PTCCA.ORG

PTCCA Position on
Site Plan Modifications
October 13, 2008

Position: Due to the recent development to require additional utility easement acreage, that subsequently negates the 60 foot tree save buffer that was mandated in the rezoning and planning of Wilshire Village, PTCCA requests that steps be taken to prevent future loss of such buffer, and a system of checks and balances put into place to handle site plan modifications, whether requested or mandated by outside jurisdictions.

Background Research: The following excerpts are taken directly from PTC Article VII “General Development Standard and Design Guidelines”
Sec 723 Arterial Highways, “Nonresidential buffers. A continuous 60-foot-wide tree-save/landscape buffer shall be established for any nonresidential development adjacent to an arterial highway. , adopted May 18, 2006, to support this necessary action. Clearly from the excerpt outlined below the intent for follow up on site plan modification is indicated, specifically tree-save/landscape buffer modification.

(c) Special conditions and exceptions.

(1) The required tree-save/landscape buffer for any nonresidential property may be reduced as follows,
subject to the approval of the city landscape architect and the planning commission:”
The following excerpt indicates that if a change comes along that is beyond the owner’s control (i.e. utility easement changes) that these changes be the responsibility of the property owner and not the city, unless previously arranged. It also indicates that ANY modification to ANY element of the site plan requires review and approval by the planning commission.
Sec 734 “Changes beyond the owner's control shall be restored by the owner, unless otherwise provided.
Any modifications to any element of the site plan, building design or lighting initially approved by the planning commission will require subsequent review and approval by the planning commission.”

Recommendation: Unfortunately, due to either time constraint, or for the nature of expediency, changes to site plans do not always come before planning commission before they are enacted or decided upon. In the case of Wilshire Village, the utility easement widening to eliminate the 60 ft of tree save is a huge change to the original plan. It will no doubt impact the feel and intent of the entire development. Yet it was never before brought before planning commission to determine the best course of action. Now the trees are gone, and we are being asked to make the most out of what otherwise could have been a preventable situation.

In order to prevent future developments from deviating from the site plan in such a drastic manner without the approval of either the planning commission or city council we recommend the following amendments to our Design Standards for Retail, Commercial and Industrial Building Design:

1. Deviations from the site plan with respect to location of water retention, utilities, utility easements, or GDOT easements must be approved by planning commission and city council.
2. Deviations from any site plan with respect to location of roadways, access roads, and/or traffic circles within the development must be approved by planning commission and city council.
3. Deviations with respect to removal of large trees within a tree-save buffer and within the development itself must be approved by planning commission and city council.
4. Any buffer changes at all must be approved by both planning commission and city council.
5. Significant changes to architectural renderings must be approved by both planning commission and city council.
6. Changes in size and quantity of buildings, as well as their locations on the site plan must be approved by both planning commission and city council.
7. Deviations with respect to low lying shrubs, small trees, or other small plantings must be approved by planning commission.
8. Color scheme variations must be approved by planning commission.
9. Any changes made to the site plan without proper approval as outlined above will result in a stop work action and fines assessed in an amount to be determined by the city on a case by case basis.
All developers should be made aware of these additional requirements prior to submitting a final site plan.
PTCCA believes that adherence to these amendments will protect future developments from becoming anything other than what was planned. It will also encourage developers to plan carefully, and not deviate from any approved plan unless absolutely necessary. It should also keep the city involved in the development progress, to prevent unforeseen mistakes and last minute changes that could affect the overall quality of the development.

Summary: The PTCCA asks that the planning commission and city council take immediate action to incorporate a system of checks and balances in our design standards to ensure that site plans are carried out according to the conditions of their approval. Any changes either requested or mandated are the responsibility of the developer to bring to the attention of planning commission and/or council before progress continues on the project. Peachtree City needs to protect itself for future development and redevelopment, in the event that approved site plans need to be modified. If we work together to make these changes, PTCCA feels strongly that each development will be successfully planned, carried out, and completed to the high standard that is Peachtree City.