Fairburn officials

put the brakes on growth Monday night.

The City Council

unanimously placed a 90-day moratorium on accepting any new subdivision

plats. The moratorium started May 15 and is automatically renewable until

next February, unless the city decides to end it.

City planner

Bill Johnston explained the city needs the moratorium to catch its breath

from the recent growth spurt.

"Right

now, we have developments on the books that will increase our population

from the 1990 Census figures of 4,000 to 13,000," he said.

The slowdown

period will allow the city's staff and Planning Commission to review all

zoning regulations concerning development and make sure the city is ready

for the next round of growth, Johnston said.

Any plats that

have been submitted prior to May 15 will still be allowed to continue

and Councilman Gene Wiggins wanted to know if there was a way to quantify

how many were "in the hopper."

City Administrator

Tony Cox said if an individual has submitted his plan and paid the fee,

he considers it as a viable plan that can still go through all the channels

during the moratorium period.

Resident Tommy

Thomas agreed with the council's decision.

"I think

we're growing too fast," he said.