“I’m prepared to proceed.” Those were the words of Peachtree City Councilman Eric Imker prior to a March 19 vote by the Peachtree City Council that opted not to proceed with a rezoning request by Great Wolf Family Lodge Family Resorts, but to continue it, as requested, for a third time. The public hearing is scheduled for April 16.
The council on a 4-1 vote agreed to the Great Wolf request to continue the hearing on the company’s proposal that would establish an indoor water park and hotel resort facility on the 38-acre site of the Dolce Atlanta-Peachtree Hotel and Resort on Aberdeen Parkway off Ga. Highway 74 near the center of the city.
Many of the 135 in attendance were unhappy with the decision to continue the rezoning request until April 16. Some at the meeting wanted the council to take up the issue and render a decision on the matter at the March 19 meeting.
One of those was Coventry Homeowners’ Association President Harvey George, who prior to the meeting had requested that council members disapprove the continuance request, go ahead with the rezoning and variance public hearing and bring the matter to a vote.
The motion to agree to the Great Wolf request and continue the proposal came from Councilman Terry Ernst with a second by Councilman Mike King.
“I’m ready to vote tonight,” Imker said during the discussion, referencing project information which had been presented in previous meetings.
It was during the council discussion that Imker noted that some in the audience wanted to comment on the motion to continue the proposal for a third time.
Mayor Vanessa Fleisch responded saying that public comments were not appropriate in that setting. Imker said later that he knew the public hearing was not called so the council was not ready to discuss the actual agenda item, adding that Fleisch “misunderstood what (his) ‘point of order’ was for.”
Councilwoman Kim Learnard during the discussion said she wanted to hear the developer’s best offer, noting that a decision will not be made until the best offer is submitted. Yet her comment came with a caveat.
“I will support one more and no more continuances,” Learnard said.
Councilman Mike King in his comments said the Great Wolf proposal, beyond the development in and around Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayetteville, represents the second largest investment in Fayette County, adding that he agreed that the council needs to hear Great Wolf’s best offer.
“I wanted to hear their best offer last time,” Imker said in response.
Fleisch prior to the vote said to continue the proposal again does not set a precedent, adding that the council has voted previously to continue other proposals.
The vote was 4-1, with Imker opposed.
The vote moves the proposal to the April 16 meeting, even though Great Wolf had requested an April 2 date.
The room virtually cleared out after the vote was taken. One man as he was leaving yelled out, “Somebody’s getting money up here.”
The reason for the change in date was noted by Imker on a post on the Life in the PTC Bubble Facebook page.
“Last night a decision was made to continue the agenda item to April 16. The reason it was not continued to April 2 was because of legal notification timing rules that would not have been met for re-advertising purposes,” Imker said. “If that was not the problem, trust me, it would have been continued to April 2.”
Imker then elaborated on his vote.
“… I believe the agenda item should have been heard and voted on last night, March 19. To clarify, Great Wolf was at the meeting and prepared to present their case. I made sure this was known by pointing out that the city manager had informed GWL to be ready to proceed. He confirmed they were,” Imker said.
City Manager Jim Pennington said Great Wolf had several representatives, including their attorney, at the March 19 meeting. Great Wolf had been told to be at the meeting and to be prepared to make their presentation, Pennington said.
Despite that, the overflow crowd had to go home with no resolution and with no explanation from the mayor about why they had not been allowed to speak.
The revised rezoning proposal by Great Wolf continues to ask for LUC (limited use commercial) zoning over the current GC (general commercial) zoning, but has been amended to include fewer variance requests.
Below, a crowd of approximately 135 residents attended the March 19 meeting of the Peachtree City Council. Many were unhappy after a 4-1 vote to postpone the Great Wolf rezoning request until April 16. Photo/Ben Nelms.
