Peachtree City's

Planning Commission is somewhat worried that a little housekeeping might

be taken the wrong way.

As the commission

has undertaken the updating of the city's land use plan, it is considering

changing certain tracts from a open space use to recreational use. Currently,

golf courses in the city and other recreational areas such as athletic

fields are labeled open space, when technically they are used for a certain

activity, voiding the principle of open space as defined by the Greenspace

program initiated by Gov. Roy Barnes.

Changing the

designated land use to recreation for the city-owned athletic fields and

facilities isn't expected to create a problem.

But changing

the use of the golf courses to recreation could create a problem, commission

chairman Wes Saunders pointed out at the commission's meeting Monday night.

"Is something

unintended going to pound us here?" Saunders asked.

The commission

agreed to put the question to Jim Williams, the city's director of developmental

services, who was unable to attend the meeting due to an illness.

As the discussion

continued, however, several planning commissioners wondered if changing

the golf courses' land use designation would open the door to other developments

such as a bowling alley, skating rink or other less than ideal development.

The catch is

that the golf courses are privately owned compared to the city's athletic

fields and facilities which are operated by the city, giving officials

a greater amount of control over those uses.

"I don't

want to change what is an asset to Peachtree City," said planning

commissioner Rich Schumacher, who added that if the courses ever had financial

difficulties they could be sold to another owner who may wish to build

other recreation projects there.

Schumacher

said an extreme example would be if a golf course was sold to a group

that anted to located a minor league baseball team in Peachtree City.

The Planning

Commission will hold a public hearing on the land use plan at its next

meeting, set for Dec. 10. City staff have indicated they hope to have

the plan adopted then so it may be considered by the City Council at its

last meeting in December, although it is possible that the matter will

be continued until January when the political makeup of council changes

with new Mayor Steve Brown and new Councilman Murray Weed.