Peachtree City’s east side is where the annexation action is these days, as City Council prepares to consider a 52-acre tract off Stagecoach and Spear roads for inclusion into the city.
The Step One annexation request from developer Michael Hyde differs from a 78-acre nearby rezoning approved by the council earlier in September. That was part of a 2018 annexation of retail businesses along Ga. Highway 54, offices in Governor’s Park and an undeveloped tract that became the mixed use rezoning approved by council Sept. 3.
Unlike the nearby high density mixed residential and commercial LUC rezoning approved unanimously by council Sept. 3 for Ravin Homes and DeGolian Realty, the Hyde development is purely low-density residential: eight lots and 21 lots respectively for the two developments.
Hyde’s description compared the proposed two new residential developments — Kensington Gardens and Enclave — to Smokerise, The Estates and neighboring Hyde Park subdivisions and said they offered “an alternative to the cluster homes subdivisions dominating the current housing market.”
Here’s what city planning staff says: “The western subdivision would consist of eight (8) lots and have access to Stagecoach Road only. The average lot size of this subdivisions is 1.5 acres. The eastern subdivision would consist of 21 lots and have access to Spear Road. The average lot size of this subdivision is 1.9 acres.
“The average lot size … is smaller than those lots in the immediate area within the City limits, and therefore does not meet [the city’s] policy standard. The Hyde Park subdivision (located to the northeast along Carriage Lane) has an average lot size of 2.1 acres; and the Little Creek subdivision (located to the southeast on Spear Road) has an average lot size of 3.8 acres,” according to the pre-meeting information packet.
The staff assessment notes that the proposed annexation area “is adjacent to the eastern border of the City and is located on both the east and west sides of Camp Creek. The area is not within the 2014 Growth Boundary limits studied for potential annexation.”
Approval of a Step One request allows the applicant to proceed to a full-blown staff review and further presentations to both the city Planning Commission and the council.
Here’s what Hyde says about his proposed development:
“The development is divided into two segregated access points. On the west side of Camp Creek (Exclave Subdivision), the access will be on Stagecoach Road out to Robinson Road, with additional paved access to Carriage Lane out to Highway 54.
“On the east side of Camp Creek (Kensington Gardens), the access will be a new street connecting to Spear Road. Golf cart access for Kensington Gardens will use a 20-foot Old Stagecoach Road easement to cross Camp Creek and connect to the City’s path system and the new school, eliminating most/all middle school car traffic from either portion of this development. …
“This development has access to the public water system from both Spear Road and Stagecoach Road. Public sewer access could potentially service this development through the adjacent, under construction, middle school site with proper coordination and approval from the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority and the Fayette County Board of Education.
“However, the property has more than adequate soil conditions to allow individual septic systems. Fire and Police service are within a reasonable response time with easy access from Highway 54 and Spear Road,” Hyde wrote in his application to the city.
The City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall and is open to the public with social distancing observed.
I’m sick of the piecemeal annexation approach. At least this proposal maintains the character of PTC and doesn’t cram 10 units per acre down our throats. Annexation should be proactive and planned not developer proposed.