Wednesday, February 12, 2003
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Wednesday, February 12, 2003 |
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F'ville OKs massive new Southside development
By MONROE
ROARK
Fayetteville's Southside master plan is moving forward, but area residents will see some benefits from it before any of the actual site is occupied. Road improvements mandated by the development agreements approved at last Thursday night's City Council meeting will be put into place within a year, and right-of-way acquisition for future road work may have been completed a couple of years sooner than it would normally be done, according to city officials. A little over 53 of the approximately 260 acres in the plan were in the unincorporated county and had to be annexed into the city Thursday night. A variety of residential, commercial, office and Planned Community Development (PCD) zonings were approved for the overall site. The development agreements, one for the entire site and another for the Simpson tract only (the westernmost portion, where the retail components will be located), spell out in great detail stipulations regarding such items as sidewalks, interparcel streets, retail square footage limitations, and other categories. Both agreements cover the Perry Creek Conservation Area, which will be deeded to the city after design of the stormwater management plan and before any certificate of occupancy is issued. The overall plan is admittedly a long-term plan, city officials said, with all sides repeatedly saying that build-out is 15 or so years down the road. But two major road projects are on a much faster track. The Southside Connector Road, as it is referred to in the agreements, is to be constructed as far as the easternmost edge of the overall site within 365 days of last Thursday's ratification of the agreements. That road is the extension of the Ga. Highway 92 connector across Jimmie Mayfield Boulevard, and it will eventually reach Jeff Davis Road, which developers have consistently pointed out will help traffic throughout the area. Intersection improvements at Ga. Highway 85 and Ramah Road, along with Ramah and Redwine roads, are also on a one-year deadline. Concordia Properties, the primary developer of the commercial site on the Simpson property, agreed to fund these improvements up to $275,000 based on what they would normally pay in impact fees, City Manager Joe Morton said. Since these intersection projects are already planned, the arrangement with Concordia will allow the city to reroute designated impact fee funds for other projects in the city, and the intersection work will be completed before the first phase of the Southside plan, which is expected to be a Publix shopping center, is completed. This will help traffic in a big way, Morton said, since the existing Fayetteville Towne Center shopping complex primarily serves the Redwine Road corridor all the way to the Whitewater Creek area. On the opposite side of the master plan area, a multiuse path to the Wyngate subdivision was eliminated shortly before approval. This was done at the request of the Wyngate homeowners association, city Planning Director Jahnee Prince said at Thursday's council meeting. The easement will be retained in case the homeowners change their minds in the future. After nearly two years of debate in council meetings and the four-month task force process, there was almost no public comment before last week's approval. Local environmentalist Dennis Chase was the only citizen who spoke, and his comments were positive, referring to the watershed management plan currently being formed for the entire water district and how the Southside master plan does a good job of fitting into it. As the vote was taken, Mayor Kenneth Steele complimented the task force process, saying that it involved "a lot of give and take" and that the Southside will be better for it. Councilman Larry Dell echoed those sentiments, calling the work leading up to this point "unprecedented." Councilman Al Hovey-King pointed out what he considered some specific benefits of the plan, such as reductions in residential density and projected traffic, as well as a considerable addition of green space. He added that the plan will have no negative impact on city infrastructure or the school system, but positive environmental effects. "We will never be able to please everyone," he said. "But years down the road, this will be seen as a positive move."
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