The Peachtree

City Council may soon be looking to amend its traffic impact ordinance

to cover the rest of Peachtree City.

Currently the

ordinance covers any new development that could affect traffic in the

Ga. Highway 54 West corridor; such developments are required to build

improvements to the highway relative to the impact the development would

have based on a traffic impact study.

At last week's

City Council retreat, several council members said they favored expanding

the ordinance to cover all of Peachtree City.

Councilwoman

Annie McMenamin said even established areas should be looked at because

of the potential for redevelopment of larger parcels which could possibly

have a negative impact on traffic in the city.

"When

TDK's connected, it will have an affect on the Crosstown Road and Highway

74 area," noted councilman Steve Rapson.

Now that the

widening of Ga. Highway 54 West is slated to begin in late summer, the

ordinance has lost its teeth, said City Engineer Troy Besseche, who is

also serving as interim director of developmental services.

The Georgia

Department of Transportation likely won't issue any permits for further

improvements to Hwy. 54 West, Besseche noted. Meanwhile, more commercial

development is poised to occur on the northern side of the highway.

Since those

new developments won't be able to construct further highway improvements,

Besseche is recommending that the city collect a traffic impact fee instead.

"This

will enable the city to address long-range traffic planning without the

uncertainty of accelerated or incremental development determining the

implementation schedule and financing," Besseche said in a memo to

council. "At the time it is needed, necessary funds to provide for

the projects will already be available to mitigate each project's effect."

The traffic

impact ordinance has been effective, especially with the improvements

added for the Wal-Mart/Home Depot development, Besseche added. The westbound

"through" lane has been effective in helping ease problems with

traffic headed in that direction, he said.

City staff

will prepare a proposal for council for a traffic impact fee to be considered

for adoption at a future council meeting.

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