Now that the possibility of

annexing the proposed West Village is back on the table,

Peachtree City officials are working on the next step

- a citizen committee.

The City Council voted last

week to lift the moratorium on annexation with regard to

that 1,100-acre site, and land owners and developers are

now free to work with city staff on the possibilities for

the land.

A group of about 17 or 18

members will be brought together to form this group, said

Mayor Bob Lenox, who will make the appointments.

A list of prospective

members has been circulating this week among City Council

members for their input, and a final list could be ready

cut will be sent letters asking them if they would be

willing to serve on the committee.

This group could meet as

often as weekly, Lenox said, and there will be no more

than two weeks between meetings.

"Obviously, with a

group that large, not everybody can be there every

time," said Lenox, who added that he is certain

everyone will make a concerted effort to attend all of

the meetings.

The first meeting will

largely dictate what the committee does the rest of the

way, as it pursues various options for shaping the West

Village in a way that is appealing to everyone -

current Peachtree City residents, West Village land

owners and developers.

Lenox said he is not sure

if the committee will start with a blank sheet of paper

or with some kind of plan already in place.

The mayor likes the idea of

starting from scratch, which was done with some success

with the corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Walt Banks Road,

but that is a 73-acre site. The West Village is just over

1,100 acres.

While the committee is

doing its work, city staff will be working with land

owners and developers to see where they are heading.

City development director

Jim Williams said that the process could essentially go

in one of two directions - with an initial

annexation application, which would go through his

office, or by first working with the committee and other

parties on a number of issues and then deciding whether

to apply for annexation or not. He expects the latter,

because of two recent rezoning applications.

Since the annexation

moratorium was upheld by a council vote in January,

Peachtree City Holdings, a division of Pathway

Communities, has applied for rezoning of 365 acres in

unincorporated Fayette County, with plans for 172 homes.

Also, John Wieland Homes has applied for rezoning of some

of the West Village property that is already in the city

limits.

Pathway CEO Steve Black

said in a Feb. 24 letter to Lenox that he would prefer

annexation of the property, but he told the City Council

last week that while he and his company are ready to work

with the city to find an agreeable plan, Pathway will go

forward with its county rezoning request.

The county asked the city

for an opinion on the Pathway rezoning, Lenox said, and

the city is forwarding its comments in the next few days.

"We will object to the rezoning, for several

reasons, said Lenox.

Williams said that the city

will recommend to the county that the item be continuing

until annexation can be considered. If that is not

possible, then the city recommends denial of the rezoning

because of its impact on county services and the

environmental impacts of a large number of septic tanks

that would likely be placed in the area.

As for the Wieland rezoning

in the city, Lenox said he is personally not in favor of

the number of homes being proposed for that site -

about 400 on 112 acres.

Although both of these

requests are already in the works, Lenox said he does not

feel any time constraint or additional pressure to get

the committee or city staff to hammer out a plan of some

kind.

He has asked that Pathway

and Wieland each place a representative on the committee

that would collectively represent the land owners

affected by those two pieces of property. Also in the

works is an attempt to organize a meeting with all of the

land owners, even though some of them have said the won't

go along with any master plan.

"Of course, there will

be some property owners who have the family farm and

don't want to get involved," said Lenox. "We

understand and respect that. What we're looking at is

several years down the road when those folks want to sell

the family farm."