By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayetteville planners will discuss the future of a crucial piece of downtown property again Tuesday night.

Members of the city Planning Commission will consider whether to recommend that the former McElwaney property, at Ga. Highway 54 and Tiger Trail, become the first project to receive the planned community district zoning designation.

Developers Bob Rolader and Brent Scarbrough hope to build The Village, an ambitious mixed-use project that includes more than 200 homes, a neighborhood shopping area, two office complexes, a hotel and a series of neighborhood parks on the 110-acre site.

The proposal has been through the wringer since a city consultant designed it over a year ago. City Council agreed to pay a consultant to master-plan the McElwaney site to set the tone for future downtown development and, after months of discussion and a subsequent reduction in density, council approved the basic concept last May.

After that, developers Rolader and Scarbrough set to work refining the plan and engineering the project to fit the site. Last fall they again approached the Planning Commission with the finished project, requesting PCD, at that time a proposed new zoning category, for it.

PCD is intended to encourage creative design of mixed-use developments, and gives the city more control over the details of such projects.

City Council Monday conducted first reading of the new category, with plans to vote on it March 20. Meanwhile, the Planning Commission has held up rezoning for The Village, asking the developers for a traffic study before a vote is taken.

Plans for two traffic lights on Hwy. 54, and a third at Tiger Trail and Ga. Highway 85, may inhibit traffic flow, commissioners say, and the number of cars going in and our of The Village may cause even more problems, they say.

In addition to The Village, the Planning Commission's 11-item agenda for Tuesday includes a request for office zoning for Dell and Jimmy Walker for 555 Grady Avenue; amendments to the city sign ordinance; proposed changes to the elevation for Home Depot, and development plans for a National Tire and Battery store at 1110 Ga. Highway 85 north.