To bring them

in line with the city's recently updated Land Use Plan, the Peachtree

City City Council has approved "housekeeping" rezonings for

19 different properties.

Most of the

rezoned parcels were bestowed the "open space" designation to

protect them from being developed in the future. Many of the parcels were

parks that were previously zoned for residential use.

But two of

the proposed rezonings were voted down by the council after a significant

amount of protest from several adjacent property owners at Thursday night's

council meeting.

Several residents

claimed their property extended into one of two drainage ponds off Kedron

Drive, which were referred to as "Pond A" and "Pond B".

Both ponds are owned by the city.

The city wanted

to rezone the property from R-12 residential to open space, but several

residents protested, saying there was no benefit and they were concerned

about the city developing the area.

City Attorney

Rick Lindsey explained that since the homeowners own their property, they

are the only ones who could add anything on. The city could not add a

cart path without condemning the land, which apparently is not even in

the works.

Other residents

worried that the open space designation would "open up" the

ponds to be used by the public. But City Planner David Rast said that

was not the case; the goal was to protect the property so it can't be

used for a residential project.

"Detention

ponds are not residential," Rast explained. "Residential is

a subdivision or an apartment complex."

Mayor Steve

Brown wanted to continue the matter until another council meeting so residents

could meet with city planning staff to weigh the pros and cons. But several

residents at the meeting said they wouldn't change their minds and they

wanted their pond left alone.

Some of the

residents said they didn't get a letter of notification from the city

about the rezoning. A number of the certified letters were indeed returned

to the city because they couldn't be forwarded, it was reported.

Brown said

the matter would be investigated to make sure it doesn't happen again.

City Attorney

Rick Lindsey said the city ordinance requires use of information from

Fayette County's tax digest, which is the procedure the city followed

in mailing the notices.

Public information

officer Betsy Tyler said since the letters are sent as certified mail,

they cannot list "or current owner" on the address.

It was also

noted that the city recently got some of the letters back in the past

few days from the post office as undeliverable.

Several residents

said they wanted to make sure they could continue to maintain the natural

growth in their area around the pond. Rast explained that the pond is

supposed to have a 25-foot natural buffer that should be undisturbed.

Brown said

that was to protect water quality from being contaminated by runoff water

from grass which could contain fertilizer or other contaminants that could

harm the water supply.