With a unanimous 5-0 vote, the Peachtree City Council rejected a developer’s request for an annexation on the city’s northside next to Kedron Hills subdivision. [See CORRECTION following this story.]
Several Kedron Hills residents applauded the vote of no.
Councilman Terry Ernst objected to the proposal because it lacked a connection to the city’s cart path system. He also criticized its density of 191 homes on quarter-acre lots. He noted that children in such a northern subdivision would likely have to attend schools outside Peachtree City.
Councilman Mike King questioned the lack of cart paths and the difficulty of deciding who would maintain a paved Crabapple Road that lies in three jurisdictions.
Mayor Vanessa Fleisch said she had seen “three or four different plans for this” property over the past several years. “This is not close enough to move forward,” she said.
The council split its votes on a proposal to raise their pay. Voting for a pay bump of $200 a month for council members and $300 a month for the mayor were council members Kevin Madden, Terry Ernst and Mayor Fleisch.
Voting against the raise were the two members who are running for reelection this fall: Mike King and Phil Prebor. Qualifying for those two posts opened Aug. 19 and closes Friday, Aug. 23 at 4:30 p.m.
The council last voted itself a raise in 2007, but the hike was put on hold during the Great Recession and did not take effect until 2014.
Council members’ pay goes from $1,000 a month up to $1,200 a month. The mayor’s pay rises from its current $1,500 a month to $1,800 a month.
The council also held the second of three public hearings required before imposing a millage rate that would mean a tax increase for many city residents.
The final public hearing on the proposed rate of 6.232 mills will be Thursday at 9 a.m. at City Hall. Following that hearing, the council will vote on adopting the millage rate for property inside Peachtree City.
[CORRECTION — A story last week about the Peachtree City Council considering an annexation request contains an error of fact. The city’s annexation process is two-step, but the council does not “always allow the annexation proposal to advance to the second step” because of due process concerns, nor is it required to.
Such a due process concern does not apply in annexation requests. It is limited and only applies in response to a request for lifting of a current moratorium on multi-family (apartment) developments to allow consideration of rezoning during a second step.
The council may — and did last week — reject a request for annexation on any grounds, because there is no constitutional right to annexation.
It is the policy of The Citizen to correct errors of fact upon notice. — CAL BEVERLY]
Good decision city council. Thank you.