Although Peachtree City's development

moratorium has been ruled invalid by a Superior Court Judge, it served

part of its purpose, argues Mayor Steve Brown.

The moratorium, which was overturned

of four committees to nearly complete their most important work so recommendations

could be forwarded to council, Brown said. The committees studying tree

preservation and the city's stormwater ordinance are both close to having

recommendations for changes to the city ordinances regarding those topics,

he added.

The stormwater ordinance changes

were designed to keep the city from having to fund improvements to developments

once they are completed, Brown said. One of the goals of the tree preservation

committee is finding a way to insure trees remain viable in new developments

after the first year.

The moratorium was overturned

after a lawsuit filed by the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia,

which claimed it was unfair although it included an appeals process by

which developers could seek to have their projects not upheld to the moratorium,

which was scheduled to last 90 days.

With the court's ruling Thursday,

the moratorium ended after just 34 days in effect.

The moratorium called for a

ban on the planning commission approving any new concept plans, new landscape

plans and new concept plats for subdivisions.

Although local business leaders

labelled the moratorium as "bad for business," Brown noted that

Peachtree City's local option sales tax figures haven't dropped as much

as seen in other municipalities.

Brown attributed that to the

city's level of quality controls on commercial growth.

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