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FAYETTE
COUNTY
NEWS
4*THE TRUTH SINCE 1886 *$>
INSIDE County Athletes InkJor Next Level
on National Signing Day, Bl
VOL 151, NO. 6
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2023
$1.00
INSIDE: Peachtree City Library Hosts 3rd Annual Junior Art Show, A2
INSIDE: 7th Annual Southside Symposium ScSpecial Needs Expo Held in PTC, A5
Fayetteville Council Approves Downtown Rezoning Request
Sydney Spencer
News Reporter
sspencer@fayette-news.net
During the Feb. 2
meeting of Fayetteville
City Council, a request
from Rosewood West La
nier, LLC, was unani
mously approved to rezone
properties from single
family residential and res
idential professional to
residential townhouse
condominium.
Fayetteville Com
munity and Economic De
velopment Director David
Rast presented on behalf
of Rosewood West Lanier.
He stated where the appli
cant is trying to rezone and
how the rezoning would
align with current residen
tial property in the area
that has been there for
years.
“We have an applica
tion to rezone three tracts
of land bounded by Lanier
Avenue, Tiger Trail, and
Lafayette Avenue,” Rast
said. “There are three
tracts of land that are cur
rently utilized for residen
tial purposes. They have
been utilized for residen
tial purposes for many
years. The request we have
is to rezone property to
allow a mixed-use devel
opment that would include
a mix of three- and four-
story buildings.”
Rast went on to de
scribe what to expect from
See Fayetteville, A6
Shelley Kozlowski, Calvin Maddox,
Whitewater High School Fayette LIFE Academy
Michelle Shaw,
Spring Hill Elementary
Finalists Named for 2023
Fayette County Teacher of the Year
Through a close compe
tition, the number of names
in the running for 2023
Fayette County Teacher of
the Year have been nar
rowed from 25 of the
county’s best to three final
ists.
Finalists for the 2023
Teacher of the Year honor
are Shelley Kozlowski of
Whitewater High School,
Calvin Maddox of Fayette
LIFE Academy, and Mi
chelle Shaw of Spring Hill
Elementary.
Each finalist will be ob
served in their classrooms
and interviewed by the
judging panel, which con
sists of two retired edu
cators and last year’s
county winner, Christy
Todd of Rising Starr Mid
dle.
The teacher with the
highest combined score will
be named 2023 Fayette
County Teacher of the Year.
The winner will be an
nounced at the annual Fay
ette County Teacher of the
Year celebration on Thurs
day, April 13.
See the full story, A6
‘Fight’ with PTC PD
leads to Arrest
of Atlanta Man
Leah Banks
Investigative Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
PEACHTREE CITY -
Peachtree City Police faced
an unusual encounter on
Jan. 26 when a “be on the
lookout” call led officers
on a chase through Peach
tree City and into Tyrone,
before 47-year-old Dema-
rio A. Russell of Atlanta
began to fight with a PTC
K-9 handler and was ar
rested.
According to Peachtree
City Spokesman Chris
Hyatt, the initial incident
began with a BOLO call
from Fayette County Sher
iff s Office, referencing a
vehicle that may have been
involved in auto break-ins
Demario Russell FCSO
near area gyms.
The Peachtree City K-9
officer stated he realized
he may have spotted the
vehicle in the area of High
way 74.
“He eventually catches
up to the vehicle, tries to
do a traffic stop on it, and
See Arrest, A6
Fayetteville Officials Receive Update
on Unified Development Ordinance
Sydney Spencer
News Reporter
sspencer@fayette-news.net
The City of Fayetteville
Mayor, City Council, and
Planning and Zoning
Commission gathered on
Jan. 31 for an update on
the Unified Development
Ordinance to gain a better
understanding of how Sec
tion 200 of the UDO, Zon
ing and Land Use, will be
presented in the final doc
ument.
City of Fayetteville
Community and Economic
Development Director
David Rast presented how
the remodeled ordinance
is expected to look while
giving an update of the
process. He explained that
he and staff have worked
diligently to reach their
goal for the UDO and what
will be included in it.
“As I told the mayor,
we are closer than we’ve
ever been,” commented
Rast. “There are a lot of
neat things that we are in
corporating in the UDO.
[We are] looking at our ex
isting zoning patterns,
looking at which zoning
districts, perhaps, we can
combine, trying to simplify
the ordinances them
selves, and looking at uses,
and which uses are specific
to which zoning districts.
All of that will be incorpo
rated into the UDO.”
Rast continued, listing
the five chapters that will
make up the ordinance,
beginning with formal and
technical terminology,
zoning and land use, land
development, site devel
opment, and buildings and
construction.
“I do kind of want to
give you an overview of
how the document will be
formatted,” he said. “There
are five chapters in the
UDO and the appendix.
Chapter too is essentially
all the legalese regarding
the adoption of the ordi
nance and reiterating the
different powers. Chapter
200, in essence, is the zon
ing and land use... taking
all of our zoning ordi
nances, compiling those
together, and implement
ing.
“Chapter 300 deals
specifically with land de
velopment,” Rast con
tinued. “Chapter 400 is
site development... once
the land is subdivided,
how the buildings are de
veloped, the conceptual
site plan, and review pro
cess. Chapter 500 [is]
buildings and construc
tion, which is all of our
adopted building codes,
fire codes, and life safety
codes. Appendix A is all
the definitions that will be
See UDO, A6
FCHS, Whitewater honored for
diversity in computer science
Fayette County High, Whitewater High
earn awards from the College Board
for efforts to increase representation
in AP computer science courses
AP Computer Science
Female Diversity Award
FCHS, Whitewater Honored
for Diversity in Computer Science
Fayette County High
and Whitewater High have
been honored by College
Board for their efforts to
increase female represen
tation in AP computer
science courses.
Studying computer
science can open doors for
students, giving them the
tools to excel and setting
them up for high-paying
careers, but girls re
portedly have been under
represented in the field.
That is why College
Board honors schools for
expanding young women’s
access to AP computer
science classes and for the
important steps they are
taking to reach gender
parity.
Schools receiving the
AP Computer Science Fe
male Diversity award have
achieved either 50 percent
or higher female exam
taker representation in
one of or both AP com
puter science courses, or a
percentage of female com
puter science exam takers
that meets or exceeds that
of the school’s female pop
ulation.
Fayette County High,
under teacher Dennis
Kramlich, won the College
Board AP Computer
Science A Female Diver
sity Award. FCHS is one of
209 schools that received
the award in AP Computer
Science A.
Whitewater High,
under teacher Angel
Ligon, won the College
Board AP Computer
Science Principles Female
Diversity Award. White-
water is one of 832 schools
that received the award in
AP Computer Science
Principles.
See Computer Science, A6
INSIDE:
OBITUARIES
COMMUNITY
A2 FAYETTE VIEWS
A2-A8, B2 SPORTS
A4 LEGALS
B1 CLASSIFIEDS
B3
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CONTACT US: editorial@fayette-news.net ■ (770) 461-6317 ■ fayette-news.net
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