City Council on Monday night approved the final plat for the Echo neighborhood on Crabapple’s outskirts that features several special elements, including underground water detention that will be covered to look like a small park once complete.

Echo will consist of 23 single-family lots spread over just under 5 acres along Crabapple Road between Lecoma Trace and Green Road, adjacent to the Crabapple Crossroads and Waterside subdivisions.

Having already been reviewed other relevant City committees, the Council’s approval of the final plat allows the developer “to begin selling lots and to go vertical” (meaning building houses from the ground-up), according to Land Development Manager Tracie Wildes.

The builder until now has focused on surface and sub-surface level tasks like adding roads as well as fencing and a pedestrian path along Crabapple Road, one of this development’s multiple civic areas. One of the chief such endeavors is the underground water detention system, in which large pipes were installed under the surface to collect liquids before those were capped. A representative from Arkan Homes, which is overseeing this project, said this approach is approximately 3.5 times more expensive than having an above-ground detention pond.

Wildes noted that architectural plans submitted and reviewed thus far suggest that the to-be-built homes will be unique.

“This is going to be a tight neighborhood, so they wanted to make sure the architectural elements in the houses differed,” said Wildes. “Arkan Homes has done a great job capturing the Miltonesque look of the architecture that we enjoy in downtown Crabapple.”

ALCOHOL LICENSE APPROVED FOR NEW ‘YOUR PIE’ OWNER

This discussion and vote came at the tail end of an evening that began with an invocation by Father Reggie Simmons from St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church. Not long after, the Council unanimously approved the Consent Agenda that included agreements with: 

• The Fulton County Board of Education so that Milton recreational programs can utilize the gymnasium at Hopewell Middle School, in addition to outdoor athletic fields, over the next five years
• Gracie Gray Contractors to repair a guardrail along Hopewell Road by the Francis Road roundabout that was struck by a driver, whose insurance company will cover the associated costs
• Columbia Engineering and Services to add land negotiation appraisal and negotiation costs to its scope of work tied to congestion reduction and safety improvement efforts along Cox Road, specifically at King Road where a new roundabout is being planned
• AT&T to continue providing a critical back-up Internet circuit connected to Milton’s Public Safety Complex (which includes Milton Police station, Municipal Court, and Fire Station 44) to ensure uninterrupted network operations and allow fingerprinting services to work for the Georgia Crime Information Center
• Alpharetta so the two cities can work together to demolish deteriorating structures on Mayfield Farm – a 12-acre property jointly owned by Milton and Alpharetta – for safety reasons
• Tri Scapes to handle tasks along roadways such as grass cutting, maintaining landscaping in roundabout islands, cleaning up trash, and installing new landscaping upon request

Later in the meeting, the Council approved an Alcohol Beverage License for the new owner of a Your Pie franchise. This is in the Publix plaza at the corner of Highway 9 and Bethany Bend.

DEERFIELD IMPACT FEE, SCHOOL ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS

The other main topic of conversation Monday – as it has been several other times that the Council has convened recently – was the future of Deerfield. The City is in the third phase of a three-phase effort to outline the look, feel, uses, amenities, and mix of residential and commercial properties in a section of southeast Milton that contains what’s off Highway 9, Windward Parkway, Morris Road, Deerfield Parkway, and Webb Road. (For more on this project, go to www.miltonga.gov/Deerfield.)

Even if the City meets its target of approving the Deerfield Implementation Plan by early summer, it could take years for the buildout of multiple developments across numerous properties. The talk on Monday centered on the projected long-term impact – specifically, looking forward 20 years – of this full buildout in various ways, including as they relate to services, government revenues, and school enrollments.

Director of Special Projects Bob Buscemi noted he and others have met with officials from Georgia Power and Fulton County, for instance, to ensure the electrical grid and water system could handle the anticipated growth. In addition, City Department leaders have begun assessing how potentially adding about 1,785 more residential units and 875,000 more square footage of commercial might affect their operations, perhaps leading to needs for more equipment (like fire trucks) or personnel (like police officers).

City-related costs could be offset by expected revenue, including upwards of $6.8 million in permit fees and $23.4 million in impact fees. Deputy City Manager Bernadette Harvill anticipated Monday the full buildout could double Milton’s commercial tax base, and that doesn’t even include positive potential ripple effects on existing shopping plazas and offices nearby.

If everything comes together as planned, the City could have 20% or more of its tax revenue come from commercial sources (with the rest from residential). This would further an often stated goal of reducing the relative tax burden on homeowners.

The matter that generated the most back-and-forth Monday related to public school enrollments. City staff worked with Fulton County Schools experts to project increases with a full build-out (and without age requirements, such as age 55-plus, for some residential developments). Their findings suggested middle and high schools can generally handle the rise, though some elementary schools could be overcapacity without redistricting or building new facilities. City staff noted these figures conservatively represent the “max potential” of new students, saying the final figures could end up lower.

Mayor Peyton Jamison credited the City team for their efforts in compiling all the numbers shared on Monday, saying, “The data and transparency is great. It’s good for planning.”