By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

Stripped of its most controversial elements, Fayetteville's proposed new sign ordinance will sit on a shelf for two more weeks before City Council acts on it.

Following a work session last week that saw several revisions to the ordinance, council members got their first look at a cleaned up final version just hours before their meeting Monday. “I want some time to further review it,” said Councilman Al Hovey-King after making a motion to table the matter.

Gone from the proposed ordinance are provisions that would have limited the number of American flags a business could fly and would have prohibited lighted signs altogether.

Provisions restricting the use of window signs also have been stricken from the proposed law.

The changes were recommended by the city Planning Commission, but Mayor Kenneth Steele said when the council recently asked the commission and the planning staff to revamp the sign ordinance, minor revisions and clarification were all the council wanted.

Council Monday also continued to table two other matters that have occupied a good bit of the city's time in recent months: a rezoning request for The Village mixed use development and a proposal to revert the earlier rezoning of a small parcel on Ga. Highway 54 east.

Developers Bob Rolader and Brent Scarbrough are asking for Fayetteville's newest zoning category, PCD (planned community development), for 110 acres at Ga. Highway 54 and Tiger Trail.

Plans for an upscale village of 203 homes, plus a shopping area, class A office complex, a hotel/conference center and parks have been discussed for a year and a half, and the result of all that discussion — a complex development agreement between the city and the developers — is now in the hands of city staff and the City Council.

Council members are optimistic that the matter will be resolved at their next meeting, May 15. The proposal will be discussed May 10 at a work session in hopes of voting May 15. Both meetings are at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Council has delayed acting on a reversal of its earlier decision to grant office-institutional zoning for the Landrum property on Hwy. 54 while citations against the owners for using the property in ways contrary to the zoning are resolved in court.

Mayor Steele said Monday the city's attorneys are working with the owners' attorneys this weeks in hopes of resolving the situation out of court.

“It appears it will be resolved in a manner beneficial to the city,” he said. Council tabled the matter again, until May 15.