The Peachtree

City Council has agreed to allow Summit Apartments to open two more of

its buildings off MacDuff Parkway despite the mounting traffic problems

caused by delays in relocating a traffic signal at MacDuff and Ga. Highway

54 West.

To help alleviate

those problems, the city has agreed to open an access road to the Wynnmeade

subdivision off MacDuff so motorists will have easier access to the stoplight

at the Wynnmeade entrance. Before that can happen, a utility pole that

poses a hazard to vehicles must be relocated, said Jim Williams, the city's

director of developmental services.

Doug McMurrain

of RAM Development, a company responsible for the traffic light relocation,

said he was willing to erect traffic calming devices in the Wynnmeade

subdivision, and place signs warning motorists to slow due to the presence

of children.

A new deadline

for relocating the traffic light has been set for July 17.

Currently,

MacDuff motorists have been turning west on 54 and turning around at the

entrance to Wynnmeade during periods of heavy traffic.

That signal

is the one which will be relocated under a development agreement between

the city and developers in the area including Ravin Homes (the Cedarcroft

developer) and RAM Development (a commercial developer). However, the

relocation has been delayed several months.

Under the development

agreement, none of the buildings in the Summit Apartments or the Cedarcroft

subdivision were to receive certificates of occupancy until the light

was operational at MacDuff Parkway.

Previously,

city officials approved certificates of occupancy for three buildings

at Summit despite the lack of the traffic signal. At last week's council

meeting, a Summit representative asked for certificates of occupancy at

several more buildings to prevent the company from losing money on the

project.

The two buildings

approved by council will have approximately 32 units each. But the buildings

cannot open until they have been through the normal building inspection

process, Williams noted.

Summit representative

Robert Trujillo said 95 units have been leased so far at the apartments,

but the lack of a traffic light is not Summit's fault.

"We are

losing ($1,000-$1,400 in rent per unit) every month, every day,"

Trujillo said. "The risk of this going beyond July 17 is extremely

minimal. We'd be out of business by then."

Summit officials

will become more involved in the relocation process to insure it's completed

"I'm kind

of a bit peeved that we have to put up with a less than perfect situation

there," said Mayor Bob Lenox.

"Anytime

you try to turn left coming into Peachtree City, it's a problem,"

said Police Chief James Murray. The chief added that he did not see the

lack of the signal as a significant public safety problem.

McMurrain said

the delay has been on the part of the Georgia Department of Transportation

because of the time it has taken to approve the permit to move the light.

"Those

permits have been on file for well over a year," said RAM attorney

Doug Dillard, who questioned whether the city had the legal rights to

deny the certificates of occupancy for the unopened Summit buildings.

The first three

buildings approved for occupancy back in January were done based on estimates

that the traffic light would have been relocated by now, Williams pointed

out.

Wynnmeade resident

John Dillahunt said he didn't oppose using the MacDuff-Wynnmeade connector

for traffic from MacDuff as long as the utility pole is relocated.

"I see

no big problem," he said.

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