Stop development

until the federal government allows roads to be

improved?

It's easier said

than done, according to some who addressed the

Peachtree City Council on the subject last week.

Residents,

government leaders and developers discussed the

proposal for two hours Thursday, and may have

left with more questions than when they started,

if that's possible.

The pleas of local

subdivision dwellers rang out alongside the

opinions of land owners and developers, with a

couple of attorneys thrown in for good measure,

as all addressed the City Council and gave their

take on what Mayor Bob Lenox said was possibly

the most complicated issue the city has ever

faced.

No action was taken

hearing amid thoughts of a possible traffic

impact ordinance, or even a building moratorium,

as a way to curb spiraling traffic gridlock along

the Ga. Highway 54 corridor, specifically near

its intersection with Ga. Highway 74 and on to

the Coweta County line.

City staff

recommended drafting and adopting an ordinance,

with development director Jim Williams saying

that a "sledgehammer approach" could do

more harm than good, as the economy of the city

as well as the state could be affected because of

the close proximity of the industrial park.

Ed Ellis of Dames

and Moore, the traffic consulting firm that is

creating a model for the corridor to help measure

the impact of proposed development, praised the

City Council for taking transportation into

consideration in its land-use decisions.

"Not everybody does that," he said.

But attorney Doug

Dillard, who frequently represents developers in

rezoning requests, suggested that transportation

is not and should not be an issue, at least where

zoning matters are concerned. "Georgia

courts have held since 1961 that you can't deny

zoning based on traffic," he said.

"There is no

relationship between land-use laws and

transportation patterns," he added, placing

some of the blame for the city's current traffic

mess on its own planning, or lack thereof.

By

"segregating" development into specific

areas - such as industrial, commercial and

residential - planners in Peachtree City and

other areas through the years have forced people

to get in their cars to go from one place to

another, he argued.

As for Peachtree

City specifically, Dillard said that

"historical decisions" by the powers

that be since the city's inception have

"funneled everything into [highways] 54 and

74."

Future development,

both residential and commercial, will continue to

raise the traffic levels because of the

life-styles of Georgia residents, Dillard said.

"We're not getting out of our

automobiles."

One local land

owner, whose property was perhaps the main

motivation for the current frustration of local

residents, asked the audience as well as the City

Council to simply treat his family equally under

the law.

Bill Huddleston,

who along with his siblings owns more than 40

acres on the north side of Hwy. 54 west of Hwy.

74, has come under fire for a recent application

and Home Depot retail center on that tract, with

the main entrance directly across from Planterra

Way.

Huddleston said he

can sympathize with the feelings of local

residents concerning the use of his property,

which he said has been in his family for 50 years

and has been zoned commercial for more than 20

years.

"Put yourself

in my shoes," he said. "Anyone with

this land would do the same thing."

He did suggest,

however, that the timing of this issue was a bit

questionable, and that these traffic problems

existed five years ago or more but were not

addressed.

Meanwhile,

Huddleston cited safety and security problems

that now exist with his land as two more reasons

for a change. "It's not a farm

anymore," he said.

Mayor Pro Tempore

Annie McMenamin admitted that the city did not

address the traffic problem as quickly as it

should have, saying that local leaders "sat

complacently," believing that the state

would improve the two highways and that projects

grandfathered in would not be affected by the

current litigation related to the Clean Air Act.

"We were

promised road work by 1992," Huddleston

replied. "You shouldn't have assumed

anything until you see dirt being moved."

The City Council

voted to continue the discussion at the Oct. 7

meeting, at which time a draft of a proposed

traffic impact ordinance should be ready for

consideration.

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