Congratulations to our client, The Pulte Group, for obtaining rezoning for a Del Webb Community. Del Webb is a prestigious national brand and will be a tremendous asset to our community.
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By Laura Camper | July 12, 2023
Click here to read article on Newnan Times Herald.
Over the cries of local residents, Coweta commissioners on Tuesday approved a rezoning and nine zoning variances to accommodate an over 55 community.
"I'll have you escorted out," Chairman John Reidelbach said to quiet the protesting crowd after he made the motion to approve the rezoning.
Del Webb and Pulte Homes proposed the project for acreage near the Baker, Posey and Hammock Road intersection between I-85 and Highway 34.
The community had been proposed before, but on a larger scale. In November, the commissioners voted down the rezoning from rural conservation to residential retirement community and care district requested by Pulte Homes for a 1,236 home community on 581 acres.
Attorney George Rosenzweig, who was representing the developers of the community, said they had carefully considered the questions, suggestions and concerns about the former proposal when creating the new one.
The community was trimmed to 964 lots on 492 acres with almost half of the acreage being green space.
"The development is characterized by smaller than usual lots and a great deal of open space, natural and landscaped areas," Rosenzweig said. "It's a beautiful product. It's very prestigious and it would be a great product to bring to Coweta County."
He noted that this time, developers were offering to pay 100 percent of the cost of extending Holtz Parkway "over a mile" to the subdivision. The developers also will pay the entire cost of a Baker-Posey-Hammock roundabout to ease traffic snarls at the intersection, Rosenzweig said.
"And that will be before the 100th certificate of occupancy issues," he said.
In addition, the developer will pay the cost of adding a right turn lane at Baker Road and Highway 34, "removing that bottleneck," Rosenzweig said. In all the developer would invest more than $8 million into infrastructure for the community, he said.
Additionally, once completed the development will add an estimated $523 million to the tax digest and provide schools with more than estimated $38 million in education special purpose local option sales tax and property tax revenue.
Carol Freund, a local resident who supports the project, said she has friends and family who live in other Pulte communities and they are happy in the well-maintained properties.
"The population is aging," Freund said. "We need the over 55 housing and we may as well have a five-star as to have a one-star community."
She added that she would be looking into moving there if the community is approved.
Frankie Hardin, another local resident, disagreed. She spoke about the environmental issues of removing the trees and wildlife from the acreage.
"But, I'm going to surprise you now and tell you that I could actually support this project. I could understand that we need to lose the trees if this were the housing that we needed. It's not," Hardin said. "We're going to have to have high density in places. Yes. I'm a big fan of tiny homes and I think you should be looking at that because we have got to address our affordable housing situation."
She urged them to stick with the county's comprehensive plan.
Tom Drolet spoke in favor of the development. He's lived in the area since the late 1980s having moved there for the quiet, peaceful surroundings.
He said he was pleased with the changes made to the proposal and the conditions placed on the development by the county and he prefers it to other developments that could go in such as warehouses, retail or apartments
"If this project goes ahead, it goes ahead as we're seeing here," Drolet said. "From my personal point of view, this project is preferred."
Some people were pleased with the transportation improvements the developers would provide. But others said the additional drivers would just add to the traffic headaches.
Tom Thomason said it can take him 20 minutes to get the one mile from his house to Interstate 85.
"And 964 homes in this with no access to the interstate will not make it any easier", Thomason said.
Jeff Hennum agreed.
"There's already too much traffic in the Hammock-154 corridor," Hennum said. "It becomes a further concern and actually a safety issue if the traffic changes aren't made before the first house is built. Because if somebody needs an ambulance, needs a fire truck and so forth there could be further delays. ... It could affect people's lives."
Teresa Campbell said Posey Road is in terrible shape already and adding more homes in the area will only increase problems.
"There aren't any shoulders anymore. People's mailboxes are already falling over," Campbell said.
Commissioner Reidelbach said he understands the traffic issues in the area, he lives there, too. However, development of that property is inevitable, he added. Eight months ago, a company approached the county about building distribution warehouses there, Reidelbach said.
"We're going to have growth," he said. "What we have to do is we have to think about what's the best quality growth we can come up with and I think the fact that they're proffering so much money to improve the traffic conditions, I think it will get better."
