Wednesday, November 13, 2002
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Wednesday, November 13, 2002 |
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Southside task force points toward final meeting
By MONROE
ROARK
The task force created by the Fayetteville city officials to study the southside and its potential development will meet next week for the third, and possibly last, time. After a proposal for a large mixed-use development east of Ga. Highway 85 and bordering on Ga. Highway 92 met with a great deal of opposition from residents in the area, the City Council decided to put together a group to study the area and see what was in everyone's best interests. About 25-30 people were identified as stakeholders and interviewed by a consulting firm prior to the task force's first meeting. This allowed everyone to know what the issues were before the meeting, according to City Manager Joe Morton. The task force is an unusually large group, consisting of members of a number of families with interests in the land included in the master plan. Also involved are members of the City Council and city staff, along with representatives of the Kingswood, Chanticleer, Highland Park, Lakemont, Woodgate and Wyngate subdivisions. "The first meeting was mostly educational what's there now, what can be developed," he said. "Then, it was on to the issues." Some of the primary concerns of area residents have been regarding the transition areas from commercial to residential property, the overall amount of commercial property, the types of residential land uses, the amount of open space, and traffic and transportation issues. Additionally, some environmental issues came out of the first meeting, Morton said, such as stormwater management and water-sewer capacity. Protecting Perry Creek, the main creek running through the site, is being looked at, he said. Potential impact on the county's school has been a major concern of some residents, but the school system has said that it shouldn't be. The school system already has plans for a future elementary school somewhere between the southside of Fayetteville and Sara Harp Minter Elementary, which just opened this fall about five miles south of town, Morton said, although the exact location of that school has yet to be determined. At the second meeting, the consultants presented the task force with three concepts for the southside. One of those was eliminated by everyone, Morton said, but the other two have various features that appeal to different people, and the main task now is to incorporate the best ideas from each plan into something that works for everyone. "We're really pleased with the interactive process," said Morton. "Some good ideas have come out of it." While not committing to any particular plan, city officials have maintained throughout the process that they believe the area in question would be better served if developed in the city under a single master plan rather than under current zonings and with some land in unincorporated Fayette County. The creators of the previous southside master plan proposed a multiuse development comprising as much as almost 400 acres, depending upon how many of the property owners are involved at any given time. In addition to various retail, office and residential components, the long-term plan called for designated open space and the eventual extension of the Ga. Highway 92 connector from Jimmie Mayfield Boulevard to Jeff Davis Drive, a move the developers said would greatly reduce traffic through the Fayetteville square by allowing Jeff Davis area residents better access to Fayetteville Towne Center and other retail destinations. An important portion of the overall site is a tract of about 53 acres just off the northeast corner of hwys. 85 and 92, behind GTO's and Walgreen's. That land is in unincorporated Fayette County, although it is nearly an island surrounded by city property. Developers have proposed putting a shopping center, anchored by a Publix supermarket, and other office and residential uses on that site. That proposal got many local residents, specifically in the Kingswood and Chanticleer subdivisions just outside the city limits on Hwy. 92, on full alert. Charging that the retail components of the master plan would lead to major traffic problems and increased crime, among other problems, many of these residents let their opposition to the plan be known at several City Council meetings. The council voted last month to table the annexation and rezoning request until Dec. 5. Another tract of concern to local residents is adjacent to Kingswood, on the south side of the Hwy. 92 connector. That land is currently zoned for townhomes, but proponents of the southside master plan petitioned the city for rezoning to commercial. A tract on the east side of Jimmie Mayfield, next to the path of the proposed road extension, is also part of a commercial rezoning request. Many of the residents who opposed this plan feared that it would create a "Pavilion South," a mega-retail complex similar to the Fayette Pavilion on the city's north side, only this one would be at their back door.
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