A request from John Wieland

Homes to annex 80 acres into Peachtree City off the western side of MacDuff

Parkway is one step closer to becoming reality.

At its meeting Monday night,

the Planning Commission agreed unanimously to recommend approval of the

rezoning to the City Council, which is expected to rule on the matter

Thursday, Aug. 16. The land is part of a 350-home subdivision which partially

lies in the city limits.

Current plans for the site

include land that will be donated for a possible elementary school. Also,

the plan includes approximately one acre that will be deeded to the city

for a fire station.

"This is a very difficult

area to justify not being in the city," said Jim Williams, the city's

director of developmental services. That's because the land currently

is bordered by the city limits to the south, east and west, he explained.

The Planning Commission recommended

that the council condition the annexation approval on Wieland extending

MacDuff Parkway to the school site, which is near the northernmost limit

of the property. That will allow an access road to be built for a planned

107-home subdivision which will be built to the west.

The company also has agreed

to fund the right turn lane on Ga. Highway 54 so eastbound traffic can

turn onto Huddleston Drive/Road and travel toward the industrial park.

The funds will be given to RAM Development, which will actually be responsible

for construction of that project, said Dan Fields, vice president of John

Wieland Homes.

Wieland also will be required

to create a buffer, whether a privacy fence or through landscaping, between

the western part of the subdivision and homes in the existing Wynnmeade

subdivision.

Wayne Roberts of the Wynnmeade

Homeowners Association said residents there were worried the townhomes

bordering the subdivision would become rental properties. Fields said

covenants will forbid leasing more than 20 percent of the townhomes in

the planned Centennial subdivision.

Concerns also were expressed

about the viability of the school site and what would happen if the school

system decides not to locate a campus there. Williams said Wieland has

committed to build no more than 350 homes in the subdivision regardless

of the school site.

John Wieland Homes also will

be required to install water line infrastructure to create a "loop"

among the other developments in the area, including Wynnmeade and others.

Plans call for 104 homes on

the property being considered for annexation with 246 units on the remainder

of the property, which is already in the city limits.

Mike Satterfield, facility

director for the Fayette County Board of Education, said the board would

like for the school site to be expanded to the south so it could have

more room. The prototype school doesn't quite fit on the land, which would

have an access road cut through the northern portion, according to current

plans.

The access road actually shrinks

the 20 acres of usable property down to 13 or 14, Satterfield said.

"It's extremely tight

for us," he added.

Although the commission approved

the annexation plan 3-0 with two commissioners absent, it did not sign

off on the concept plan for the subdivision, which will be reviewed at

a later date.

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