Coweta County

and the city of Senoia are getting ready for the second act of annexation

questions.

The city has

submitted three annexation notices to the county that will be discussed

at next Thursday's Coweta County Commission meeting.

The first request

is for the same 50 acres on Rockaway Road that led the county and Senoia

to the Georgia Supreme Court last year.In a ruling that Coweta County

Attorney Mitch Powell called a precedent, the Georgia Supreme Court sided

with Coweta County in its zoning dispute with Senoia.

The court overturned

a decision by Coweta County Superior Court Judge William Lee, who said

the city should be able to annex 50 acres into the city and zone the land

as its council members please.

The case turned

into a battle over the recently enacted state House Bill 489, which requires

cities and counties to work closer to prevent duplication of services.

Part of the

law also requires cities and counties to work through a long mediation

process on annexation disputes. Lee declared those parts of the law unconstitutional

and said the Georgia Constitution gives the local governments exclusive

zoning power.

Because Coweta

County representatives can object to Senoia's zoning on the land in the

ordinary course of public hearings, the judge deemed the law calling for

further discussion between the two entities unconstitutional.

But the Supreme

Court ruled that the arbitration process is constitutional, so now the

city and county head back to the arbitration process, Powell said.

Senoia had

wanted to annex the property into the city and allow one-acre lots, but

the adjoining county property is zoned for five-acre tracts.

But this time,

city administrator Leonard Thompson said developer Steve Entrekin is seeking

the city's new "greenspace" R-40 zoning.

The zoning

allows for a little bit higher density development, but stipulates that

25 percent of the land must be reserved for greenspace.

Thompson estimates

Entrekin could place 55 homes on the tract.

Entrekin has

also requested annexation for a 100-acre tract further up Rockaway Road.

He's also requesting greenspace rezoning for that parcel.

The final tract

being considered for annexation is a 100-acre tract near Southern Mills.

The city plans to use the area for a spray field for their newly developed

sewer system.

During Tuesday's

County Commission meeting, Commissioner Vernon "Mutt" Hunter

said the county's planner should be prepared to explain every point of

his recommendations on the annexations.

"There

was a lot of misinformation last time. We don't need to go through that

again," Hunter said.

The county

will discuss the annexations at 7 p.m. at the county's administrative

building in Newnan next Thursday.