Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Crabapple Lane topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge Peachtree City Council to keep Crabapple Lane closed, citing safety and outside development pressures
Summary
Multiple Kedron Hills and Kettering Hills residents told council they favor keeping Crabapple Lane closed to outside automobile and golf-cart traffic, arguing the gate cut shortcut traffic, improved safety for children and that developers and neighboring Tyrone are seeking low-cost access to Peachtree City's path system.
Dozens of Peachtree City residents urged the City Council to keep Crabapple Lane closed to outside traffic, saying the locked gate has reduced shortcut traffic and protected children who use nearby playgrounds and the pool.
At the start of public comment, Tim O’Brien of Kedron Hills said he counted roughly 60 neighbors at a recent HOA meeting and argued a small minority should not determine access that affects 38,000 city residents; he told the council, “We just lost $1,700,000 in TIP money” and asked why the city would accept that outcome over neighborhood safety. Several speakers later questioned that funding claim and whether any county official had actually threatened to withdraw services; Jennifer Braden said she spoke with “mister Rapson” who told her “no one has threatened to take away or degrade public safety.”
Ned Colegrove, who brought visual aids, described a 200-yard walk from his house on Loring Lane to the neighborhood playground and said there are no sidewalks: “When we bring our wagon of toys and our kids… we climb up off the road onto my neighbor’s property as the traffic comes through.” Colegrove and other residents said traffic had “dramatically improved” since the closure and warned nearby high-end developments outside the city were marketing path access that they called an externality for Peachtree City neighborhoods.
Other commenters echoed safety and quality-of-life concerns. Joan Brennan Adkins cited Peachtree City’s code of ordinances and comprehensive plan to argue developers should fund connecting paths and said county master-plan language does not endorse routing outside golf-cart traffic through residential streets. Katrina Hitchens, a retired Air Force officer, asked rhetorically, “What is life worth to you?” and recounted a family member’s fatal traffic accident as a reason to favor closure.
Opponents of reopening said alternatives — including negotiating a PATH-system connection or a dedicated off-street route — should be pursued rather than opening a shortcut through Kedron Hills. Several speakers urged the council to represent Peachtree City residents’ interests rather than yield to pressure from neighboring Tyrone or county-level plans. Council did not take action on Crabapple Lane during the meeting; public comment concluded and the council proceeded with agenda business.
The council did not vote on Crabapple Lane at this meeting; residents asked that staff and elected officials pursue a coordinated solution with Tyrone and Fayette County that would preserve neighborhood safety while addressing regional connectivity concerns.
