Planning Commission launches Unified Development Ordinance effort, cancels Feb. 10 meeting and schedules committee work

The Peachtree City Planning Commission used its Jan. 27 meeting to officially kick off the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) project. Commissioners reviewed goals for consolidating and modernizing zoning and land‑development rules, agreed that the Planning Commission will serve as the UDO committee, and approved canceling the Feb. 10 Planning Commission meeting so committee members can hold an initial working session.

City Manager Justin Strickland briefed the commission on logistics, saying council approved the UDO project and allocated staff access and Microsoft Teams resources for committee work. Commissioners discussed project scope, desired outcomes (clarify definitions, eliminate contradictory language, and create consistent village‑center overlays), and the need to strike a balance between uniform rules and allowances for local character.

Commissioner Kenneth (surname not specified in the transcript) volunteered to serve as project leader and described a management approach in which individual commissioners would lead specific ordinance sections while the project leader coordinates progress and ensures alignment. Other commissioners supported splitting the UDO workload into focused topic teams and providing regular updates to city council.

The commission voted to cancel the Feb. 10 meeting and to hold a first UDO committee session (the committee is to be publicly noticed as required). Staff and commissioners agreed to use Microsoft Teams for file sharing and communications, with Commissioners asked to join Teams by midweek to begin document exchange. City staff said any meetings of the UDO committee will comply with open‑meetings and public‑notice requirements; the transcript records staff saying a 24‑hour notice is required for a special‑called meeting posted on the building.

Commissioners identified near‑term tasks for the first committee work: adopt a mission statement and high‑level goals/objectives, decide a work‑breakdown and tracking tool (options discussed included Excel, Smartsheet or other project tools), assign commissioners to ordinance sections, and schedule regular reporting milestones to city council. The commission agreed to reconvene as a committee and to finalize an agenda for the first session via Microsoft Teams and staff coordination.

The UDO is a multi‑year effort intended to consolidate the zoning ordinance, the land development ordinance and related guidance into a single, clearer document and to develop consistent overlay standards for village centers that currently lack them.