The City of Peachtree Corners Blueprint to Success

Over the past 15 months, I have had the opportunity to work with a number of talented and concerned citizens to develop a Charter and create a City Concept for the 21st Century. A city where the people can in fact live, work and play and where our kids and grandkids who grew up here, seek to return to live, work and start their own families.

The future of the City of Peachtree Corners is unlimited with numerous assets, but its most important treasure is its people. It is my goal that we work together collaboratively to establish what we want our city to look like in the future. It is important that we remember that it is “our” city and the possibilities are limitless! 

Now that the Referendum has passed, it is time to keep the promises that were made and follow through with the next phase entitled “Blueprint to Success.” 

The Execution Phase of the Plan can be divided into the three following strategies: Short Term (1 year), Intermediate (1-5 years) and Long Term (10+ years.) 

Under the Short term plan, the City will develop the Framework in which it will operate. This includes Legal, Budgetary and Operational issues. The City Charter Model was developed to provide for a Strong City Manager and Part Time Council/Mayor roles. The Hiring of the City Manager along with the City Attorney are crucial decision points to make during this Short Term Phase.  The Planning and Zoning Board will be setup during this time frame and in conjunction the Code Enforcement Department will be setup. (Note: yet to be decided will be the number of Code Enforcement Personnel). In addition, the Municipal Court will be setup to hear limited jurisdiction cases involving Planning and Zoning and Code Violations. 

Another important issue to be discussed during this phase is our Solid Waste and Trash Service. This process, which will require collaboration with the County, will be advised by the City Attorney and Manager. The Trash Bid will be conducted under a RFP and funded via the City Enterprise Fund designated for this purpose. A key point is to be cognizant of previous “lessons learned” from the County Trash experience in order to avoid future litigation. 

Regarding the Intermediate plan. By this stage, at least two of the three City Services should be in effect, with the next action item to negotiate the Service Delivery Strategy with Gwinnett County.  These Contracts will require due diligence, with the expertise of the City Manager and City Attorney, and are the crucial decision point in budgetary planning. This stage of Cityhood also begins the Character Development of the City. Input from Citizen and Business leaders throughout the three Districts of the City will be important in order to capture the ideas and begin to negotiate and develop these thoughts into potential action items across the city.

Long Term Development plan.  The Master Plan of the City, is similar to the 2020 plan developed by the Metro Atlanta Regional Commission. This plan provides the future mapping of what the City will become. Essential issues to discuss include, but not limited to, Traffic Planning, Commercial Development Planning, Residential Development Planning, Economic Development and Quality of Life issues. 

As always, I am

Gray Terry Post 5 City Council-At-Large (Candidate)