Peachtree City has changed the format of its Planning Commission hearings. Although the state only requires one public hearing for rezoning requests, the city until now has required two, with a vote taken by the four-member volunteer commission at the second to serve as a recommendation before the measure is forwarded to the City Council to ultimately decide.

After first broaching the subject at the council’s Feb. 4 meeting, Planning and Development Director Robin Cailloux presented a text amendment to the city ordinance at the Feb. 18 council meeting that changes the first Planning Commission hearing to a non-voting workshop format, where citizens can comment either in favor of or against an applicant’s zoning proposal “in a less rigid format.” The matter would then be brought to the City Council for the actual public hearing, with the opportunity for additional citizen comments, before a final vote. The City Council confirmed the change 5-0.