Budget hearing, Starr’s Mill tunnel on Peachtree City Council agenda

It’s your turn to have your say about Peachtree City’s proposed $39.3 million budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 at a public hearing Thursday night at City Hall. The city expects to keep its current millage rate, but with many property owners having seen their assessed values increase, the net effect will be higher tax bills this fall.

Included in the new budget are pay raises for the city’s police and fire departments.

A $3 million cart path connection to the Starr’s Mill school complex on Peachtree City’s southern border is on the agenda for Thursday night at the Peachtree City Council.

It’s an agreement between the city and Fayette County to get the project underway. The path project will be in both the city and the county and includes a tunnel beneath Redwine Road.

The longest part of the new path starts at Birkdale Road and extends south along the east side of Redwine Road in the county. In the city, a new path will be built from Holly Grove Road southward.

The agreement contains notice of the city’s intention to annex the property with the tunnel at some unspecified future date.

The county will be responsible for design, land purchases and construction. The money will come from a combination of federal funds, earmarked SPLOST collections, and county funding.

Other agenda items to be considered include an expanded list of where you can’t drive golf carts. Added to the no-cart list are Senoia Road and Rockaway Road. In addition, a new rule says any cart driver that gets off the cart path to cross a public street must stop as though a stop sign were present, whether there’s a sign or not.

The council also will hear a rezoning request to turn a 5.65-acre lot in Kedron Village into five lots of 1-acre-plus at its July 18 meeting.

The request received a recommendation for approval June 12 from the Peachtree City Planning Commission.

Commissioners agreed to recommend the rezoning on a 4-0 vote, which included conditions that overhead utilities be buried and that the size of homes, the building materials used and the building quality be compatible with surrounding homes.

Located adjacent to the Kedron Hills subdivision, but not part of it, the new owner of the 5.65-acre tract requested to plat it for five single-family homes. Both the current estate residential and the proposed R-43 residential classifications are considered single-family, low-density zoning categories, said city Planning and Development Director Robin Cailloux.

The tract is also situated next to Greenwood Oaks residences to the west and the Tyrone town limits to the north.

Cailloux said the property proposed for rezoning would have lots similar in size to those in Greenwood Oaks and larger than the Kedron Hills lots.

The proposal conforms with the future land use plan, said Cailloux.

Speakers during the public hearing surfaced questions pertaining to issues such as easements, driveway placements and tree removal.

The request will go before the City Council on July 18.