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As the battle over the future of Crabapple Lane — a now closed road between Peachtree CIty and Tryone — heats up, the discovery of an old campaign document from Councilman Clint Holland’s website has raised questions about his interest in the issue.
The letter appeared on the Councilman’s campaign website on the 19th of October 2022, just two weeks before Peachtree City residents voted in a special election to replace resigned Councilwoman Gretchen Caola. Holland ended up winning the election with 5,888 votes over Phil Crane’s 5,404 votes.
In the now-deleted document, Holland describes his reversal of opinion on the road’s status. He apologizes for past statements in support of opening the road, unequivocally voicing his changed opposition to the road’s existence: “permanently close Crabapple Lane to both car and golf cart traffic.” The letter attributes his changed view to a meeting with the Kedron Hills HOA at Panera Bread, and he asks readers to understand he was “purposely vague” in previous comments.
Supporters of re-opening Crabapple Lane have cried foul, upset at the proximity of Holland’s personal residence to the road. In a map created by a group campaigning for the road’s opening, the Holland residence — a two-story house on a 0.56 acre lot — appears as one of 15 “impacted” homes which lie on a route formerly used by golf carts traveling south from Crabapple Lane.
The Councilman has voted to protect his own personal interests at the expense of the wider City, they argue. “He’s basically gotten the PTC taxpayers to maintain a private road in a now gated community,” one resident told me on the condition of anonymity, upset at the overweight influence she perceives the Panera meeting had on Holland’s thinking.
In a comment on the Citizen’s profile of Holland, one user says “we just went through this with … Gretchen,” an apparent reference to accusations that then-Councilwoman Gretchen Caola built speed bumps on a golf cart path behind her own home. The incident led to Caola’s resignation from the same Council Post that Holland now occupies. “Voting on an issue that benefits you directly is unethical,” a Facebook user under the same name adds.
In recent months, questions about the future of Crabapple Lane have intensified. In April, the Fayette County Commissioners blocked Peachtree City’s 1.7 million dollar grant application in a bid to convince the Council to re-open the road. Meanwhile, the June 4th City Council meeting saw 10 opponents of the road’s reopening speak, and the number of petitioners calling for the road to reopen has doubled to nearly 500 residents, according to the same group who made the map.
As both sides of the issue hold their breath over what the Council will do, it remains to be seen whether Councilman Holland will acknowledge the alleged conflict of interest and, as some have called for, recuse himself from the divisive issue at the end of his driveway.
I am a member of the group campaigning for re-opening Crabapple Lane and contributed to the investigation leading to this story.
McKay Moore
Peachtree City, Ga.
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