There has been a new wave of developer indoctrination in Peachtree City and Fayette County, purporting that longtime residents do not have the intellectual capacity to understand the dire consequences we face, leading to our ultimate doom, so they say.
It’s like being forced to believe Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when she says we have 12 years before the planet is destroyed.
It’s fascinating that anyone could be bold enough to claim that a community that has been in the top three of the positive quality of life statistics for the state over the last three decades, and counting, is falling apart.
Actually, I think their real complaint is our community is too successful, our property values too high and we are too family oriented. That is certainly challenge if you are a young adult, have not accumulated wealth and you are single.
Obviously, we are having no problems reselling our homes and businesses continue to locate in our community.
While other metro counties continue to decline, Fayette has remained a strong, slow-growth, safe community that attracts well-educated families with a high median income, truly the envy of other local governments.
We have a good mix of residential options (single family, apartments, cluster homes, farms, estates, etc.) and our target market is not young singles in their twenties.
The cries that we have no young families is a myth. Just check out the local schools and recreations fields for proof.
Fayetteville is in the process of overdeveloping in the multi-family apartment sector, which is a cyclical product susceptible to decline. Peachtree City does not need to scrap its successful track and head in the same direction.
At the hearing for the Calistoa residential project proposed for a site on Lake McIntosh, those in attendance with extensive knowledge of the industrial sector, transportation infrastructure, economic development and airport operations all agreed the location was unsuitable for the proposed use.
The Planterra Ridge subdivision which has had numerous battles with industrial residents should be proof enough that certain uses are not compatible.
The denials from the Planning Commission and City Council were the correct decisions. We have a government sanctioned land use plan and every time we have veered away from it, disastrous consequences followed.
That specific site is one of the premier corporate headquarters locations in all of Fayette County as acknowledged by professional locators.
Let’s keep the high standards, heed our land use plan and keep attracting well-educated families.
Steve Brown
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Brown is a former Peachtree City mayor and Fayette County commissioner]
Agreeing with Steve Brown makes my hair hurt, but I do. He is 100% right. City Council was correct that Calistoa needed to be turned down. Steve says correctly that we don’t need social engineering tips from a second-generation developer who insults us about our capacity to understand our future. He is also correct when he says “we have” all the wonderful things we do have such as a good mix of housing, an ability to attract industry and young families, slow growth, safe, successful and an ability to resell our homes. Yes, we have all those things. “We have” refers to the present.
Now consider the future.
We will have none of those things in the future unless the leaders from next generation or two mimics our values and imposes our (meaning baby boomers) will upon their peers. That generation has their own needs/desires/values and they are different from ours.
Which means that the real issue is do we keep doing what we have been doing – or kowtow to the needs/whims of the new generations. The new folks will eventually win by having the city center, lots of rentals, public transportation, common work spaces, redevelopment with even more rentals, decline of real restaurants, more pizza and Mexican eateries and possibly bowling alleys. And don’t forget – they need a place to protest (someone actually seriously said that).
So then, here is a choice -get on the train, get out of the way or stand on the tracks. Same result. Your choice.