring golf cart storage space in residences.
Commissioners also raised concerns about 10-foot setbacks on the already small lots.
Lots will come in three sizes: 50×120, 60×120 and 70×120. House sizes will range from a requested 1,350-square-foot minimum up to “around 3,000” square feet.
Home prices will range from “the 200s to the mid- to high-400s,” the Kolter representative said Monday night.
During the informal discussions, Rast revealed that several 4-way stop intersections will be used to slow traffic down on the completed MacDuff Parkway to lessen its attractiveness as a western bypass around the busy intersection at Ga. highways 54 and 74 a few miles to the south.
No vote was taken during the workshop session. Kolter Homes is expected to bring an official proposal back to the commission for a public hearing in the next couple of months.
The 650-home Cresswind subdivision will be on a large tract of land that was annexed in 2007 for homes targeted at residents aged 55 and up. The development is a crucial one for the city, as it will result in the extension of MacDuff Parkway to Ga. Highway 74 and north Kedron Drive.
That extension, which includes a bridge over the railroad tracks, is being funded by the tract owner Brent West Village and John Wieland Homes, which owns an adjacent tract of land.
A requirement of that annexation and rezoning forbids the city from issuing any certificates of occupancy for any buildings on either tract until the MacDuff Parkway extension is fully complete.
The road extension is coveted by residents who live off MacDuff Parkway, as they currently have to slog through heavy traffic on Ga. Highway 54 West, the only way in and out of their neighborhoods.
The new road extension will provide access to Ga. Highway 74 North at the current traffic signal serving north Kedron Drive.
— With reporting by John Munford.
