A rezoning proposal for a 124-home

subdivision on the southern edge of Peachtree City on Ga. Highway 74 was

denied unanimously by the City Council Thursday night.

Several council members said

the 125-acre site should remain zoned for general industrial, particularly

because members of the city and county development authorities were worried

about losing that property from the industrial park.

The potential impact the subdivision

might have on adding more children to the school system was also a factor

since schools serving that area already house students in trailers.

"I'm very concerned about

overcrowding schools," said councilman Dan Tennant.

"The people I know don't

like to have their kids in trailers," said councilman Steve Rapson.

Developer Marvin Isenberg said

the school board plans to build new schools in the area that would more

than accommodate the students generated by the subdivision. He added that

the school board has not protested the rezoning.

While the plan also included

two commercial outparcels off the highway totalling over six acres, the

developer also committed to realign Rockaway Road so it would intersect

with Hwy. 74 at the current traffic light for Holly Grove Road.

The Planning Commission had

recommended approving the rezoning, and city staff supported it also.

City Planner David Rast said while the last land use plan update didn't

have any recommendations for the property, it was previously planned for

a single-family medium-density project.

But Rapson said the commercial

outparcels were "in stark contrast to the land use plan recommendations."

"Part of the reason Peachtree

City is still a wonderful place to live is because of following the land

use plan," Rapson said.

Rapson pointed to the Wilshire

Pavilion retail center across the highway and noted it has not been fully

developed yet, with three outparcels not developed. The commercial parcels

for the proposed subdivision would cause a lot of traffic to cross the

highway, he added.

Tennant said he didn't support

the rezoning because it allowed a higher density than Wilshire Estates,

the subdivision directly across the highway from the proposed subdivision.

City Planner David Rast said

the subdivision would have lot sizes similar to those in Wilshire Estates

and he didn't feel the density was that much higher. But Rapson pointed

out that homes could only be built on 31 acres of the 125-acre tract because

of the floodplain.

Rast said the developer planned

to donate approximately 80 acres of the floodplain land and open space

to the city. He also said the way that area is growing,, a neighborhood

retail center would soon be needed and that justified allowing the commercial

parcels.

"If this were located

any other place in the city it would be extremely attractive," said

councilwoman Annie McMenamin. "But I think when Highway 74 is widened,

it will be an attractive piece of (industrial) property."

The subdivision lies in the

flight approach pattern for Falcon Field Airport, and McMenamin added

that airport traffic will continue to grow.

Thomas Stephens, who owns the

property with his mother, said the land has been in his family for 130

years. But because of the tax assessments on the property, it has become

"prohibitive" for the family to continue to own the parcel,

Stephens added.

"This is what we have

been holding out for," Stephens said.

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