Friday, July 12, 2002

Dead pines causing council heartburn

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Fairburn is getting tough on developers.

During Monday night's City Council meeting, planning director Gail Denham said the city had granted a temporary certificate of occupancy to the Fairburn Retail Plaza at the intersection of Senoia Road and Fairburn Industrial Boulevard.

But unless the developers clean up the landscape and other problems, they'll have to cough up a $30,000 bond for the city to finish the work.

For the past few months, the City Council has questioned the intent of the developers building the convenience store and gas station.

Now, with landscaping in place, the council members are even hotter.

"Half of those pine trees are either dead or leaning over," said Councilman Harvey Melear.

The council instructed Denham to emphasize to the developer that they are serious about having quality landscaping at the site, and suggested planting something else besides pine trees.

"That's the first thing that people see as they come into Fairburn. It needs to look better," said Melear.