Peachtree City

Councilwoman Carol Fritz is willing to reconsider

her vote against lifting an annexation moratorium

in the city, she said this week.

For that reason,

the issue is back on City Council's agenda for

the second time in six weeks at tomorrow night's

regular meeting.

After Mayor Bob

Lenox put the item on the agenda, Councilwoman

Annie McMenamin said, she sent him a letter

telling him that he could not do that because he

was not one of the prevailing voters the last

time the item came up for a vote. But Fritz

stepped up and had it put on the agenda for this

week.

A press release

issued Friday afternoon by the city said that the

annexation moratorium, which has been in effect

since August 1997, would be on the agenda.

The land in

question is about 900 landlocked acres on the

northwest edge of the city, also bordered by

Tyrone and Coweta County. An adjacent 240-acre

tract is already in Peachtree City.

A group of property

owners in the area presented a master plan for

the site at the Jan. 20 council meeting, asking

the city to lift the moratorium so that city

staff could work with them and more information

could be provided.

After two hours of

discussion, McMenamin made a motion to continue

the moratorium, and Fritz and Dan Tennant made it

a 3-2 vote in favor of the moratorium. Lenox and

Robert Brooks voted no.

"I have

received several letters and heard from a number

of residents who are concerned about how this

property will develop if it remains in

unincorporated Fayette County, especially with

regard to multiple grade crossings of the

railroad track," Lenox said in Friday's

written statement.

"Since we

denied lifting the moratorium last month, two of

the property owners have already approached the

city and the county about commencing

development," Lenox continued. "We

would be remiss to allow the development to

proceed without looking at our options."

The moratorium

prohibits city staff from reviewing plans or

meeting with any property owners regarding

annexation without first obtaining council

approval.

Lenox pointed out

in a memo to his fellow council members that

Fayette County has received a rezoning request

for a 365-acre portion of the property, asking

for rezoning to allow 172 single-family lots,

probably on individual septic tanks. City

development director Jim Williams informed the

council that the city will need to respond to the

county concerning this request by Friday.

Lifting the

moratorium allows an exchange of information,

said Lenox. "This is not a vote to annex,

merely an effort to see what the property owners

and developers have in mind for the area, and to

see if their concept in any way matches

ours."

Among the three who

voted last time to keep the moratorium, there is

now a difference of opinion concerning what to do

next.

For Tennant, the

newest member of the council after his election

in November, the issue is clear.

"I made a vow

during my campaign that I would not vote for any

new annexation, and I am keeping that vow,"

he said Monday, adding that he has not seen

anything new to make him change his mind.

McMenamin said

Tuesday that her vote last time came after the

representative making the presentation said there

would be no room for negotiation on density, and

she felt "the door was closed" on any

type of compromise.

"I will go

into this meeting with an open mind, just like

any other meeting," she said.

Fritz has a few

problems with some of the issues relating to this

property, and admitted Monday that she was not

completely comfortable with her vote in January.

"I've done

some homework on this," she said. "I

want to make an informed decision."

No one on the

council has come out in support of any specific

annexation plan for the property, but all except

Tennant have mentioned that they would be

comfortable with at least some city staff

involvement.

McMenamin said she

would like to see some clear standards put in

place for city staff to work on the latest

proposal or any other deemed appropriate, which

is not possible right now because of the

moratorium.

Fritz also

mentioned her desire to have staff more involved

in the process so that all of the information she

feels she needs to make a decision could be

gathered.

Lenox forwarded to

the council a letter he received from former

mayor Frederick Brown Jr., who is in favor of

annexing the property in question and urged the

council to reconsider its vote.

Steve Black,

president of Pathway Communities, also wrote

Lenox and said that he is continuing to work on

keeping the property owners united and also hopes

the property will be annexed. Pathway owns a

portion of the tract.

The meeting

tomorrow will be at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The

public is invited.

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