Wednesday, December 13, 2000
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Wednesday, December 13, 2000 |
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Starr's Mill project returns to commission By DAVE
HAMRICK Starr's Mill LLC is putting on a full-court press as the firm goes back to the County Commission Thursday with its plan for Plantation Centre, a commercial and office development across from Starr's Mill High School. The company will present color renderings, volumes of information and a promise to donate 65 percent of the development to the county. In announcing the promise to donate 52 acres of the original 80-acre project, company President Jim Wells said the project will help Fayette participate in the governor's Georgia Green Space Program, which seeks to set aside 20 percent of metro Atlanta land for parks and green space. Fayette commissioners have voted to participate, and the county will receive $734,000 in state funds to help finance it. "We are very excited about the possibility of providing the county with 52 acres of undisturbed green belt," said Wells. "The county will be able to use the land for whatever means they find necessary. We are also looking forward to creating a pedestrian-friendly development that compliments the social fabric of the surrounding area." But the county Planning Commission and Planning Department staff have recommended denial of the company's request for rezoning to allow for the project. "This would make a very nice shopping center somewhere... but not here," said Planning Commission member Fred Bowen following a public hearing on the plan last month. The group unanimously voted to recommend denial of the request. County commissioners will consider the request at their meeting tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the County Administrative Complex. The company's original plan covered just over 80 acres and included soccer fields and a church. The Planning Commission recommended denial of the request for C-C (community commercial) zoning for that plan, but when the company presented the plan to the County Commission in October, 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 52 acres to the county 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 October meeting to show their opposition to the plan. "They keep tweaking in hopes of a 'yes,'" said Kemp. "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 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." Plans for the village-style shopping center include a grocery store and potential doctor, dentist and other professional service offices, as well as restaurants and boutiques, according to Wells. He has "self-imposed" restrictions on the types of facilities that will not be allowed in the retail center, including such things as pool halls, novelty shops and convenience stores, in order to maintain an upscale village feel, he said. The developer also proposes to build an on-site wastewater treatment facility, which would be "progressive and environmentally friendly," according to the project's engineering firm, Integrated Science and Engineering.
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