Friday, September 26, 2003
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Friday, September 26, 2003 |
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Phase II and II of Kedron Village Retail Center discussed in workshop format again By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
History played a major part at the meeting of the Peachtree City Planning Commission Monday night, as staff, developers and residents came together to discuss Phase II and III of the Kedron Village Retail Center. There was a full house to take in the meeting, with residents on one side (and their attorney somewhere in the mix) and members of the Faison development team and their attorneys on the other. Because it was a workshop, there was no action taken by the Planning Commission. City Planner David Rast started the meeting off with a brief history of the location. His main point was to show that on plans dating back to 1993, when the overall master plan of the retail center was first being developed, there was a loop road, now called Georgian Park, that was always meant to serve as a collector road. Rast discussed several plans, all of them showing entrances to a retail center off Georgian Park. "The Georgian Park loop road is designed to handle more traffic than it does today," said Rast, who also informed the commission and the audience that the city has been working with Faison and Pathway, the groups that have been involved with developing Phase II and III, since December of last year. Mike Cohn of Faison then spoke and discussed the changes that had been made to the site plan since the last time they had come before the commission. Among the changes made were the removal of striping lanes, an altering of the design of the extension road, wider buffers, a common loading area for Target and Kroger, a net reduction of 31 parking spaces and a few additional cart spaces in Phase III. Cohn also said that there were fire and safety concerns with the previous draft of the site plan but that the fire marshal had approved the changes they had made last week. The public was then invited to ask questions and make comments. One man asked whether the plan drawn in 1993 contemplated the current subdivisions. Rast answered by stating that the 1993 plan was drawn while looking at several scenarios so that the intersection would be designed to handle traffic coming in and out of the retail center, as well as coming in and out of a fairly intense residential area. Faison then had a representative from Moreland-Altobelli present the findings of their traffic study. The traffic study found that under existing conditions a traffic signal at Ga. Highway 74 and Georgian Park would be needed and that a four-way stop at Georgian Park and Regents Park would be an option if the city felt it was needed. Cohn stated that Faison would pay for the installation of the traffic signal at Hwy. 74 and Georgian Park. Before the Citizens for the Responsible Development of the Kedron Shopping Center made their presentation, commission member Bob Buckley stated that according to the numbers, the three phases of the Kedron Village Retail Center would tie the Home Depot and Wal-Mart center at 350,000 square feet of retail space but the Kedron Village center would have more parking spaces. John Hedge, president of the Homeowners Association board of directors, representing nearby subdivisions, gave a 45-minute presentation on the concerns of the 1,704 people who live in the 536 nearby homes. The concerns of the group focused on the extension of Regents Park Road and the size and location of the development. Hedge stated that their main concerns with the Regents Park Road extension were safety for pedestrians and vehicles, added emergency response times, only giving residents a single source entry and exit, added pollution, a propellant to crime, golf cart access and future increased traffic. "This is also inconsistent with other village collector roads in the city," said Hedge. "It is not meant to be a cut-through to a commercial area. This would be precedent setting." When discussing the concerns over size and location, Hedge brought forward research from city ordinances and comments made at past City Council meetings. The main point echoed a concern that was voiced earlier in the meeting about the big box ordinance and how the current plan proposed was significantly different from the initial plan proposed before the ordinance was drafted. Hedge also cited an ordinance from November of 2000 that stated a large-scale, regional retail area, which is what a Target is, should be located in the intersection area of hwys. 54 and 74. Hedge then cited references to the site plan in city documents as inactive, not approved and also being submitted as new conceptual site plans, thereby making it necessary to be held to the rules of the big box ordinance. Hedge also stated some of his group's suggestions for easing the traffic, should it be found that the development does not have to follow the big box ordinance. Among the suggestions were having a road extension through the commercial area at Newgate Road, reduce the size of the site and create an access by the extension of Newgate Road, a one-way cut off the northbound side of Hwy. 74 or a right-in, right-out at the same location, the expansion and widening of the road in front of Outback Steakhouse or a tunnel. Cohn and Faison will review the presentation made by Hedge and the groups will likely meet a few times before the next Planning Commission meeting, set for Monday, Oct. 13, sans attorneys. Rast stated that staff had been acting as a mediator between the two groups, working with them individually and had "dropped the ball" by keeping them apart before Monday's meeting. Wes Saunders and Dennis Payton will act as planning commission representatives for the project. Saunders closed the meeting by stating, "tThese things don't get resolved quickly. I'd be hard pressed to say that we'll be voting on this in three weeks but it would be great if it could be resolved."
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