In a second move to

restrict speech, questions were limited to two per

person. By doing this, Bob's rules of order effectively

eliminated any opposition from the handful of people that

had been conducting most of the research disputing the

Home Depot appeal.

Bob's rules of order

bordered on the ridiculous when illegitimate hearsay and

flip-flopping government testimony was allowed in the

hearing. A ranking member of the fire department was

"asked" to give some statistics on call times

to the western portion of the city. The fire official

made note of calls to subdivisions and traffic incidents

and deemed the situation manageable.

Unfortunately, he failed to

mention what effect the added Home Depot traffic would

have on public safety calls. He also forgot to mention

that 399 apartment units and 200 new homes had already

been approved for the adjacent property. A significant

portion of his report was missing.

Keep in mind that several

weeks prior, the fire chief publicly expressed grave

concerns regarding the ability to serve that very same

area due to traffic concerns. Why the flip-flop?

The real gem of the meeting

was when the mayor listed hearsay labeled as

"opinion" on the agenda. The mayor cited that

he had two renowned real estate sources that told him

that property values would not be affected by the

gridlocking Home Depot development. Mysteriously, those

sources refused to allow him to release their names.

I believe it is illegal for

a licensed real estate broker to make such official

assertions without first conducting the appropriate

research and that is a pretty good reason to withhold

your name.

Councilman Robert Brooks

had some phantom opinions as well. He stated that he

spoke with "some" people and most of them

wanted the Home Depot. However, he also would not reveal

who the "some" were or exactly how many people

"some" equals. Please keep in mind that he was

presented with over 1,600 signatures opposed to the

project, but he felt good because "some" people

wanted Home Depot.

Dr. Brooks also felt it

necessary to put in his plug for annexation on the

western, gridlocked side of town. His rationale for

gathering up the additional high density and

infrastructure expenses into Peachtree City was that: (1)

our fire department may have to answer a call in that

area and (2) some of the kids in that area may sneak in

and join our little league teams and other forms of

recreation.

His broken logic never

mentions that if the land is developed under Tyrone or

Fayette County that there would be a lot less fires and a

lot fewer sneaky children due to the much lower zoning

densities.

Then there is the

half-cocked argument that the annexed land will be

developed like the rest of Peachtree City. What a lie

- nothing in that Ga. Highway 54 corridor has been

developed like the rest of Peachtree City as a result of

his sitting on his hands for six years and poor planning.

His position is hardly enough to make anyone jump on the

annexation bandwagon.

Both councilmen Brooks and

Jim Pace stated that they thought the Home Depot would

only serve the citizens of Peachtree City. Obviously,

they think that we are complete idiots.

When East Coweta, Tyrone,

Brooks, Sharpsburg, Senoia, south Fulton and all the

other areas surrounding our city are growing at an

incredible pace, it is incredibly foolish to minimize the

potential traffic burden in that way. If Home Depot and

Wal-Mart build, the additional traffic will come. The big

misconception is that people think that the traffic will

only be affected on Ga. Highway 54 West, but the big

boxes will pull people from everywhere.

In a meeting prior,

Councilman Pace was advised by the city's attorney to

abstain from voting on the Traffic Impact Ordinance due

to a conflict of interest. However, he was cleared to

vote on the Home Depot appeal even though the decision

was hinging upon the same Traffic Impact Ordinance. What

the heck, if you are going to allow hearsay as supporting

evidence, you might as well let him vote. Besides, the

City Council was one of the only public bodies in Fayette

County to hold a late December meeting (all others were

cancelled) just so Pace could vote.

The most tragic part of the

meeting was when the City Council announced that they

were wiping the Planning Commission's ruling completely

aside and were conducting totally new proceedings of

their own under Bob's rules of order. The Planning

Commission members are our "citizen

representatives" who are selected for their

experience in and knowledge of planning and zoning

matters. Not a single member of the commission supported

the Home Depot site plan and it was labeled

"irresponsible."

Since the mayor was pulling

for Home Depot, the Planning Commission's ruling had to

be voided and could not be used as part of the appeal

proceedings. Thus, the city was then able to carry on a

nice little prepared Home Depot pep rally.

You see, under Bob's rules

of order you can not only squelch the opinions of the

people who stand up for responsible development but you

can also silence their representatives on the Planning

Commission as well.

It is going to be up to

council members Fritz, Tennant and McMenamin to install a

temporary moratorium on commercial site plans so that the

debate on solutions can proceed without having another

big box fall on us. We have witnessed what the city is

capable of doing behind closed doors with commercial

developers, and it does the citizens little justice.

We should not be

anti-development; instead, we should be pro-responsible

development.

Steve Brown

[email protected]

Peachtree City