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Council tables corner request

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@TheCitizenNews.com

A rezoning request that would turn the southeast corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Grady Avenue into retail, office and possibly residential ventures was tabled by the Fayetteville City Council at Thursday’s meeting.

Developer Asa Candler proposed rezoning the property from R-30 (Single-Family Residential) to C-1 (Downtown Commercial). Candler proposed two possible options for development at the site, telling council members he sought their input on the direction the proposed project should take.

The first option would include two retail buildings, two office buildings and another building designated for mixed use. That building would contain offices on the first floor and nine, three-bedroom townhouses with approximately 2,000 square feet of living space above. The townhomes would be outfitted with two-car garages in the rear and with decks on the front and rear. The mixed use building would be situated away from the street fronts.

The second option called for deletion of the mixed use building, substituting instead two smaller office buildings.

Candler said earlier conversations with some council members led him to include the possibility of making the rear building mixed use. He approached the council Thursday to get direction on what they thought might be preferential in terms of development at the site, he said.

“What we’re trying to do is to make sure what we’re doing is what the council wants and believes is best,” Candler said.

Candler made a number of remarks about the proposal and a discussion ensued, relating to possible landscaping options, traffic access and congestion issues and other matters relating to potential development of the site. A few minutes into the discussion, Mayor Ken Steele said the council’s job rested in approving or disapproving proposals rather than assisting in their formulation.

“I would have to make the preliminary statement that it is not council’s responsibility to plan the project,” Steele said.

A portion of the discussion questioned whether there was already enough commercial property available in the city with C-1 zoning. Candler was also asked if he had tenants to occupy the space, retail, office and residential. Candler said he had several potential tenants for the retail portion of the project.

“I have no fear that we will end up with a ghost town in either category, retail or office,” he said. “And I think the townhouses, having a substantial amount of space, will be attractive to people.”

At the end of the discussion, Candler was asked if he would prefer that the council make a decision based on the rezoning proposal before them or if he would like to have the proposal tabled until he could return with one they could vote on. Candler said he preferred that consideration of the proposal be tabled.

As submitted for the Thursday meeting, the proposal included the construction of three retail buildings and two office buildings. A main retail building will be 14,000 square feet, with the two remaining buildings coming in at 11,250 square feet and 10,500 square feet. The proposed office buildings were each listed at 6,000 square feet, with the possibility of a third office building of the same size. Candler proposed landscaping and street improvement to add to the overall aesthetics of the property.

Current zoning for property in the immediate area includes OI (Office & Institutional) to the south of the site, C-2 (Community Commercial) abutting the site on the east side, a planned community development (PCD) to the north across the street and C-3 across the street on the west side.

In a memo to the council, Director of Planning & Zoning Jahnee Prince said vehicular traffic will enter and exit the property from Hwy. 54 and Grady Avenue. The property, she said, is within the Main Street Architectural Overlay District and the State Highway/Jimmie Mayfield Corridor Overlay District. The Annual Average Daily Traffic along Hwy. 54 at the intersection is 32,072 vehicles.

The city’s Planning & Zoning staff recommended approval of the rezoning request, as did the Planning & Zoning Commission at its October meeting.