One photo showed a barren

intersection, with nothing but four empty lanes for

traffic, a concrete median and massive parking lots in

sight.

The other photo showed

storefronts developed near the roadway. There were

sidewalks in front of the stores and parking in the rear.

The median contained a railway for a commuter train

nestled by trees on either side. People walked along the

shops on the sidewalks.

The second photo is an

example of the "new urban development" concept,

which was presented to the West Village Annexation Task

Force by two expert planners at a meeting Wednesday

afternoon.

Neither of the photos

represents Peachtree City as it exists today. But they

represent various elements of city design that could

become part of Peachtree City's future.

One of the big pitches was

for the design of neighborhoods where cars aren't relied

on heavily.

For now, though, all the

experts' ideas are up in the air for the task force to

consider. The presentation was not discussed formally by

the task force during the meeting.

The task force currently

has four different plans on the table to annex the West

Village land; each has varying degrees of annexation.

Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox appointed the task force

to study those annexation options and report its

recommendations back to the city council.

One of the experts who

spoke Wednesday, Peter Katz, said the task force should

consider elements of his presentation to implement in

future developments, such as the possible annexation of

the West Village property.

Katz's ideas were based on

developing areas with retail, commercial and other

buildings in use near each other. That way, the layout of

streets, stores and other buildings encourages residents

to forego driving in their cars on a more regular basis,

he said.

Katz also warned that

Peachtree City's plan of subdivisions with cul-de-sacs

could cause traffic problems in the future. Instead, he

suggested that subdivisions and neighborhoods should be

designed where the streets "flow through." That

way, traffic problems are shared by all streets instead

of just the large intersections, he said.

Peachtree City's

subdivisions are much different from Katz's definition of

a neighborhood.

"A neighborhood is

different from subdivision," Katz said.

"Neighborhoods combine other uses, like retail,

sometimes workplaces and sometimes institutions like

churches and schools."

The ideals of land use and

density should not be the only consideration in creating

new developments, Katz said.

"Those are two of

about 20 things that make up the quality of a

place," he said, explaining that by using facets of

the "new urban" system, traffic problems and

other concerns with a large amount of growth in the city

can be soothed.

Traffic problems could be

curbed by locating smaller retail stores in more areas.

That would allow people to walk to the store or ride

their golf carts without much difficulty.

Katz said planners need to

think about ways to keep people from using their vehicles

to do little things like running errands. If the walk to

a store is longer than a quarter-mile from a person's

home, that person is likely to use his or her car for

transportation instead, Katz added.

It was also pointed out

that Peachtree City's golf cart paths go a long way in

helping people decide to leave their cars at home when

they have a short distance to travel.

Other suburban communities

like Peachtree City are beginning to develop problems of

their own such as traffic snarls, social problems and

more crimes, Katz added.

The "new urban"

design includes mixed use - creating neighborhoods

where different types of property can coexist, such as

commercial property (say, a grocery store) within

shouting distance of several homes, or an apartment

complex.

The mixed-use planning is

another tool to bring people within a walk or cart ride

of where they shop, work and play, Katz said.

The need for large parking

lots seen in today's grocery stores will decrease if

multiuse planning is implemented correctly, Katz said.

That's because the focus is to get people to walk or bike

or rollerblade or drive their golf carts to the store

- anything to keep them from climbing in the car,

truck or sport utility vehicle, he said.

Such radical changes in

planning land development could lead to a change in the

way the city uses its zoning process, said Bob Turner,

the other planning expert who spoke to the task force.

One of the ideas behind

"new urban" design is to plan communities by

considering them shaped like a circle with a quarter-mile

radius. In those communities, Katz suggested working with

developers to make sure there are grocery stores and

other important retail shops nearby, as well as schools.

Another important use of

space in "new urban" communities is for civic

gathering places such as gazebos, lakes, parks and other

green space, Katz said.

"In the suburbs, the

predominant public realm is the road system, where you

bump into other people," Katz said.

The "new urban"

city plans are different from suburbs like Peachtree

City, which have created large zones of residential,

commercial and industrial developments that are largely

segregated from each other, Katz said.

The city should also

encourage the development of housing neighborhoods for

the poor and for the elderly who may not be able to drive

at all, Katz said. "In the suburbs, if you don't

have a car, you are a prisoner here," he added.

Developed sections of town

must be economically, environmentally and socially viable

in three ways to be successful, Turner said.

Other factors that might be

considered when developing neighborhoods include the

construction of social areas on homes such as front

porches and back patios, Katz added. He also indicated

neighborhoods could look nicer if homes were built with

garages in the rear.

He also recommended that

the public become involved in the planning process the

city is considering.