Wednesday, November 8, 2000

By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@TheCitizenNews.com

A plan for commercial and office development across from Starr's Mill High School, presented in revised form last week, is still not acceptable, says Fayette's Planning Commission.

"This would make a very nice shopping center somewhere... but not here," said commission member Fred Bowen following a public hearing on the plan last week.

Commissioners unanimously voted to recommend denial of Starr's Mill LLC's request for a zoning change to allow the development. The county Board of Commissioners will consider the request at its Dec. 14 meeting, 7 p.m. at the County Administrative Complex (the Nov. 23 meeting has been cancelled due to Thanksgiving).

The company's original plan covered just over 80 acres and included soccer fields and a church. The Planning Commission recommended denial of a request for C-C (community commercial) zoning for that plan, but when the company presented the plan to the County Commission last month, several changes had been made.

County commissioners sent the request back to the Planning Commission for another look.

The new request is for C-C zoning on 21.8 acres and O-I (office-institutional) zoning on 5.8 acres. The remainder of the property would keep its current A-R (agricultural-residential) category, said Carl Westmoreland, a lawyer representing the company.

Westmoreland said the original plan for commercial space has been reduced by 50,000 square feet, and the company is willing to make improvements to the Redwine Road/Ga. Highway 74 intersection and donate the remaining 53 acres to the county as green space if the zoning change is approved.

"This is a nice, small scale retail village," said Phil Ozell, architect for the project, adding that the plan contains "a bountiful amount of landscaping, including wide buffers along the street frontage and split-rail fencing... to give it a country village feel."

But, "It still does not comply with the land use plan," said Pamela Kemp, a resident of the area who has opposed the project from its inception.

Kemp and about 15 other residents attended the meeting to show their opposition to the plan.

"They keep tweaking in hopes of a 'yes,'" said Kemp, adding she is suspicious of the company's statement that it will leave the remaining 53 acres untouched. "That land will be primed for rezoning as it will abut commercially zoned land," she said.

"We just don't want it, no matter how they fix it," said resident Omela Lamont.

And Wes Saunders, chairman of the Peachtree City Planning Commission, said the city approved development of Wilshire Pavilion, a shopping center just 1,600 feet north of the Starr's Mill land, based on the assumption that there would not be any other commercial development nearby.

That assumption was based on the county's land use plan, which calls for low-density residential development for the Starr's Mill land.

"We believe the Wilshire development going in will serve the future needs of the south end of the county," said Saunders.

County Planning Commission member Jim Graw agreed with member Fred Bowen that the project would be a boon to Fayette if placed somewhere else. "I just don't think the residents should be surprised," he said, adding, "Approval of this would put three major shopping centers within three miles of each other."

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