City wants to ‘market itself’ to expand borders
After more than a decade of tight restrictions on annexing more land into the city, the Peachtree City Council is moving toward reversing that stance on new development.
The council on Dec. 18 will conduct a public hearing to consider an amendment to the annexation ordinance that would allow elected and appointed officials and the city’s planning department staff to submit annexation proposals at the request of the property owner.
Senior Planner David Rast in a Dec. 11 letter said the current annexation ordinance requires that only the property owner and/or their authorized agent can submit annexation applications for consideration.
The City Council in October requested that the ordinance be amended to include language that would allow the City Council, Planning Commission and/or city staff to submit parcels for potential annexation, Rast said.
Rast noted that the Planning Commission at the Dec. 8 meeting voted unanimously to recommend the proposal but wanted to delete the “city staff” portion of the proposal and add “Planning and Zoning Department.”
The council during an Oct. 6 discussion on potential annexations over the next 20 years agreed that city staff should adjust the longstanding two-step process and return with a proposal that would give planning staff additional early input and allow the city to market itself to potential annexation candidates.
The first step of the two-step process provides a general overview of the proposed annexation and identifies how the annexation may or may not be compatible with the city’s goals.
If recommended by the council, the second step would require additional and detailed information pertaining to the impact of the potential annexation.
