The possible

location for a future commuter rail/bus station in Peachtree City has

caused a task force studying development of the West Village area to get

a little off track.

At its second

meeting last week, the task force was presented with a new design for

locating the station on land currently occupied by Line Creek Baptist

Church. Some task force members questioned why that site was selected

instead of two other sites mentioned at the previous meeting.

City Planner

David Rast said the Line Creek site was ideal since it comes closest to

what the Atlanta Regional Commission is looking for in its Livable Centers

Initiative program.

The two other

possible sites mentioned for the station further south near Falcon Field

Airport, and further north on land across Ga. Highway 74 from Wisdom Road

aren't located near a mix of retail, office and residential uses like

the Line Creek site, Rast explained.

The Line Creek

site is near various retail projects including The Avenue at Peachtree

City, the Marketplace retail center and the future Wal-Mart/Home Depot

site, Rast said. It's also close to office space at Westpark Walk and

several residential areas via the city's path system, he added.

Consultants

working with the task force met with city officials prior to the latest

LCI meeting and that's when the decision was made to focus on the Line

Creek site, Rast said.

The LCI program

provides grants for municipalities that develop plans using alternate

transportation to create places where people can live, work and shop without

using a car. The task force was mobilized to develop a plan for that area

that might fit in with the LCI program, which would qualify the city for

LCI grants from the ARC.

The task force

could determine that it doesn't want the city to participate in the LCI

program with ARC, Rast said.

"I don't

think we need to do everything the ARC would like us to do," Rast

said. "The task force may say this is feasible, so let's incorporate

it into the plan; or they may say it's not something we want to do so

let's not incorporate it in the plan."

The task force

could also recommend that the city decline to participate in the LCI program

altogether, Rast said.

In a letter

to Rast, task force member Eileen Shaw questioned the reasoning for creating

a transit station that could have a regional draw, thereby increasing

traffic in the area.

"If we

come to an agreement with the owners for standards and guidelines to tie

the area together architecturally, Peachtree City will benefit,"

Shaw wrote. "But frankly, I am not interested in being a rubber stamp

for a high-density, high-volume, high-impact regional rail or bus facility

located on the most congested corridor in Peachtree City just to obtain

grant money from ARC or anyone else."

The idea to

plan ahead for a potential rail/bus station is based on studies that have

identified Peachtree City as a potential stop on a commuter rail line

that could run to Atlanta, Rast said.

"The goal

here is to do something a majority of the people are going to support,"

Rast explained. "It's not that commuter rail is coming here tomorrow

or next week, or that commuter bus is coming anytime soon. It's just about

getting ahead of the game and placing it in an appropriate area if it

were to come."

The LCI program

doesn't require high-density residential or 10-story office buildings,

Rast said.

Consultants

on the LCI project think the station could be built along the rail lines

but initially used for a bus system until the commuter rail system becomes

a reality.

Rast said the

next few meetings of the task force will focus more on the elements needed

to tie the area together, including architectural standards and landscaping.

The consultants on the project will not attend those meetings so the task

force can focus on the project.

"We're

going back to ground zero, and we're going to look at the corridor and

what the task force thinks it should have to tie it all together, especially

looking at our alternate form of transportation: the cart path system,"

Rast said.

The next few

meetings will be dedicated to setting the task force's goals and objectives,

Rast added. Another main topic of discussion will be the city's application

for funding under the LCI grants.

Rast also urged

concerned citizens to attend the task force's future meetings and participate

to learn more about the projects.

The next task

force meeting will be Thursday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.