While

admitting that not everyone would be pleased by the

outcome, the City Council of Peachtree City took what it

believed to be the best step in resolving a contentious

issue that has plagued the city for several years with a

4-0 vote to rezone the Hyde/Palmer property abutting

Carriage Lane and Stagecoach Road, just off Ga. Highway

54.

The vote

came at the July 15 regular meeting, two weeks after the

City Council reached a settlement on a lawsuit that has

been looming over the property for some time.

But the

land owners' plan to build up to 12 residential lots on

the 31.75-acre tract did not sit well with residents on

Carriage Lane, who are especially upset that their street

will be lengthened and their cul-de-sac eliminated.

Both Ronald

Ranes and Thomas Haynes, owners of the two lots at the

very end of Carriage Lane, said that they have no problem

with the rezoning in general, but they bought their

property so that they could live at the end of the street

and they are very much opposed to anyone changing that.

"If

this goes through, then I have no choice but to take

legal action myself," said Ranes during the public

hearing last week.

Haynes

suggested using Stagecoach Road as the access point for

the proposed subdivision, where the 12th lot is currently

situated. That lot is only one acre, and city staff

recommended it be deleted and absorbed into the remaining

11 lots, all of which are at least 2.48 acres.

The council

vote stipulated that no more than 12 lots be developed on

the property. That wording was specifically asked for at

the beginning of the hearing by a Hyde representative,

who added that all other staff recommendations were

acceptable.

Development

director Jim Williams said that his staff has no problem

with that, but the 12th lot as shown on the plan should

not be allowed.

No one was

thrilled with the proposal that was being presented, but

no one saw much hope of a better solution.

"Just

about anything that happens there will be unacceptable to

the people in the area," said Mayor Bob Lenox.

The city

cannot deny the extension of Carriage Lane, Lenox stated,

and the land owners can build 10 homes on the site

without the rezoning or any other City Council approval.

Council

member Carol Fritz inquired about the feasibility of a

Stagecoach Road entrance, and Lenox said that the city

could not impose a 12-lot limit on the tract if that

option were utilized.

Among the

other issues brought up that frustrated the City Council

and the residents was the drainage problem in that area,

which virtually everyone attributed to the nearby Publix

shopping center that is not in the city limits.

This land

has a long and stormy history, filled with controversial

incidents such as Hyde's removal from the Planning

Commission by the City Council a few years ago.

At one

point, Lenox offered to buy the property himself for

$700,000 just to put an end to the litigation.

"The

city has fought long and hard on this," said Mayor

Pro Tempore Annie McMenamin of the battle over this

property just before the 4-0 vote to approved the

rezoning (Councilman Robert Brooks was absent).

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