With the traffic debate concerning the Ga. Highway 54 corridor at a fever pitch, another possible wrench has been thrown into the works.

An application has been made with the city for the development of a 203,750-sq. ft. Wal-Mart superstore and a 129,808-sq. ft. Home Depot retail center on the Huddleston property west of Ga. Highway 74, directly across Hwy. 54 from Planterra Way.

The initial site plan the city received also includes a couple of small commercial outparcels and more than 1,500 parking spaces. A pond at the rear of the propery, long considered a favorite fishing spot for local residents, would be filled under this plan.

The proposed site is bordered on the east by the railroad tracks (which prevent any current access from Hwy. 74) and on the west by a tract that is being developed as a 396-unit apartment complex to be on the proposed Line Creek Parkway.

RAM Development made the application for the new commercial site only a few weeks ago, since serious discussions have been initiated by the City Council in an attempt to relieve traffic congestion in the area. The council was scheduled to conduct a public hearing at last night's meeting to consider such alternatives as a traffic impact ordinance and a building moratorium.

City staff has recommended that a proposed traffic impact ordinance be adopted. If it is, then the developers of this project, or any other that is considered by the city, will be required to conduct an independent traffic study at their own expense, with the results being plugged into a traffic model now being designed by city-retained consultants.

Projects that are shown to have a detrimental effect on traffic in the corridor, which has already received a “D” grade by consultants, would be required to undertake appropriate mitigation or risk not receiving building permits.

The Wal-Mart/Home Depot plan is expected to be on the Planning Commission's Sept. 27 agenda, but word of the project has already spread throughout the city.

Council candidate Chuck Lehman mentioned it at his Monday morning press conference, and residents were calling The Citizen a few hours after that to inquire if the Planning Commission would be considering it that night. City staff was expected to bring the matter up at last night's City Council meeting and ask for direction as the project relates to the overall traffic issue.

RAM Development currently is at odds with the city on another project one block away, having asked for permission to develop a commercial parcel at the southwest corner of Line Creek Parkway, next to the Wynnmeade subdivision.

The city contends that the corner must be permanent open space, by order of the settlement reached a few years ago ending litigation over the property. The developer disputes that legal opinion, and the matter has not yet been officially settled.

Home Depot is in the preliminary stages of another Peachtree City site, in Kedron Village behind Kroger. While the retail giant has not commented specifically on the newest project, it is almost certain that Home Depot would not build on both sites. Some city officials are speculating that the company will sit back for a while and consider both options for as long as possible.

As for the apartments on Line Creek Parkway, the developer of that project has redrawn it so that the buildings are out of the wetlands, and it will be looked at again at the next Planning Commission meeting.

But everything proposed for the parkway, as well as the road itself, will be affected one way or another by the city's decision on how to tackle the traffic issue.

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