By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

Fayetteville City Council Monday set the tone for future development along Ga. Highway 314 north, approving annexation and rezoning for a 152-home subdivision and 20-unit office park.

Over Mayor Mike Wheat's strong objections, council unanimously approved R-30 zoning (homes on three-quarter-acre lots) for Argonne Forest, the 127-acre residential portion of the project, and O&I (office and institutional) zoning for the 17-acre remainder. The residential land straddles New Hope Road at Hwy. 314, and the office land faces 314 just north of New Hope.

“It's a question of inventory in my mind,” said Wheat, citing statistics showing that the city currently has 1,304 subdivision lots platted but unbuilt, and an additional 1,201 lots could be built on existing vacant land under current zoning.

“We have existing in the city roughly 2,500 units. We have, it appears to me, plenty of inventory available. It impacts the value of property in the city every time we annex property outside the city.”

But council members said they see the annexation request as a chance for the city to exert control over a key piece of property on the edge of the city. “If this went back to the county, we would lose a real quality of life,” said Councilman Glenn Brewer. “We lose a little control by not doing something now.”

Bob Rolader, who plans to develop the property along with Brent Scarbrough, painted a scenario in which some future developer might ask for and receive commercial or office designation for the entire parcel after the current council has retired.

The development of Fayette Pavilion's 50-acre third phase in “big box” retail stores set the tone for the east side of 314, Rolader argued, adding that his plan for offices on the west side with homes behind them will insure that commercial sprawl goes no farther west.

“I don't think anybody's going to buy a house on 314,” agreed Brewer.

“If you build it, it will be bought,” countered Wheat.

Tom Marconi, a resident of neighboring Black Rock Springs, agreed with Wheat. “I don't understand what benefit is accrued to the city by this annexation,” he said during a public hearing on the request.

The city's land use plan calls for one-acre lots or larger on the outskirts of the city, Marconi argued. “This is on the edge of the city boundary, and here we are zoning it below the one-acre requirement,” he said.

“I don't recall us ever going against the land use plan,” agreed Wheat.

But the land use plan was written before the heavy commercial development at the Pavilion, Rolader said.

In the end, council members agreed to the annexation and rezoning with the proviso that if Rolader doesn't get started within a year, the zoning changes to R-70, a category requiring larger than one-acre lots.