Commercial activity may be coming to the Starr's Mill area despite the protests of residents and Fayette County's planning staff.

"Staff is not in favor of this rezoning it doesn't meet the land use plan," zoning administrator Kathy Zeitler told the county Planning Commission last week, right before the commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of limited commercial zoning for a parcel across Ga. Highway 85 from the historic landmark, at the intersection of 85 and the 85 Connector.

The county Board of Commissioners will hear the rezoning request during its Dec. 10 meeting, 7 p.m. at the County Administrative Complex.

Bob Rolader, agent for owner Brent Scarbrough, said Scarbrough plans to use the site for a small country store. "Our intention is to serve the needs of the rural community, not to destroy it," said Rolader.

But Chris Presley, who lives next door on the 85 Connector, said putting a store on the corner will destroy the value of his property and the quality of life he expected when he bought it.

"I'm going to lose $40,000 to $80,000. When he gets his buck, I'm going to have to move, and I'm going to lose," he said, adding that he recently moved to the area to fulfill a lifelong dream that started when his family drove past Starr's Mill when he was a child.

"It's taken me 37 years to get up to this point," said Presley. Increased traffic, noise and pollution from the store, plus having gas tanks in the ground near his well, will end that dream, he said.

Michelle Ivey, who lives next door to Presley, expressed similar concerns. "I just hope y'all leave Starr's Mill the way it ought to be," she said.

"I have lived in convenient places. I moved down south of Fayette because I didn't want the convenience," added Sandy Coley, who also lives near the site.

Rolader said he doesn't believe the store will add to traffic in the area. "It's just a small store where people will stop on their way to and from work. I don't see it as a big, ugly convenience store."

Zeitler expressed concern about having underground gasoline tanks so near Starr's Mill Lake, a future water source for the county. But commission members said new safety measures required for such tanks makes them much less dangerous than in the past.

Planning Commission member Jim Graw said the limited commercial zoning is appropriate for the corner lot. "I don't think this property is going to remain vacant from now until the end of time," he said. "Would I build a house on this property? I would not."

He said limited commercial zoning is "very strict and very tight. What's it going to be? I would rather see something that's controlled very tightly."

Commission member Fred Bowen said the limited commercial zoning category was created for just this sort of situation. "We spent months and months and months discussing limited commercial and how we could protect the surrounding neighborhood and still allow an owner to use his property. This is a classic case," he said.

The group's recommendation of approval carries with it restrictions on the number of gas pumps the store can have two under each canopy for a total of four and heavy buffering requirements between the store and Presley's home.