City

officials got an up-close look this week at how

developers of the proposed Cedarcroft subdivision might

implement a residential feature new to Peachtree City

- modular homes.

Representatives

of Virginia-based Nationwide Homes gave a presentation at

a special called workshop of the Peachtree City Planning

Commission Tuesday morning at the library. Although

several city officials attended, only two Planning

Commission members were present and no action was taken.

Actually,

no action is needed, because Cedarcroft developer Michael

Rossetti can put these homes in now without any

additional city approval. "We don't have anything

that restricts that type of construction," said city

planner David Rast.

But

Rossetti set up the informational meeting to help the

city become better informed on this process. "The

modular home concept is new to Peachtree City," said

Rast. "We wanted to make sure we had a better

understanding of what he was proposing, and the Planning

Commission and City Council were aware of that."

Much of

Nationwide's presentation emphasized its position that

its homes, which are built in a factory and then

transported in sections to each site, are built to

standards of quality at least equal to and often above

that of typical "stick-built" homes.

Nevertheless,

companies like Nationwide often feel the need to present

their case to counter the widely held assumption that

"modular home" is a term synonymous with

"mobile home," when that is not the case.

Planning

Commission Chairman Wes Saunders agreed with that

assessment, saying, "They're certainly not trailer

homes. They appear to be stick-built and up to all code

standards."

Both Rast

and Saunders added that the homes will go through the

standard permit and inspection process as far as

Peachtree City is concerned.

Nationwide

previously built all of its homes, which can range up to

6,000 square feet, at its Virginia facility. But the

company recently purchased a plant south of Macon and

could build Cedarcroft homes much closer to where they

will eventually sit.

Rossetti

said that he chose Nationwide Homes after investigating

several potential companies for the Cedarcroft project.

"It's a good product," he said. "I

wouldn't be looking at this if it weren't a quality

product."

From his

perspective, there are several advantages to using a

company such as Nationwide. He mentioned cost and labor

as two such advantages.

"You

have factory-controlled conditions, and weather's not an

issue," he said. "And it's a higher quality

product. If it makes it through the trip here and there

are no cracks, you know it's good."

Rossetti

said he would like to see the homes going in as soon as

possible. His original site plan indicated a 218-unit

development, but he pointed out that he can have up to

220 according to the development agreement.

When asked

exactly where he stood in the Planning Commission process

with the city, Rossetti declined to comment. But he later

said that he originally applied for preliminary plat

approval last July, and he has not received that approval

yet.

Saunders

said that there are still landscape issues to be

addressed, and he still has concerns about the railroad's

proximity to the overall site. He added that the city is

awaiting word from consultants who are conducting a noise

study, and those findings should be very important in

considering the progress of the project.

Rossetti

said that he has submitted a sound wall plan to the city,

working with a manufacturer of concrete products similar

to what is often seen on highway medians

"I

designed a sound wall better than anything the city has

out now," he said. "We're in negotiations to

get that approved."

Saunders

said he did not know when Rossetti would be appearing

before the Planning Commission again.