Friday, October 10, 2003
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Friday, October 10, 2003 |
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Neighbors prepared to file suit to alter plans for Kedron Phase II By J. FRANK
LYNCH and By MICHAEL
BOYLAN More than 600 Peachtree City residents have signed a petition against plans for a 265,000-square foot addition to Kedron Village Center and have hired an attorney who specializes in zoning matters to fight the project, which they say threatens the quality of life for the whole city. Tim Wedemyer, chairman of the opposition group calling itself “The Committee for the Responsible Development of Kedron Shopping Center,” said they will consider filing a lawsuit if the city and developer ignore their concerns. The Peachtree City Planning Commission is scheduled to act on the conceptual site plan for Kedron Phase II and III at its Monday meeting, 7 p.m. in City Hall. Anyone interested in attending the meeting is advised to get there early. At previous meetings where this issue came before the commission, parking at the City Hall complex and seats inside were scarce. Wedemyer said the group isn’t necessarily opposed to the Target store, a “big-box” retailer that otherwise would be outlawed under a 2000 city ordinance. But because the long-range master plan for Kedron was approved years ago, there isn’t much that can be done to stop it out right, city officials have said. Instead, the opposition lies is the size and scope of the entire project, which Wedemyer said will be the largest retail center in the city when complete, with more than 400,000 square feet and 1,652 parking spaces. “We all knew a shopping center was going to be there, but what is being proposed is signficlantly larger than anything else and is going to stress the infrastructure of Peachtree City,” he said. In comparison, The Avenue is 168,000 square feet with 725 parking spaces, while the Home Depot and Wal-Mart development covers 360,000 square feet and has room for 1,516 cars. “This proposed center on this property is significantly larger than anything else that has ever been proposed on this property,” said Wedemyer, agreeing that he and most of his neighbors were aware that a Phase II of the center would be built eventually, but not this large. The only previous proposals for the remainder of the shopping center property called for 185,000 square-feet of retail space, Wedemyer claimed. Traffic studies conducted by the developer, and confirmed by the city’s own independent analysis, said Wedemyer, indicate the Target and adjacent new stores will generate at least 4,000 new car trips per day on Georgia Parkway, a connector route Ga. Highway 74 North and Peachtree Parkway that provides exclusive access to hundreds of homes. Peachtree Parkway alone will see an increase of nearly 3,000 daily car trips, officials predict. “And there are those who believe the traffic study is conservative,” Wedemyer said. The neighborbhood group has come up with two suggestions to at least improve the traffic concerns: Make Newgate Road, now a deadend cul-de-sac off Georgia Parkway, the main entrance into the complex instead of Regents Park, and allow one-way in, one-way out northbound access directly off Hwy. 74. There are other items on Monday’s agenda, including the conceptual site plan for the Westpark Promenade development, which is supposed to feature a new World Gym and a Taco Mac.
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