Unnamed regional stores also sought for 74 south

One developer hopes to locate a Lowe’s Home Improvement and a Kohl’s Department Store on the south side of Ga. Highway 54 West between MacDuff Parkway and Planterra Way in Peachtree City.

Yet another company is also proposing to build two regionally-sized “big box” stores with as-yet unnamed tenants on the city’s south side across from the Wilshire Pavilion.

Both plans got a once-over by the city’s Planning Commission Monday night in a workshop format.

Officials from Lowe’s and Kohl’s were present at the meeting, showing their interest in coming to Peachtree City, noted Capital City’s Doug McMurrain of the Hwy. 54 West project, called McIntosh Village South. McMurrain is the same developer responsible for the stores on the north side of Hwy. 54 West including the Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

The McIntosh Village South property is zoned general commercial, but a waiver to the city’s big box ordinance constraints will be necessary from the City Council or the development couldn’t occur.

The Lowe’s building proposed by Capital City would be 116,000 sq. ft. and the building presumed to be the Kohl’s would be 89,000 sq. ft. Both are in violation of the city’s big box store size restrictions, which limits stores to a maximum size of 35,000 square feet.

Because the property backs up to the Cardiff Park subdivision, McMurrain said he planned to increase the landscape buffer along those homes from 50 to 70 feet in part so a significant stand of trees could be kept to screen the development. McMurrain said he also wants to put in an access road near Hwy. 54 that would parallel Hwy. 54.

Several residents of Planterra Ridge subdivision said they opposed putting a driveway to the development off Planterra Way. They said that would make the subdivision a shortcut for the rest of the city for additional traffic they don’t want. Planning Commissioner Marty Mullin said the road would actually benefit Planterra residents by keeping them from driving on Hwy. 54 to reach the shopping center.

McMurrain said he would work with nearby residents to address their concerns about the plan.

“You will not see it, smell it, see the lights. We can do that,” McMurrain said.

Former mayor Steve Brown, who lives in Planterra Ridge, said the development would harm traffic on the newly-widened Ga. Highway 54. But Planning Commissioner Marty Mullin said he wanted more concrete information including a traffic study, which is one of the many requirements such big box proposals must meet for consideration by the City Council.

The “amateur traffic engineers” were wrong when they said the Target shopping center would create traffic problems, Mullin said.

The other big box shopping center reviewed by the planning commission is proposed for the southern end of Ga. Highway 74 south across from the Wilshire Pavilion shopping center.

Columbia Properties’ plan is a bit more complex as the company is seeking a land swap with the city so it can use the city’s current recycling center off the current Rockaway Road which the city wants to relocate. The state Department of Transportation is realigning Rockaway Road as part of the project to widen Ga. Highway 74 south from two to four lanes. The new road alignment allows it to intersect with Hwy. 74 at the traffic light for Holly Grove Road, the main entrance to Wilshire Pavilion.

Columbia wants to build a “home improvement” anchor store of 140,000 square feet and a “soft goods” anchor store of 65,000 square feet, both of which are over the city’s big box requirements.

Former City Attorney Rick Lindsey, representing Columbia Properties, said the company is seeking a limited use commercial rezoning so the city’s big box rules would not apply. The big box ordinance only applies to land zoned general commercial; with limited use commercial zoning the city can add numerous conditions to offset the negative impacts of a given retail development. In the past the city has used such discretion to forbid certain types of stores from being located on properties zoned LUC.

The parcel is currently zoned for industrial use but the city’s land use plan earmarks it for medium density single-family housing.

Mullin said the development plan needs to work on the “sea of cars” in the 1,162 parking spaces proposed for the big box stores and the other smaller stores that would be located along Hwy. 74. Parking is the proposal’s biggest problem, Mullin added.

City Planner David Rast noted that the proposal has about 350 more spaces than would be allowed by city ordinance.

Planning Commissioner Patrick Staples said he didn’t think such big box stores fit in with the look and intent of what the city is trying to accomplish in its retail areas.

Lindsey said the site is ideal for a regional shopping center because it is on the edge of Peachtree City, meaning that cars won’t be driving through the city to shop at the stores.

Columbia Properties was responsible for development of Wilshire Pavilion and has been eyeing the 51-acre site across Hwy. 74 for some time, a representative said.

Former Planning Commissioner Dennis Payton said the city should uphold the land use plan designation that the site will be developed for residential use and not commercial use.