'Big Box' rules on the way?

Changes to zoning ordinance now being considered

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Peachtree City may be on its way toward reigning in large retail stores that want to locate here.

The city is developing an addition to its zoning ordinance that would require that single tenants in retail developments occupy no more than 100,000 square feet.

A proposed change to the zoning ordinance was brought before council at its meeting last week and it will be forwarded to the Peachtree City Planning Commission for further study. The Planning Commission will take up the matter at its meeting Monday, 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The issue of vacant retail stores also is addressed by the suggested changes. A retail business with more than 12,000 square feet would be required to provide the city attorney with “reasonable assurances” that if it ceases business, it will not unreasonably keep the space unoccupied.

The addition to the zoning ordinance also would require that the owner of the lot prepare a water management plan and a traffic management plan. Those plans must be approved by the city engineer, the ordinance proposal states.

Jim Williams, the city’s director of development services, said the city could add a requirement that no more than 75 percent of the surface of those retail developments be impervious.

Williams told council that the proposed addition to the zoning ordinance also would govern the exterior architecture of the store. Some “big box” retail stores with a large amount of space aren’t typically pleasing to the eye, Williams noted.

But Williams was pleasantly surprised with how nice the proposed Wal-Mart superstore looked on its site concept plan, he added. Plans for the store call for more than 200,000 square feet, he said.

Councilwoman Annie McMenamin originally proposed the idea of trying to regulate the locations of massive retail stores in Peachtree City. She questioned why 100,000 square feet was the number suggested by staff instead of 80,000.

Williams said a project such as Parisian, which was studying a move to Peachtree City but later abandoned it, would have needed space around 100,000 square feet.

He thought all the talk that generated among the community indicated that it would be well-accepted by local residents.
McMenamin said she thought it was a good idea to address the issue of stores vacating properties, because that can “blight an entire village.”

She said the Kmart in Peachtree City is the biggest store currently at 87,000 square feet. The two Krogers come in at 65,000 and 63,000 square feet, McMenamin added.
Williams said a maximum of three are sites left in Peachtree City that would accommodate such large retail stores.