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Another Kroger vote set for Monday

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Monday night could be the time Senoia residents will learn if they will soon be “Krogering.”

The Senoia City Council will once again discuss developer Trammell Crow’s plan to develop a shopping center at the intersection of Ga. highways 85 and 16.

After nearly an hour of discussion Jan. 3, the City Council voted unanimously to approve a conditional use zoning and a parking variance for Trammell Crow’s plan to develop the site.

But the approval came with a caveat that Kroger would probably have to develop the center with out a traffic signal at the intersection of Hwy. 16 and Chestlehurst Road.

Councilman Bill Wood said a traffic signal at that intersection would just create more traffic headaches for the growing city.

“You’ve got another traffic light just 600 feet down the road. This would keep traffic from moving,” he said.

Instead, Wood favored a “right-in, right out,” lane at the intersection, and said if people wanted to turn left, they could use one of the other entrances to the shopping center.

But Lewis Young, who represented the developer, had a different spin on the issue.

“It’s growth that drives traffic, not a shopping center. We just want a center that offers easy access for our shoppers,” he said.

Lewis said his company would be glad to do a traffic study, and added that DOT would ultimately decide whether a traffic light needed to be placed at the intersection.

But Wood said the company would have to submit a site plan to the DOT showing his proposal before he could support the plan. Lewis retorted that this was not the issue at hand.

“You’re making a site plan decision on a zoning issue,” he said.

After the vote, the developers stormed out of Town Hall muttering that the lack of a signal was probably a “deal killer.”

But as the City Council meeting was coming to a close, Tom Dunlap, who represents the property owner for the shopping center, asked the City Council to reconsider their actions.

“I think a 30-day delay should be considered since you didn’t have your attorney here and there are some possible legal questions,” he said.

Councilman Robert Belisle, who earlier had expressed regrets about the vote, agreed.

The council rescinded their earlier votes on the zoning and variance and said it would discuss the issue again Monday.