The city of

Senoia took the initial step Tuesday night toward

allowing a new kind of development in the town.

unanimous vote, the city's Planning Commission

recommended two text amendments to the City Council that

would allow developers to build homes on quarter-acre

lots.

But in

return, the developers would agree to leave at least 25

percent of the land in open space.

Newly

appointed town planner Bill Johnston told a packed house

of nearly 60 residents that open space development is

another option for the city to try and manage the growth

that is headed its way.

Under the

proposed text amendments, developers would be able to

build on half-acre lots under the R-40 zoning category

and quarter-acre lots under R-20.

The benefit

of clustering the homes on smaller lots is an increase in

open space, Johnston said.

If the city

wants to maintain the rural flavor, Johnston said open

space development is one option. Another option would be

the city purchasing land and reserving it as park space,

but residents' tax bills would see a severe hike if that

option were pursued.

The text

amendments also call for at least a 60-foot buffer on

arterial roads and a 20-foot buffer on major collector

roads.

"This

could help permanently preserve some of the city's

assets," he said.

But the

residents were not so sure.

"Once

we open up to this type of development, we're going to

annihilate the city," said resident Brian Utt.

Johnston

also showed slides of other types of cluster

developments, most noticeably in Peachtree City. But some

residents were not impressed with their neighbors to the

north.

"You

have something really special here. Peachtree City has a

lot of money to keep up the infrastructure. If you want

cluster homes, go to Peachtree City," said Bill

Royal.

After

listening to nearly 45 minutes of discussion, the

commission voted to add the open space text amendments to

the zoning ordinance. The commission then heard a request

from developer Richard Harp, who wants to develop 59

homes on 26 acres on Rockaway Road and wants R-20 zoning.

Harp's

proposal calls for the homes to be on 13 acres, with the

rest of the property being preserved as green space.

"That's

50 percent open space, which is much more than the

requirement," he said.

Before the

planning commission voted on Harp's request, Chairman Pam

Youngblood said she had some of the same concerns as the

angry residents.

"There's

been lots of mistakes made in the past. We want it to be

better and they're going to leave us the green

space," she said.

Harp's

request for R-20 zoning passed the commission unanimously

and will be discussed by the council for a possible vote

March 28. The text amendments will be discussed March 6

at 7 p.m. at City Hall during the regular council

meeting.