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.
Well, I happen to be a resident of Kedron Hills who was and am still opposed to the closing of Crabapple Lane.
It gave me easy access to the airport, where I work, and to Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Trillith, Fayetteville and other points east. I have heard the argument that emergency vehicles have a key, but when seconds count, while waiting on an ambulance, the last thing I would want is for them to discover that they not only don’t have a key but they don’t have bolt cutters either.
Kedron Hills has a long history of wanting to change the rules to benefit what the majority of it’s residents desire…from rezoning school system lines (changing from Flat Rock Middle School/Sandy Creek HS to Booth/McIntosh), to opposing the building of a cell tower on private land along Crabapple Lane (which ultimately was built resulting in vastly improved cell service) and finally to the closure of Crabapple Lane itself.
At a very minimum, Crabapple Lane should be reopened to golf carts.
One of the reasons Kedron Hills residents are so “protective” of the neighborhood is that several issues brought to the neighborhood by the city/county were related to the interests of developers, and these developers often didn’t follow what they stated the plans were.
When the World Airlines development went in, we were told that the office park would be similar to the Eastbrook office park… small one- or two-story office buildings with a residential feel. Such that the lights from the buildings wouldn’t be visible in the Kedron neighborhood Now we’re getting a four-story hotel.
When we were asked whether the Dogwood Church development should be allowed to tap into the Kedron Hills sewer lines, we were told the church development would be limited to a sanctuary and soccer/softball fields. They now have school and food panty operations. (OK, so the big garden is a benefit).
The cell phone tower was going to be located such that it wouldn’t be visible from the neighborhood. Maybe not from the front or the back…
None of these things, including closure of Crabapple Road, changing the school district, new developments tapping into the Kedron Hills infrastructure, etc. were the initiative of Kedron Hills. Rather, the city or county brought these to Kedron Hills, and the HOA met, discussed, and voted on what the formal stance will be for the neighborhood.
This is democracy in action at the neighborhood level. And as we have seen… regardless of the final decision by the governmental body, this too can change.
Perhaps a better question could be asked: Why hasn’t Tyrone’s Mayor made the connection to Evergreen Church which has access that is close to the Kedron Shopping Center?
A side note as well; Peachtree City has made significant efforts to facilitate the one family at the root of this issue at no expense to Tyrone.
Good point. Building a trail down Dogwood Trail, connecting the Dogwood Church campus to the Farr Road / Crabapple Lane intersection would accomplish this – and would give the Farr Road homes all access to the N side of PTC. There’s nothing stopping Tyrone from doing this. Although – whenever someone finally mans up and gets the N Peachtree City bypass going to finally help with the 54/74 boondoggle, that bypass route (according to my plans) will include Dogwood Trail – so additional work will have to be done to facilitate the cart paths then.
I see zero incentive to opening up the gate to vehicle traffic. What’s the benefit to the Kedron Hills citizens? More cut-through traffic? Sorry – but that doesn’t align with the design of Peachtree City. If you look at the vast majority of neighborhoods and subdivisions, they are nearly all designed so that there is no benefit to “cutting through” a neighborhood. Rather, you have major collector roads (the Parkway, Robinson Road, Braelinn Road, Crosstown, MacDuff, Kedron Drive, Flat Creek Road, Kelly Drive, etc) that allow a slightly faster speed and more traffic flow, and the majority of subdivisions are located on one of these roads, but don’t have homes that have driveways on them. This to me is the beauty of the design – creating neighborhoods and not cut-throughs. Opening the gate to vehicles creates a cut-through, and that’s not inline with our design.
The cart paths – slightly different story. There are several paths that connect to our PTC trail system from outside the city limits – most notably in the southern edge, where Timberlake’s path system connects, and so does Wood Creek, The Gates, etc. But – in those instances, I dare say that those communities offer a benefit to PTC carts as well – allowing access through their neighborhoods to get to the Starrs Mill complex, to connect to One Church, etc. It’s a reciprocal relationship. Plus allowing those carts access gives residents there access to schools, restaurants, and those neighborhoods “fit” the surrounding Peachtree City neighborhoods. They’re an extension of PTC, outside the PTC city limits. There seems to be no reciprocation on the Crabapple Lane path, except to allow Tyrone residents access to PTC. Are PTC residents wanting access also to Tyrone? I’m not sure – I don’t live up there. But until it’s a win-win relationship, I see no benefit in allowing carts to come through on Crabapple.
Regarding the the numbers cited in the letter regarding the number of speakers at the June 4th City Council Meeting, and the on-line petition, there’s another way to look at the numbers.
At the city Council meeting, ten people spoke in favor of keeping the gate closed, and one person spoke in favor of opening it to golf carts only. Thus, of the people concerned enough with the issue to show up and speak at the City council Meeting, 91% favored keeping it closed, 9% favored opening to golf carts only, and 0% favored removing the gate entirely.
And regarding the on-line petition to remove the gate, of the 38,000 residents of Peachtree City, 500 signed the petition to open the gate. Thus, only 1% of Peachtree City residents think the gate should be opened with enough concern to sign a petition. The other 99% do not have this concern.
So, statistically speaking, Mr. Holland’s interest align with at least 90% of concerned citizens.
That’s not a conflict of interest.
I believe Mr. Holland, as well as the rest of the residents on Loring Lane from Crabapple to Peachtree Parkway (including me), have the strongest interests in keeping the gate closed. In fact, in my opinion, those who do not reside in Kedron Hills have no interest in this matter.
And it is interesting to note that whoever generated the map referenced in the above letter tried to downplay the residential impact. They only identified the houses on Loring Lane between Crabapple and the closest cart path connection. Rarely do the carts cruising down Loring turn onto the cart path there. Rather, they blast on downhill to Verandah View or Portico Place, next to exit on Peachtree Parkway. Thus, the person generating the map was being disingenuous (in my humble opinion).
And the reality is that all residents of Kedron Hills have to deal with the increased traffic on Loring when the gate is open, whether they are driving, golf carting, biking, or walking.
There is a reason why we refer to it as the “Loring Speedway”. Opening the gate will only increase the problem, and provide zero benefit to the other residents of Peachtree City.
Again, the solution that meets everyone’s needs is for cart paths to be established from the Crabapple/Dogwood intersection to World Drive. We need the elected officials of Fayette County, Peachtree City, and Tyrone to collaborate in meeting their citizen’s needs.
Thus, Mr. Holland is interested, but not conflicted.
I don’t see the connection. When I see a PTC Base Map, I don’t see any reason why PTC residents want to petition the Council to change, other than to be neighborly to those living outside PTC. If Mr. Holland campaigns for a Council position where he lives, it’s not a conflict of interest to support the constituents. He may decide differently if campaigning for a County or State position.