Wednesday, January 2, 2002
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Wednesday, January 2, 2002 |
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Fayetteville has a year of progress, changes By MONROE
ROARK
Fayetteville may be Fayette County's most rapidly changing city, as progress continues on a huge mixed use development, The Village, just west of town, and for major developments on the southern edge. A number of changes came the city's way during 2001, including: Officials announced earlier this year plans for a municipal amphitheater at the edge of the Village multiuse development off Ga. Highway 54 next to Fayette County High School. The city recently approved plans to finance the $1.5 million project with a portion of a $2.25 million bond, with the balance earmarked for downtown improvement projects. The amphitheater is to be on the south end of Fayette County High School, at the eastern entrance to the Village at LaFayette Avenue and Tiger Trail. It will be smaller than the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater in Peachtree City and will not compete with that venue for major concerts, according to city officials. A proposed master plan for the south side of Fayetteville is under review by the City Council, but council members will not be rushing to send it through. The total site is 392.3 acres. Existing uses call for 106.2 acres of community commercial, 160.2 acres of medium-density single family residential, 124.9 acres of low-density single family residential, and one acre of public-institutional property. Under the proposed plan, 114.6 acres would be used for commercial/retail, along with 116.4 acres of medium-density single family residential, 118.4 acres of high-density single family residential, 3.2 acres of office, 18.4 acres of mixed-use office/retail, and 21.3 acres of commercial office warehouse. The property in question is bordered on the west by Ga. Highway 85 and on the south by Ga. Highway 92 south. The completed development would stretch east to Jeff Davis and include an extension of the Hwy. 92 connector from Jimmie Mayfield Boulevard to Jeff Davis. At least two new stores and a new restaurant for Fayetteville were discussed Tuesday night at the work session of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. The next building to go up in Fayette Pavilion will house a Dollar Tree store and will be next to Wal-Mart. The building will fill in the vacant space next to Wal-Mart and eventually house another large retailer as yet unnamed. A vacancy in the former Home Place location, caused when that company went out of business, will be filled in the coming months by Best Buy, a national electronics and appliance retailer whose closest location is currently near Southlake Mall in Clayton County. A Haverty's furniture store has moved into the vacant Roberds building on Ga. Highway 85 and expects to be open by February. Discussions have begun concerning a possible Cracker Barrel restaurant opening in front of Lowe's, in one of the out-parcels facing Hwy. 85. There is no timetable for that project, and no official plans or requests have been submitted to the city. The Muslim community on the south side of Atlanta has a new gathering place in downtown Fayetteville, converting a building with a recent history of alleged criminal activity into a house of worship. After its recent purchase by a Peachtree City doctor, the site formerly known as The Market is now the Muslim Community Center of Atlanta, and began full-day operation this week, allowing followers of Islam to pray up to five times per day as their religion requires. The Market, at the northwest corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Jeff Davis Boulevard, was a grocery store several years ago and sat vacant for some time until plans for a teen center came to fruition. But less than a year after opening with talk of a Christian-oriented place for teens to gather, the club was shut down in July 2000 by authorities amid allegations of lewd dancing by teenagers and other sordid behavior. The teen club never reopened. Reports surfaced earlier this year that a local church and Christian school would take control of the property and operate a day care center there. That proposal fell through when the school was unable to work out financial details of the project. It appeared that the building would remain vacant for a while longer, but Dr. Unnisa Faiyaz and her husband stepped in and bought the property. The owners hoped to open the center immediately after purchasing the property, but the events of Sept. 11 changed that. The center opened in mid-November. Other churches and groups have inquired about using the building for selected events and activities of their own, Faiyaz said, but that will be subject to the center's own schedule, which will eventually include classes for children and other activities. Fayette County's mayors unanimously chose Fayetteville Mayor Kenneth Steele to represent them on the Atlanta Regional Commission Board of Directors. Steele's term began Jan. 1. He is eligible to remain on the board for as long as he remains mayor. He replaces Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox, who retired from office Dec. 31. Steele said he sees his role on the board as that of "an ombudsman for the citizens of Fayette. "We are part of metro Atlanta," said Steele, "and I want to be a contributor to the overall well-being of metro Atlanta." But he said he also wants to work for more recognition of the needs of the counties and cities south of Atlanta. "We need to encourage them to think of the southern tier. I hope we can break some funds loose from ARC to address our transportation needs," he added. As the regional planning agency for the 10-county Atlanta area, ARC compiles the most recent data, forecasts future trends and keeps track of issues and is a conduit for federal funding for transportation and other local needs. A lot of changes have taken place in recent months in Fayetteville's Planning Department, but the volume of work stays consistent. Every position in the three-member department has been vacated since spring, the most recent being former planning director Maurice Ungaro, who left in the fall to work for the Atlanta Regional Commission. He was replaced by Jahnee Prince, who held that post from 1997 until 1999, when she left for a private firm and Ungaro replaced her. The office had three planners until senior planner Todd Miller left in late spring for a position in Florida, and planner Lynn Oliver assumed a similar post in Alpharetta at about the same time. Bibi Houssain joined the department in the summer as a staff assistant, and Eldrige Gunn has assumed the senior planner's role. While staff may have changed in the Planning Department, the overall work load has not. "It's stayed pretty heavy," said Don Easterbrook, the city's director of engineering and developmental services.
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