Information refuting the last traffic estimates for a "mini-Mews" proposal at Ga. Highway 54 and Walt Banks Road is flowing to task force members working on uses for the corner, though the group will not meet again until April 20.

Information from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) shows that a proposal for upscale shops and stores of about 250,000 square feet would be classified a "fashion specialty center" for a targeted market, not a "regional mall." As such, the development would generate about 1889 cars per day, considerably less than the 4000 predicted by task force member Norm Moore at the last meeting. Moore based his figures on research of Internet sources related to commercial developments.

The new traffic figures were supplied by task force members Michael Velsmid and John Callaway to Mayor Robert Lenox and the others. Velsmid is a Peachtree City resident who is CEO of WestPoint Stevens Stores, and Callaway heads Callaway Land Company, which hopes to develop the corner with upscale retail stores and restaurants.

Several task force members, including Moore and City Council member Carol Fritz, have expressed reluctance to support the latest suggestion for possible development at the intersection and to the east of the corner. The proposal was drafted by a subgroup from the task force and includes a "residential buffer" proposed by housing developer Bob Adams. The housing would range from $180,000 to $300,000 and would wrap around the commercial area on the north and east.

Velsmid's letter to Lenox states that retailers and mall developers "rely on" the ICSC data for selecting sites, financial projections and "credibility." He said that he and his wife, Joan, who attended the last task force meeting "were baffled" to hear the current Mews project described as a "regional mall." Joan Velsmid is a former vice president and regional director of stores for Lord & Taylor.

Callaway forwarded information from the ICSC about "fashion/specialty centers" and also asked the company which researched the area for Parisian department stores to comment about the project's "regionality." One of the objections of some residents and task force members has been that a Parisian store at 120,000 to 140,000 square feet would be the drawing card that would turn the area into a "regional" facility.

Marsha Holland, senior vice president of Realty Development Research Inc. in Chicago, wrote to Lenox that the Mews "will not have the same kind of broad-based regional draw" as a "true regional mall," even if anchored by a department store.