At the last city council meeting on September 7, there was a public hearing for an annexation and large development on 52 acres outside the city limits at Stagecoach Road. That’s the same dirt road Peachtree City agreed to pave in order to access the new J.C. Booth Middle School. The current annexation proposal would have up to 29 homes.
The real estate developer tried to get this property annexed into Peachtree City at least once before. On October 1, 2020, the City Council voted on an annexation and development application for the exact same property. The past and current requests are very similar.
The 2020 proposal for the 52 acres called for two separate residential building areas; one connecting to Spear Road, the other to Stagecoach Road; linked together by a golf cart path crossing Camp Creek. To see the application go to pages 25 through 31, at this link.
The 2020 annexation request was so bad for the city that even Mayor Vanessa Fleisch, Councilman Mike King and Councilman Terry Ernst voted to deny the request (Phil Prebor and Kevin Madden voted to approve it).
That denial was quite a feat because the Fleisch-led city council was in favor of almost every harmful development proposal, including The Great Wolf Lodge, Calistoa apartments at the end of the local airport runway, the Livable Centers Initiative to replace the Tennis Center with apartments, and building apartments on other city park sites as well as Huddleston Road. All of those proposals were defeated due to the onslaught of citizen participation and angry opposition to such bad plans.
Fast forward three years and we’re having our “deja vu” moment in Peachtree City, as the same annexation resurfaced. Not even the new coat of polish on this plan can hide all the pitfalls and negative impact it will have on our city and citizens in perpetuity.
The Peachtree City Planning Commission held a Public Hearing on August 14. Angry citizens voiced their opposition to the non-productive and costly proposal. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny the request.
It appears that Mayor Kim Learnard and lame ducks King and Prebor want the annexation despite the pleas from angry citizens, and the denial by the Planning Commission. The three voted to postpone the council vote until a future meeting. Are they hoping the delay causes fewer angry citizens to attend? After all, it’s so much easier to go against the will of your citizens when they aren’t there redressing their grievances to you. Guess again, we’ll be there!
This annexation has no benefit for Peachtree City. The projected Peachtree City property tax revenue that the development would bring in will fall way below the cost of providing the city services to the site. Unfortunately, we always have to force our city council to vote for the benefit of our city and our citizens. Why is that? Maybe that’s what happens when we elect people who don’t truly share our values and goals.
I have been working along with others to try to kill these real estate developer windfalls at the expense of the local citizens for several years. We are tired of seeing tax increases and sales tax revenue being diverted to service annexed real estate developments that do not adhere to our land plans and serve no purpose other than lining the pockets of the landowners and developers.
What motivated me to run for City Council was being able to put an end to the constant line of damaging development proposals and annexations. The best way to put a stop to it is to overturn the majority of council members who want to build the very dense neighborhoods on our borders, and apartments throughout the city. That, along with encouraging the right type of technology and industrial growth will benefit the city and citizens the most.
It looks like they want to pass this annexation before the election in November, so it can’t be stopped by the next council members.
Tell the city council we are tired of paying more for dense unproductive development proposals and they need to deny this annexation.
Here are their email addresses:
• klearnard@peachtree-city.org
• mking@peachtree-city.org
• pprebor@peachtree-city.org
• cholland@peachtree-city.org
• fdestadio@peachtree-city.org
Suzanne Brown
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Brown is a candidate for Post 2 Peachtree City Council in this year’s city elections.]
I’ve yet to hear one positive word come out of Suzanne Brown’s mouth.
Be careful what you believe in this letter. When I was on Council we did not approve any apartments in the 8 years I served. I said during the Calistoa project that I thought it was a great idea but just the wrong location. Never did we consider approving it at the proposed location. We never considered removing the tennis center to build apartments (although a former Mayor , not Venessa Fleisch, attempted to make the public believe it to be so). I never considered building any apartments along Huddleston Rd. I was and still am in favor of providing sewer service on Huddleston. When that occurs the future of that road will take care of itself but not a night life area as some have proposed. These are just a few false ideas that this candidate has tried to lead you to believe. I am very proud of the job our previous council did during my 8 years. I can only ask that you do your research and not just believe the bs that some candidates try to bully you with. Do your homework, ask yourself what would you do, and vote with your heart in November. God Bless our city. It is our home.
I appreciated your service. I have been asking where all the new/proposed apartments are for months here, all I hear is crickets in response.
The good part is only 8 folks in town see this BS.
Ms. Brown-Congratulations on being a politician as you bring up many issues in your letter that are simply not true and very misleading to the public.
Furthermore, it is clear you have no concept of how to move the city forward. Everyone around us is kicking our ass and you seem to have the attitude to simply do nothing. Keeping it the way it is, doesn’t always work. The world is ever changing.
It is obvious you seem to be jealous of perceived successful people such as landowners or developers. Just in case you are unaware developers pay the vast majority of taxes which takes the burden off the individual tax-payer. I guess your against those of us who put millions of dollars at risk and work our asses off with no guarantee.
I find it amusing that everyone complaining about development sure appreciates the convenience of having a variety of choices close to their front door. In closing, you do realize that citizens protested the neighborhood you currently live in prior to your home being built. Seems everyone wants to be the last one to move in but anyone after should not be forwarded the same luxury.
It appears that you have a different path to take PTC than Ms Brown (fair enough), but then you give only broad generalities and self-righteous indignation. Nowhere do you show where Ms Brown is off base.
What, specifically, is your concept on how to move the city forward, since you say we’re getting our butts kicked? By whom and how? What should be done differently?
I was not aware that developers “pay the vast majority of taxes”. Here I thought it was us home owners. Please provide facts to support your claim.
Is it your position that PTC residents should not require any additional development to actually benefit the citizens (who I believe actually pay the vast majority of taxes)? Instead, we should just accept any proposal because others may also want to live here and you want a paycheck?
Perhaps we would stand down if we understood how developers are paying the vast majority of our taxes for us. Until then, let’s look at each proposal first on how it impacts those of us who live here and pay for that privilege (and who also work hard).
Good response to the others criticizing Ms Browne’s clearly stated objections to this proposed annexation off of Stagecoach Rd.
Kim Leonard ran on ‘NOT’ building up PTC and fixing the traffic problem on the 54-74, bless her heart!
The democrats in PTC are well organized. They have their own ‘Democrats of PTC’ Facebook page.
The moral of this story is if you’re happy with the ideology of the Left then keep voting them up and then PTC will become a city embedded with that ideology. The quaint city we once new is slowly disappearing or have you Leftists not noticed?
Yes, be careful who you vote for November and I suggest the republicans, conservatives or traditional voters get their game together or PTC will be overrun by these people with Democrat ideology.
Look around, taxes are high, crime is higher than ever, it’s plain to see that the Democratic controlled PTC council is bad for all.
And now a few messages from our local PTC Democrat party below.
I am interested in your claim that crime is escalating in PTC. I can’t find any evidence of that claim. What is your source? Also, do you mean violent crime or property crime?
Thanks in advance for providing the sources.
2021 vs 2022
Part 1 serious crimes up 3%
Calls for service up 12.6%
Theft by taking: up 43%
Fraud up 26%
Entering auto up 29%
You are very welcome.
Peachtree-city.org
PTC – Thank you for your response, but I can’t seem to locate these statistics from Peachtree-city.org. Will you give me a more specific web address?
Again, thank you in advance.
You can find some quarterly stats of 2023 on the city instagram page. Shoplifting is the only thing I can see still up in 2023, and that’s not a problem the PTC council can solve unilaterally.