As

the city of Fayetteville considers an annexation

request in the next few months, a significant

piece of city history will be on the minds of

many residents and the entire City Council.

That's

because four current council members came on

board within a couple of years after a

controversial 1987 annexation decision that

resulted in one council member being recalled,

one resigning and three others losing their seats

in subsequent elections.

The

land that developer Bob Rolader is now trying to

get into the city, on the west side of town and

on the south side of Ga. Highway 54, is part of a

larger tract that was annexed and then deannexed

session.

Rolader

is seeking to annex 873 acres and develop about

454 homes on the site. He also has proposed a

donation of 215 acres to the city for permanent

open space, and would give two lakes on the

property to the city for a water source.

For

sheer density, the new proposal pales in

comparison to the one in 1987.

Signa

Investments Inc. sought to annex 910 acres into

Fayetteville in 1987, with plans for about 2,500

residential units of all shapes and sizes,

single-family and multifamily, on the site. A

large number of residents fought the move, but

the City Council at that time - J.A.

Huddleston, Hugh Jordan, Ann Mitchell, Ray

Nichols,J.B. Slaughter and Mayor Jack Dettmering

- approved the request.

Council's

action was reversed by House Bill 1866, which

passed in spring 1988. The council wrote a

letter, signed by all six members, to then Gov.

Joe Frank Harris asking him to veto the

legislation, but that did not happen.

One

year later the entire council was gone. By the

fall of 1989, Roger Marietta was mayor, and he

was joined by Rick Eastin, Mike Wheat and three

current members - Larry Dell, Al Hovey-King

and Walt White.

Dell

and Hovey-King filled two unexpired terms in fall

1988, and both won reelection a year later. White

defeated Mitchell in that same election to begin

his service on the council.

Current

Mayor Kenneth Steele was appointed to the

Planning and Zoning Commission in 1989, and he

joined the City Council in 1994 before succeeding

Wheat as mayor in January. Glenn Brewer filled

Eastin's seat on the council in the early 1990s

and remains there, while the junior member of the

council, Bill Talley, came on board this year.

Another

Signa proposal for the same site, with about

1,800 residential units and a golf course, was

presented in 1993, but it was eventually

withdrawn by the applicant in January of 1994.

The

only property still in the city from the original

Signa request is a small portion that includes

the current Lakemont subdivision, according to

Steele. John Wieland Homes, who developed

Lakemont, tried to annex the entire site a few

years ago, but the city was not interested.

Steele

acknowledged that he was opposed to the Signa

request for a number of reasons, among them the

fact that the developer wanting to tackle the

huge project had no track record of building

anything in Fayette County or anywhere else. Many

people in Fayette County also were against the

plan, Steele added.

While

a municipal governing body must give a reason for

denying a rezoning request or similar measure, it

can refuse to even consider an annexation request

for any reason, or no reason at all. Rolader's

proposal is the first one worth considering,

according to some council members.

"This

is the first proposal worthy of a full

airing," Steele said of the Rolader plan.

"It has the potential of being a winning

situation for everyone - not just the city,

but the county and the school system as

well."

Dell

said that he ran for a council seat for

"several reasons," but the Signa

controversy was one of them. He said the Signa

plan and Rolader's plan are not apples and

oranges, but more like grapefruits and

grapes."

Aside

from the disparity in size of each request, Dell

noted that the city was quite different in 1988

than it is today.

Fayetteville

public safety resources were not adequate at that

time to service the plan, Dell said, adding that

the city had a total of two fire trucks at the

time. The fire and police departments are strong

now with state-of-the-art equipment, he added.

The

sewer system also was inadequate at that time for

the huge Signa proposal, but a wastewater

treatment plant has been built by the city since

then.

Another

big change is the fact that Hwy. 54 is now a

four-lane road, compared with only two lanes 12

years ago, according to Dell.

He

says he has not seen the Rolader plan up close,

since it is still in the Planning and Zoning

Commission stage, but he sees some opportunities

that might exist, such as "tremendous open

space" in the 215 acres Rolader proposes to

give to the city.

The

two lakes also are potentially important. Dell

says protecting that water is

"critical."

Various

ordinances put in place since 1988 would protect

water sources, Dell said, better than if the

Signa plan had been developed, when there were no

such provisions.

Dell

raised the issue of what could be done if the

property remains in unincorporated Fayette

County. Rolader said the property, as currently

zoned, could yield some 518 homes on individual

septic tanks, and although he would not be

involved in it as such, he assured city officials

the land will be developed one way or another.

Hovey-King

added that it is important to keep an overview of

the site and the current proposal in perspective,

and consider all of the options for the property,

whether it is developed in the city or not.

He

opposed the Signa proposal because he said there

was no plan and the size and density simply were

not right for the city or the county. The land

use plan now in effect came about at least partly

as a result of that issue, he said.

The

Rolader proposal is "definitely something

worthy of further investigation," he said,

pointing out the possibility of less density than

what would be in unincorporated Fayette County as

well as the use of the city's sewer system, which

he said would be better environmentally than 500

or more septic tanks.

As

for the open space, Hovey-King said that if the

200-plus-acre proposal remained intact, it would

be the largest tract of its kind that close to

one of Fayette County's cities, and that merits

some consideration.

One

thing everyone involved at the city level has

agreed upon so far is the fact that regardless of

the outcome, this will not be a quick process.

Dell said he expects the amount of time spent on

the recent Village project to be a decent

barometer of what could transpire here.

"It's

a big piece of property," said Hovey-King.

"There's absolutely no reason to move at

breakneck speed. You've got to look at what's

best for the county and the city."

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