Land swap with city remains unsettled

Preliminary plans to construct a 148,000 square foot shopping center on the former site of the Days Inn on Ga. Highway 54 West got a tentative approval from the Peachtree City Planning Commission Monday night.

The plan for The Shoppes at the Village Piazza is just under the 150,000 square foot limit of the city’s big box ordinance. But it’s complicated by the fact that it includes use of a parcel currently owned by the city. Developer Flexxon Operating is trying to strike a land swap deal with the city to acquire the additional frontage off Hwy. 54 West near Line Creek Parkway.

Flexxon has proposed it would give the city a parcel that includes the northern portion of the lake at the Line Creek Nature Area; the city owns the southern portion of the lake.

The commission’s tentative approval means the conceptual plan must come back to it for a final approval, depending on whether or not the City Council ultimately approves the land swap.

As currently envisioned, the shopping center’s main entry road would lead straight back to the Line Creek Nature Area.

The largest store building is 29,000 square feet, and just like the design for the existing retail stores on the northern side of Hwy. 54 West, most of the buildings will be close to the road.

One new change to the plan was the addition of a patio area at the southern end of the property which would overlook the lake at the nature center.

“I like what you’ve done. I like the evolution of the plan,” said Planning Commissioner Patrick Staples.

Tim Lydell, president of the nearby Cardiff Park subdivision’s homeowners association, said Flexxon has been “very flexible ... and very accommodating to what we wanted.” The association even supports the land swap proposal.