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Lake plan under review

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@TheCitizenNews.com

What will happen with Pye Lake?

That question may be answered at this week’s Fayetteville Planning and zoning meeting.

On July 12, Fayetteville Planning & Zoning commissioners heard a request for rezoning of the Pye Lakes development from R-22 to R-22 PUD. Commissioners will take up the question Tuesday after reviewing the development agreement between property trustee Harriet Pye Parham, Scarbrough & Rolader Development, LLC and the City of Fayetteville.

Robert Rolader requested rezoning of the 6.2-acre property along Hood Avenue and Pye Road to allow for the development of 12 residential lots, according to Senior Planner Eldridge Gunn. The agreement also provides for the donation by Parham and Rolader & Scarbrough of the 14.46-acre Pye lake to the city. All proposed lots will have direct access from either Hood Avenue or Pye Lake Drive, currently known as Pye Road until it is reconfigured. Plans call for all existing structures on the site to be removed.

The minimum lot width for the development will be 70-feet with a minimum house size of 2,300 square feet, including at least 1,200 square feet on the first floor, said Gunn. He said the current R-22 zoning. The city’s Future Land Use Map designates the site for low-density, single family development. City zoning districts corresponding with that type development carry R-40 and R-70 designations.

“R-22 zoning corresponds to medium density, but the applicant’s proposed R-22 PUD zoning allows him to make adjustments that align the overall development and house sizes with low-density, single family development,” Gunn said. “The applicant’s proposed minimum house size of 2,300 square feet corresponds with low-density development and not medium-density.”

Gunn noted three staff considerations, including the requirement to pave all city streets, the required installation of sidewalks on both Hood Avenue and Pye Lake Drive and the need for deceleration and access lanes on Hood Avenue. Those issues, Gunn said, can be addressed during the development plan approval process. Staff recommended approval of the proposed rezoning, noting that the overall concept plan will protect and preserve Pye Lake.

Commissioners said they did not have a copy of the development agreement, adding that they wanted to review the document prior to proceeding. Discussion at the July 26 meeting will continue. Included in that meeting will be a discussion on what portion of the new Pye Lake Drive Rolader & Scarbrough will be required to pave.

Fayetteville council members voted in April to accept title to the lake to upgrade the dam for required flood control in exchange for designating 12 lots along Hood Avenue and Pye Road as a R-22 PUD development. The lots previously carried an R-22 zoning designation. The agreement also included the sale of a 3.16-acre tract on the south side of the lake by property owner Harriet Pye Parham to the city for $50,000 for use as greenspace.

At the April meeting and prior to a vote by the council, city manager Joe Morton referenced the city’s work over a significant period of time to arrive at a solution to the issue and the current opportunity to accomplish that goal.

“The point I’d like to make tonight is that we’re not buying Pye Lake. We’re buying a greenspace tract of 3.16 acres in exchange for the R-22 PUD development,” Morton said.

The city has applied for a $1 million FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant that would pay for 80 percent of the cost of the dam upgrade and two culvert upgrades on Cornwallis Way, according to a March 28 memo to council members from city engineer Don Easterbrook.

Regarding Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (EPD) April 2008 deadline for executing a construction contract for the upgrade work, Morton said that, if successful in obtaining the FEMA grant, the city would be able to expedite the project. Plans have been submitted to EPD’s Safe Dams program. The city could learn of the FEMA grant decision as early as the summer, Morton said.

Problems with the 39 year-old dam and the threat to life and property down gradient surfaced several years ago. Studies showed that the Pye Lake dam had several structural problems. Several homes were damaged in June 2003 and problems identified that year by the state Safe Dams program revealed that a breach during a heavy rain event could endanger nearby residents. The dam is categorized as a Category 1 dam, meaning that its failure has the potential to endanger at least one life. Fayetteville maintenance crews installed a siphon in late 2003 to lower the water level to prevent further weakening.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m.