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Future of Fayette’s middle being decidedTue, 12/19/2006 - 4:07pm
By: Ben Nelms
It is the opening conversation into the future of the heart of Fayette County. County commissioners Dec. 14 voted unanimously to approve the concept plan of the Ga. Highway 54 Task Force. Coordinated by Fayette County and the city of Fayetteville, the master plan encompasses a 2,060-acre area in the county’s midsection situated along the burgeoning medical/office corridor and largely north of Hwy. 54 between Fayetteville and Tyrone Road. The concept plan north of Hwy. 54 includes areas east of Sandy Creek Road and extends to Tyrone Road on the west. The plan calls for future development efforts to include large areas of residential north of Hwy. 54, medical and other office use in proximity to Hwy. 54, limited commercial at Hwy. 54 and Tyrone Road and a potential institute of higher learning in proximity to the hospital and the proposed high school northeast of the Tyrone Road/Hwy. 54 intersection. “The city and the county are continuously being approached by developers,” said Chairman Greg Dunn. “We don’t want small random developments, only to end up with 2,000 acres of one-half-acre lots. We want an overall concept plan in place between the city and the county. We think we can accommodate each other by using a common sense approach. This will send a message to developers that shopping around for more density won’t work. And the planning for this will go on for years with the quality we’re expecting.” The concept plan calling for medical and other office use along Hwy. 54 centers around the availability of highway access and sewer capacity. Whether in the county or city, the development of office areas would be basically the same with a greater intensity if the corridor area was annexed into the city due to the availability of sewer, the plan said. The approximate amount of office development square footage would range from 1.7-2.6 million on approximately 400 acres. As a result, some of the area might eventually be annexed into the city. The concept plan proposes that an opportunity exists to create a major employment center with Piedmont Fayette Hospital as the driver for professional job creation. Planned residential development in the study area would provide housing for this workforce. This area would absorb a portion of the forecasted population and employment growth for the county as a whole and could relieve development pressures in other portions of the county for a period of time, the plan said. A large area north and east of Hwy. 54 and the office corridor area is targeted for residential development. The area is bordered on the north by the wetlands basin associated with Sandy Creek. Residential density of one unit per one to two acres is forecast if the area remains in the unincorporated county. Density would potentially be reduced to one unit per half-acre if the area was eventually annexed into Fayetteville. The northernmost area of the concept plan, situated north and west of the Sandy Creek basin, would maintain a residential density of one unit per two to three acres, the plan said. No annexation is anticipated in this area. The plan limits the amount of commercial development to the area to approximately 20 acres on the northeast corner of Hwy. 54 and Tyrone Road. The plan recommends a neighborhood shopping center to serve the immediate residential area. Plans recommend a grocery store anchor with a total shopping center maximum of 150,000 square feet of retail and the anchor store of no more than 56,000 square feet. The intent is to limit the amount and type of commercial development so that it neither becomes a regional shopping destination nor competes with the commercial development in Fayetteville and Peachtree City, planners said. The concept plan also suggests the evaluation of an internal connecting road system within the study area to avoid increased traffic congestion on Hwy. 54. The internal road system could include the proposed West Fayetteville Bypass, a road from Tyrone Road to the West Fayetteville Bypass with connection to Huiet Road and Hwy. 54, and a road connecting West Fayetteville Bypass and Sandy Creek Road north of the hospital. Included in the transportation concept was the installation of an integrated multi-use path system to connect residential and non-residential areas with eventual access to Fayetteville and Peachtree City. The concept plan also recommended the use of conservation subdivisions to aid in the provision of open space in the study area. The use of conservation subdivisions in conjunction with Sandy Creek basin will protect the environmental integrity of the streams included in the 2,000-acre area, the plan said. The plan was developed by representatives from Fayette County and Fayetteville. The city and county met with major area property owners, including representatives from the Rivers, Lester and Horton properties, and with stakeholders that included Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Fayette County School System and Fayette County Development Authority. The concept plan will be introduced in Fayetteville at the city council’s Jan. 4 meeting. login to post comments
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