Wednesday, November 8, 2000
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Wednesday, November 8, 2000 |
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Wal-Mart squeezes by PTC Council 3-2 By JOHN MUNFORD
"Table it!" came the shout from an overflow crowd that jammed Peachtree City's council chambers Thursday night. The outburst, which interrupted a statement from councilwoman Carol Fritz, was one of several jeers that came from citizens who apparently didn't like the direction council was heading. Fritz was explaining her position on a request to approve the concept plan for a Wal-Mart Superstore that weighs in at over 200,000 square feet. After pausing to let the crowd vent, Fritz continued, saying that she didn't want a Wal-Mart in Peachtree City either. "We don't have the power to say, 'Wal-Mart, go away.'" she said. Mayor Bob Lenox and councilman Robert Brooks had just mentioned that they, too, saw little choice but to approve the project. So despite a request to table the matter from council members Annie McMenamin and Dan Tennant, the plan was approved 3-2. McMenamin and Tennant were uncomfortable with the explanation of how traffic would flow in the area. It was announced that the city's traffic consultants have finally approved a traffic plan for road improvements that would make the store fall in line with the city's traffic ordinance. In July, the Planning Commission denied the plan based on the recommendation from traffic consulting firm Dames and Moore that the superstore would not meet the traffic ordinance. Lenox said the key element to the consultants' approval was the addition of a "through" lane that would allow westbound traffic to continue through the intersection at Huddleston Road. "That was the breakthrough improvement that radically changed their estimates," Lenox said. Eventually, it was explained, that lane would merge with another lane before the road reaches the Wynnmeade subdivision. The lanes would originally be separated by a concrete divider at the Huddleston intersection although the state Department of Transportation has expressed in the past that it won't approve such a traffic element, Lenox said. The concrete divider problem was one of many appeals city and state officials made to the DOT commissioner several days ago, Lenox said. The commissioner indicated he would take the matter under consideration, the mayor added. The Wal-Mart issue drew a crowd so large that city employees brought in extra chairs just before Lenox banged the gavel to open the meeting. As the meeting progressed, a crowd gathered in the hallway outside and the meeting was paused to let those people filter in. Jim Williams, the city's director of developmental services, explained the traffic solutions that were approved by the city's traffic consultants. Williams said the traffic signals on Ga. Highway 54 from the new signal at MacDuff Parkway all the way to a new signal at Willowbend Road will be controlled by a fiber optic network to help traffic flow smoothly. When some residents stepped to the podium to comment on Wal-Mart, they expressed a number of different reservations about the store locating on Hwy. 54 West across the road from the entrance to Planterra Ridge subdivision. Willis Granger, a former member of the Planning Commission, said he didn't understand how the traffic plan would work, considering that bridges over Line Creek and the CSX railroad have only two lanes each for traffic. "The next thing you know, you're going to put traffic lights on the golf carts," said Jerry Nazilo. "It's magic that it [the traffic study] has changed," said George Kadel, who served on the West Village Annexation Task Force. Robert Brown asked if the Wal-Mart traffic improvements were separate from those ordered so the adjacent Home Depot store could be approved. Lenox said the Wal-Mart improvements brought the price tag of the planned Home Depot improvements from $500,000 to $800,000. Brown added that he worried the resulting traffic would force some motorists to travel through Planterra Ridge as a shortcut. Several people expressed concerns about whether emergency vehicles could cut through more traffic considering there is difficulty serving the western portion of town already. But Acting Fire Chief Stony Lohr said if the road was widened, it would allow emergency vehicles to go around motorists and allow those motorists to get out of the way. "Even with an increase in traffic, it will be as good or better than we have now," Lohr said. Only one person spoke in favor of the Wal-Mart Superstore. Peachtree City resident Frank Hyde said he wanted a Wal-Mart there so he wouldn't have to drive to Fayetteville like he does every Saturday with his wife. "I guess I'm in the minority of one," Hyde remarked. One of the conditions of council's approving the Wal-Mart site plan was a concession by RAM Development that none of the other parcels on Hwy. 54 between Line Creek Church and the Wynnmeade subdivision can be developed. To meet the traffic ordinance, RAM must fund the traffic improvements and secure permits from the DOT to perform those improvements. All that work must be completed prior to the city issuing a certificate of occupancy for Wal-Mart or Home Depot.
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