The main problems revolving around planning initiatives are people do not see or care about future problems and the uncertainty of what elected decision-makers will actually do in the future.

The truth is that local governments are mandated to have these plans, but there is no such mandate to actually follow them.

Throughout metropolitan Atlanta, government land planning is generally an archaic process that does little to safeguard a community from harm and more to enrich those in real estate development. Similarly, there is no nexus between government land planning and government transportation planning, so traffic concerns are an afterthought, causing great pain down the timeline.

We have elected officials in office locally today who have not kept their campaign promises on annexation outside of their comprehensive plans and who focus more on residential housing than on the development of jobs to meet the needs of our community’s current demographics.

Originally, the land to the west of Ga. Highway 74 in Peachtree City was all going to be corporate or industrial uses. The plan was adhered to for many years and then local elected decision makers allowed things to change, injecting residential development into the mix.

Ga. Highway 54 on the western side of Peachtree City is a disaster. Sadly, it is a self-inflicted disaster.

There was some foresight back in the 1980s Planning Commission denoting the need to pay close attention to the portion of the Hwy. 54 corridor between Hwy. 74 and the Coweta County line. Obviously, the desires of the real estate developers won over the need for responsible traffic management, hence the gridlock.

We have the traffic gridlock there because the elected officials failed to care about the long-term ramifications of their decisions. Keep in mind that it was a host of different elected officials over many years who allowed the planning process to unravel year-after-year, failing the citizens, creating future planning conundrums to be resolved at a huge cost.

The reason Peachtree City has almost no land remaining for constructing the lucrative corporate headquarters type of development that bodes well for jobs and tax revenue is the local elected officials strayed from the plans and dug themselves into a deep hole. With creating that deep hole comes a multitude of painful and expensive problems for the taxpayers.

The city of Fayetteville appears to be heading into the same direction, probably unintentionally, but certainly moving that way.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is now trying to get Peachtree City to look at a concept called a continuous flow intersection at the intersection of Hwy. 54 and Hwy. 74. This proposal costs less than the proposed grade separation solution that has been part of the local plans for over a decade, but is less likely to be as effective.

The dilemma now is if the city goes with the Continuous Flow Intersection concept and it fails quickly, it will be very difficult and painful to get GDOT to do the planned grade separation in the foreseeable future.

There is also a below the radar push to move forward on the formerly proposed TDK Extension road project just south of the Hwy. 54 and Hwy. 74 intersection. There is no doubt that project would be catastrophic, but there is real estate development money to be made on the land surrounding the proposed route.

Local citizens, you should never count on your elected officials to make decisions in the best interest of community. Sometimes decisions are made in ignorance and other times made out of allegiance to a competing interest, but the results are destructive either way.

Demand accountability on land and transportation planning. Please pay attention and voice your opinions as your community’s future depends on it.

Steve Brown, Commissioner
Fayette County Board of Commissioners
Peachtree City, Ga.