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City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes
<br />Tuesday, February 1, 2022
<br />6:30 p.m.
<br />The Mayor and Council of Peachtree City met for a workshop session on Tuesday, February 1, 2022.
<br />Mayor Kim Learnard called the workshop to order at 6:30 p.m. Others attending: Gretchen Caola,
<br />Frank Destadio, Mike King, and Phil Prebor.
<br />The purpose of the workshop was two -fold, to discuss:
<br />1) City planning issues including the purpose and process of the upcoming Comprehensive Plan
<br />update; revisions of development ordinances into a Unified Development Ordinance; short-
<br />term rental ordinance, and related topics.
<br />2) Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) 2022 discussions regarding the purpose of a
<br />SPLOST, the process of creating a projects list, public communications, and timeline.
<br />Comprehensive Plan
<br />City Manager Jon Rorie explained the purpose of the meeting, then handed off to Planning and
<br />Development Director Robin Cailloux. Cailloux said she wanted to go over the process for the
<br />Comprehensive Plan update, as well as talk about trends they needed to address, including
<br />accessory dwelling units and short-term rentals. She would also provide a reminder about the Unified
<br />Development Ordinance that would be coming up this year.
<br />The Planning Department existed, Cailloux remarked, because great places do not happen by
<br />accident. The Department had two functions: it handled the day-to-day requirements for
<br />development, but it also helped develop a broad view of how all the pieces fit together, such as
<br />how land was used, how transportation fit into that and so on. They did this to help ensure the long-
<br />term vitality of the community, environment, and economy.
<br />A depiction of the planning cycle reminded us that this was a journey, not a destination, Cailloux
<br />remarked. It began by identifying issues and trends, then deciding if those issues warranted any type
<br />of formal action that could include public participation in finding a solution that would be
<br />implemented by creating and revising ordinances. They also tracked their progress before it started
<br />over again. Public participation would be a strong part of the Comprehensive Plan update.
<br />A Comprehensive Plan was the State's term for a master plan. It was a community -driven document
<br />that should have at least a 20 -year horizon with a guiding vision, or goals. It should provide some
<br />policies to guide day-to-day decisions and had to include a five-year work program that could
<br />include anything from capital improvements to staff spent on certain programs. Georgia required it
<br />be updated every five years. There must be a strong public participation element and some form of
<br />future development map, which could be a parcel -specific future land use map, such as Peachtree
<br />City had or a map that identified "character areas" for certain types of development.
<br />The plan should accentuate the city's strengths and look for ways to mitigate weaknesses. It also
<br />could identify potential opportunities. Cailloux said she wanted to emphasize that creating a
<br />Comprehensive Plan always included an element of balancing competing interests and making
<br />difficult trade-offs. Everyone had a different views and priorities. Comprehensive planning looked at
<br />how to balance those interests to achieve as much good as possible with the least amount of
<br />negative impact.
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