Fayetteville officials envision a hotel with conference facilities, shops, an office park, dozens of homes and a park on 110 acres just off the Courthouse Square on Ga. Highway 54 west.

If the plan works out, it could set the tone for the entire historic district, providing a boost for the city's vision of an old-fashioned downtown where residents can walk to shops, restaurants, parks and government offices.

"The mission is to get people to live downtown," Bill Talley, chairman of the city Planning Commission, told the City Council during last week's work session.

Talley is a member of a task force working to develop special land use plans for two large tracts in the city, including the McElwaney property next to Fayette County High School. The group meets again today at 9 a.m.

"The idea is to tie it to Main Street and make it quality and upscale," said Mayor Mike Wheat, also a member of the task force. The tract is bordered by Tiger Trail on the east, Sharon Drive on the west, Hwy. 54 on the south and the high school on the north.

Concerns about what happens to the parcel arose during discussions of the city's new land use plan, adopted late last year after 10 months of work.

That plan anticipates medium to low density residential development on the parcel, bringing protest from owner King McElwaney during public hearings on the plan last August.

McElwaney said his family has owned the property, once rolling farm land, for 100 years. But the land is in the heart of the city, and it's not reasonable to suggest that two- or three-acre lots would be the best use so close in, he said.

City Council agreed, but didn't want to designate the property for high-density residential either, at least not without a master plan. Council decided to leave the overall plan as it is, but to hire consultants to design special overlay plans for large tracts like McElwaney's and a 175-acre parcel on Jimmy Mayfield Boulevard.

During last week's council work session, city planner Jahnee Prince sketched the basic concept that the task force has been discussing, showing a hotel at the corner of 54 and Tiger Trail, with retail shops along the highway and an office park at the corner of 54 and Sharon Drive.

Estate-sized residential lots would be a good fit for Sharon Drive heading north, away from 54, Prince said, with a green belt/park running along the property's border with the high school.

Higher density single family homes are envisioned for the interior of the parcel, she said, with a few townhouses fronting on an interior street that enters the property from Tiger Trail.

A four-laned, tree-lined parkway would split the property, running south to north. Generally, the plan calls for about 60 percent residential use, with about 40 percent split between the hotel, shops, offices and townhouses.

Council members said they like the plan, but cautioned that it won't be much good unless developers buy into it. "We have to have the commitment on the part of the property owners and developers that this is what they are going to do," said Councilman Kenneth Steele, who added that he would oppose any high-density residential development unless the land is developed according to a master plan with high-quality elements.

"It is a logical place for higher density, but in order for me to support higher density it is going to have to be an upscale project, not a cookie cutter of what we've been getting," he said.

"[Homes priced at] $250,000 and up might make me lean a little bit toward high density," agreed Councilman Walt White. "If it's done right, we could set a precedent for other property owners coming in."