A vote to further investigate a possible 360-acre annexation in west Peachtree City was tabled by the City Council Thursday night.

But citizens who supported the annexation as a way to extend MacDuff Parkway for traffic relief got a victory, too, as council voted to set aside $280,000 for engineering of the road. The action came at the suggestion of Councilman Steve Rapson, who argued the road needed to be done regardless of whether the city annexes the property or not.

If the property isn't annexed, it will take cooperation with the Fayette County Commission since some of the needed land is currently located in the unincorporated county, Rapson noted.

City staff devised a ballpark projection of $2.79 million to extend the road to the at-grade railroad crossing that would line up with the southern intersection of Kedron Drive and Ga. Highway 74. To extend the road farther north, including a bridge over the railroad track, would cost $6.13 million, according to the rough estimates provided by Clyde Stricklin, the city's director of developmental services.

The one-month delay on the possible annexation study, approved 3-2, allows city staff to approach the county commission to determine if it will oppose the rezoning of the property, which could ultimately lead to a lawsuit. Mayor Steve Brown and Councilman Stuart Kourajian voted against tabling the matter.

Council approval is necessary for the annexation application so city staff can work more intently on the project with the developer. This would be the first project brought to council under its new system for handling annexation applications.

The parcel Wieland wants annexed is currently zoned R-70 in the county, requiring a minimum lot size of 2 acres. The tract was the subject of a lawsuit between the county and the land's previous owner, Pathway Communities, which sought to shrink the minimum lot sizes to one acre.

The court ultimately ruled in the county's favor, maintaining the zoning of the property.

Brown, citing the county's lack of cooperation on the EMS tax equity matter, said he would not support having the city's public safety agencies serve the tract if it remained in the county. City officials contend that city residents are being taxed by the county to pay for the county EMS service even though they don't receive that service due to the existence of the city's own EMS service.

The potential density of the property John Wieland Homes wants to annex would be over 700 homes, Councilman Steve Rapson noted. Wieland wants to combine the 360-acre tract with another 88-acre parcel already in the city for the entire development.

The company wants to have regular detached homes in addition to townhomes and "live-work" space with offices and small stores on the first floor with living spaces on the second level. Wieland is also planning to have a large open greenspace, called a village green, in addition to four athletic fields that would be donated to the city.

The schematic presented at Thursday's council meeting also included a significant greenspace buffer along Line Creek, which abuts the 360-acre parcel.

A previous attempt to annex more than 900 acres, including the current acreage, was voted down by the council in August 2000.

An annexation moratorium was reinstated by the 2000 council, which lasted until last year when the current council removed the moratorium in favor of an "annexation process" that allowed developers unlimited tries at getting their projects incorporated into the city.

Mr. Wieland himself made the initial presentation to council Thursday night, and he committed to reimbursing the city for certain costs of city staff time spent to investigate the annexation proposal.