The latest version of Peachtree

City's big box ordinance contains language that would specifically exempt

two properties from having to abide by its rules.

That has drawn the ire of city

activist Steve Brown, who has undertaken a letter-writing campaign urging

fellow residents to help oppose the exemptions. Brown wants them to send

in postcards indicating their opposition so he can provide copies to council

members and urge them to reconsider the matter.

Brown said an organization

is providing funding for the "mail-in petition" drive, but he

refused to reveal the name of the organization.

"I can't really tell who

it is," Brown said in an interview Monday evening. "But we both

have a vested interest in this big box issue."

The effort may be too late,

however, as the City Council is slated to consider adopting the big box

ordinance at its meeting Thursday night, and the letters weren't due to

be delivered until today.

Brown hopes that council will

postpone its decision on the ordinance to address another one of his concerns:

whether the city should seek another legal opinion on the ordinance. Brown

questions the objectivity of City Attorney Rick Lindsey, whose law partner,

James Webb, serves on the board of directors with Pathway Communities

CEO Steve Black in a banking venture.

Pathway Communities owns the

Kedron Village retail center, which is one of the two properties that

is exempt under the current wording of the big box ordinance. The other

exempted property is the Huddleston tract across Ga. Highway 54 west from

the Planterra Ridge subdivision, which could be the future home of a Home

Depot and, possibly, a Wal-Mart Superstore.

"For it to be objective,

we've got to have somebody else look at it," Brown said, noting that

while the ethics ordinance does not apply to the city attorney, it does

discourage "even the appearance of impropriety."

The big box ordinance would

cap the maximum size of a retail store at 32,000 square feet, although

larger stores could be approved by the city if the property owner seeks

a limited use commercial zoning.

The plans for the Wal-Mart

Superstore call for buildings totalling 204,000 square feet, while Pathway

Communities has submitted plans to build a 140,000-sq. ft. store in phase

two of the Kedron Village retail center.

At the last City Council meeting,

Lindsey told council that Georgia laws aren't clear in defining when a

property owner's rights are vested. Lindsey added that he believed those

two property owners had vested their rights based on the amount of money

they have already spent developing those properties.

Brown challenges that opinion,

noting that Lindsey said he didn't have a full accounting of how much

money has been spent on the Huddleston property and the Kedron Village

retail center.

"He said he didn't know

how much the developers had invested in the property, and yet he recommends

this," Brown said. "He just says, 'Let's give it to them.'"

The exemptions would counteract

the intent of the ordinance, Brown said.

"The exemptions, to me,

are totally unfounded," Brown said. He agreed, however, that since

the Home Depot store has already been approved by council that it probably

couldn't be legally held accountable to the big box ordinance if it is

passed.

Brown said the big box stores

will harm the quality of life that Peachtree City residents currently

experience.

"The statistics prove

they bring crime," Brown said. "And the police chief is already

on record as saying they don't prosecute offenders."

Brown said people in Peachtree

City have offered donations to fund his efforts, but he hasn't taken them

up on their offers. He may soon, though, because he is considering taking

out a newspaper advertisement that would list the names of residents opposing

the big box exemptions. The postcards allow people to decline having their

name printed if they so choose, Brown said.

But the success of Brown's

efforts hinges on council deciding to delay approval of the ordinance,

since it's unlikely he'll get all of the postcard replies back in time

for tomorrow night's meeting.

"I can only hope they

delay it and we'll go from there," Brown said.