An amendment to Peachtree City’s annexation process that allows elected and appointed officials and the city’s planning department staff to submit annexation proposals at the request of the property owner was approved Dec. 18.
The discussion that led to the Dec. 18 vote began during an Oct. 6 discussion on potential annexations over the next 20 years. Council 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.
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.
Also in October, council members 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 vote to amend the process to include the recommendation of the Planning Commission passed on 3-1 vote, with Mayor Vanessa Fleisch opposed saying that the amendment could result in unintended consequences. Councilwoman Kim Learnard was not in attendance at the meeting.
Councilman Eric Imker prior to the vote asked if adding additional avenues to get the annexation process started was the reason for the amendment.
Rast said that was correct.
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.
The second step requires additional and detailed information pertaining to the impact of the potential annexation.
