The Fayetteville

City Council acquiesced to a local homeowners association by rescinding

its requirement of a road to connect two subdivisions.

Instead, the

council will allow a multiuse path to connect the Highland Park and Pecan

Ridge subdivisions. The path must be built to street standards so an emergency

vehicle can access the Highland Park subdivision if necessary.

Highland Park

owners opposed the construction of a road, saying they didn't need it

for access purposes. A poll of homeowners indicated that 90 percent supported

the multi-use path connection instead, said Jahnee Prince, the city's

director of planning and zoning.

Councilman

Walt White voiced the only vote against allowing the multi-use path, saying

he felt the city should address safety concerns.

"I just

think it's a possible safety problem," White said. He suggested using

a moveable steel post to discourage full-size autos from using the path

as an access to Highland Park.

But an effort

to get that language into the motion offered by councilman Al Hovey-King

was rebuffed. Hovey-King accepted a friendly amendment to have the safety

situation of the path evaluated after a six-month period.

The motion

passed 4-1 with White against.

When the rezoning

for the Highland Park subdivision was approved several years ago, council

included a requirement that a road be built to connect it to the Pecan

Ridge subdivision. The main idea was to have a second entryway available

for emergency vehicles, but it also would have provided a roundabout way

for Highland Park residents to have access to Ga. Highway 54 East.