A residential rezoning request denied in July 2016 and back before the Fayette County Commission after Fayette County Superior Court Judge Christopher Edwards decided in favor of the developer was tabled at the July 12 commission meeting. The item will be considered at the Aug. 23 meeting.
Above, Fayette County commissioners at the July 12 meeting included Steve Brown, Chairman Eric Maxwell and Randy Ognio. Photo/Ben Nelms.
The vote to table the item so that the presentation could be made before the full board came on a 3-0 vote, with Chairman Eric Maxwell and commissioners Steve Brown and Randy Ognio in favor. Commissioners Charles Rousseau and Chuck Oddo could not attend the meeting.
Denied in July 2016 and back before the commission after a successful lawsuit is a 212.8-acre tract in the area of Ebenezer Road, Ebenezer Church Road and Davis Road requesting rezoning for 91 residential lots.
A 2018 lawsuit brought by TSTT Investments in Fayette County Superior Court over the rezoning issue was decided in favor of TSTT and ordered back the Fayette County Commission.
The rezoning proposal went before commissioners in 2016, when the property owner requested a rezoning for 91 lots. Proposed under the PUD-PRD (planned unit development-planned residential development) zoning category, the project was in compliance with the county’s then-current comprehensive Land Use Plan, court documents said. Lots sizes for the project under PUD-PRD zoning would range from 1-4 acres, with most lots 1-2 acres.
Judge Edwards rendered the decision on April 11, stating that the TSTT rezoning application is “remanded to the Fayette County Board of Commissioners for a rehearing. The county will reevaluate the application under the Comprehensive Plan in effect in 2016 when the application was denied. The court will retain jurisdiction of this matter until the Board of Commissioners has voted upon the application. At that point, this order shall become final. However, if plaintiff remains convinced that the new decision is also unconstitutional, then it may reappear before the court via application for contempt.”
Some of those in the audience opposed to the rezoning request were unaware that the issue had been decided in court.
Brown asked that the court ruling be included in the next commission packet and online.
The 2016 vote to deny the TSTT request included Brown, Ognio, Rousseau and Commissioner David Barlow. Oddo opposed the denial.
Development is inevitable as long as property owners retain property rights. Peachtree City use to be a pine forest, and I recall very little resistance to rezoning that entire area. Houses there are on as small as 1/4 acre lots, and I don’t hear too many residents complaining about life in Peachtree City. My point is, it is not the size of the lot that zoning allows, that should be of importance, but what codes, ordinances and restrictions that the county can draw up and enforce, to ensure quality development on the lot. Rather than fight re-zoning, concerned neighboring residents should work with the County to have stringent codes for building and development. Personally I am sick and tired of seeing outdated split level or sprawling single level homes, no landscaping, cars up on blocks, and chain link fences to keep the pit bulls out of the road, all on five acre lots. This is not “quality development”, and at the risk of sounding politically incorrect, it is exactly the kind of “semi-rural” development we see in neighboring counties to our north and east. If you currently travel south of Davis Rd. on Ebenezer Road you will see tractor trailers regularly parked in the road right of way. If current zoning allows for this, I am ready for a change!