The Fairburn

City Council had its hands full during Monday's meeting when several people

and their placard-holding children demonstrated their dissatisfaction

with the situation at Duncan Park.

The park, which

the city took over in July, has become something of an albatross around

the city's neck.

"It's

a regional park," explained Mayor Betty Hannah, pointing out that

the city itself does not currently have the funds to return the facility

to its former glory. Before Fairburn took ownership, the grounds were

virtually neglected and left in disarray.

Questions were

asked about how much was being budgeted for use on the park in the coming

year. The answer, $100,000, was given emphasizing that this is mostly

upkeep and landscaping with a small portion going to recreation.

Despite signs

which said, "Let the children play," the park will remain a

"passive park" used mostly for picnics and jogging.

After passing

its new budget, the City Council was assailed again with a lengthy proposal

to rezone 26 acres on the west side of Plantation Road to allow townhouses

to be built there instead of apartments.

Attorney Doug

Dillard argued his case for increased density on the site from 152 apartments

to 215 townhouses. Even with 63 more dwellings than the previous design,

Dillard felt that the owner-occupied townhouse units would be preferable

to rental apartments which are in over supply in Fairburn.

"What

we are trying to do is offer a compromise here," Dillard said.

The few changes

to be made in the development standards did not sit well with Councilman

Harvey Melear. Minimum lot width shrank from 50 feet to 30 feet and the

minimum rear yard from 25 feet to 18 feet. The 1,200-square-foot minimum

floor area was reconfigured from a two-car garage to a one-car garage.

"How many

people are you going to sell a townhouse to that have one car?" Melear

asked. "What we are going to have is a major problem of cars on the

street. What's going to happen is they're going to take that one car garage

and make a utility room out of it." Melear added that both cars would

then be parked on the street.

Developer Jim

Blankenship stepped forward to defend the idea.

"We're

going to put a red light at [Hwy.] 74 at our expense. We're going to have

to improve Plantation Road at our expense. That's probably close to $500,000

just in road repair. Taking that into consideration we've given as much

as we can give," he said.

After exhausting

every rationale, the townhomes were approved even though Melear wished

to defer the motion until a later meeting.