Wednesday, April 24, 2002
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Wednesday, April 24, 2002 |
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F'ville nails down Hwy. 85 South development plan By MONROE ROARK
Fayetteville city officials have decided to take the next step in the proposed development of the south side master plan, voting at last week's City Council meeting to send an update of the city's land use map to the appropriate state and regional agencies for approval. It has taken more than a year of planning among several property owners, city staff and two consulting firms to get to this point. Starting with 176 acres and a single property owner, the proposal grew to nearly 400 acres and is now down to 273 acres after several properties were removed from consideration within the past month. The overall site stretches east from Ga. Highway 85 to Jeff Davis Road and the proposed development would eventually include construction of a connector road from Jimmie Mayfield Boulevard to Jeff Davis, something that has been touted as a major advantage of the development in that it would create a southern bypass and relieve traffic through the square. City officials also said that a master plan of some kind would allow commercial uses in better locations, better interconnection of parcels with access roads and sidewalks, and more orderly curb cuts than if the properties were allowed to be developed piecemeal. The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the changes to the land use map in February with a few conditions, including a limitation on medium density residential to no more than two units per acre; a limit on the number of townhouse and single-family high-density units per acre; a limit on the commercial area at the corner of Bradley and Jimmie Mayfield to C-2; and a stipulation that the new road be tied into the project financially. Densities have been significantly reduced from previous presentations, according to city staff, and townhouse density has been reduced to current zoned density. The overall density with the master plan is less than what can now be developed there without it, staff added, and overall residential density is less with the future land use map than what could potentially be developed under the existing land use map and zoning map. One change to the future land use map alters a portion of the site from community commercial to highway commercial, allowing larger development tracts and less piecemeal development. Office and business park uses, which do not exist in this area on the current land use map, are now about 25 acres, and more than 58 acres of open space has also been added where there previously was none. One issue still outstanding is city staff's requirement of 10 percent office space on the commercial property. The update to the future land use map must now go to the state's Department of Community Affairs and the Atlanta Regional Commission for approval, which would take at least 60 days. While that process is underway, the property owners can apply for annexation and/or rezoning as necessary, according to city staff. After DCA and ARC approval, which could come in late June, the City Council can approve annexations and rezonings according to the future land use map and development agreement. The entire property would need to be rezoned along with a development agreement, and all annexations and rezonings would need to take place after the future land use map is approved, although they can be on the same meeting agenda.
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