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]