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Best Buy blues: Planners dislike store’s signature entrance

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Best Buy needs to drop its signature blue color from its proposed storefront in Peachtree City along Ga. Highway 54 West, several planning commissioners said Monday.

The commission voted to table the conceptual site plan for a retail center that would feature a Best Buy just under 30,000 square feet, roughly a third smaller than the store at the Fayette Pavilion in Fayetteville.

The blue “wedge” that would surround the building’s entrance was just too much for some planning commissioners to stomach aesthetically. Plus, as commission Chairman Dennis Payton noted, that blue color doesn’t appear on the allowed color palette outlined in the architectural overlay for the area.

“It doesn’t meet the criteria,” Payton said. “It doesn’t meet our guidelines.”

A representative for RAM Development, which owns the property that was formerly the location of Line Creek Baptist Church, said Best Buy officials were adamant about the presence of the blue wedge design.

“It just stands out like a sore thumb,” Payton said.

Commissioner Marty Mullin noted that the commission didn’t talk about the blue wedge when the plans were broached at a previous workshop, but he expressed his extreme lack of regard for the plan. When the commission tried to round up two volunteers to work with city staff, RAM and Best Buy officials to improve the plan, Mullin declined to participate, indicating he was too worked up over the issue.

Mullin pointed out that the Best Buy “ticket” sign doesn’t appear to meet the city’s sign ordinance either.

“The door is seven feet tall,” Mullin said of the entryway, “and the B in Best Buy is a six-foot high letter.”

The blue wedge “should be considered part of the sign,” said Commissioner Ray Green.

Mullin also decried the handling of golf cart traffic on the site.

Payton also noted that the proximity to the church’s cemetery could cause a problem for Best Buy because of the location of its loading dock and dumpster. It is possible that a deed restriction could be used to keep activity in that area from occurring during a funeral, officials said.