Alex Rodriguez may or may not get a face-lift for Town Square Jewelers in Fayetteville. Deciding on part of a $200,000 project to significantly renovate the building at Stonewall Avenue and Ga. Highway 85, Planning and Zoning commissioners April 12 denied the proposal after a motion to approve the plan failed, paving the way for a appeal May 3 to the City Council.

Reviewing the issue at the April 12 called meeting, Senior Planner Linwood Robinson noted that project discussions in March included whether elevations and materials were reflective of the character of the Main Street District.

The proposed elevations represent the renovation of a store that remains a landmark in downtown Fayetteville, he said. The discussion by commissioners last month, and in some cases again April 12, included items such as the varying use of stucco and brick, the length of proposed windows on the storefront and the potential for a knee wall.

Also addressed were other project components such as those relating to the proposed German or Bavarian roof style, the addition of a tower outfitted with stained glass on the west side of the roof, modifications and additions of dormers and windows reflective of what project architect John Reeves called the Empire Style in keeping with that of the old courthouse.

Commissioners had varying opinions about several of the project components.

The March discussion led to project representatives meeting with the city’s Art and Architectural Advisory Committee. The subsequent agreement stipulated that additional brick would be added in the center area of the store front on Stonewall Avenue, in combination with the brick and stucco facade already present in the overall design. The existing carport area on the building’s west side would be closed in.

Plans also called for the addition of a brown slate roof with dormers and windows representative of the European architecture round on the clock tower at the old courthouse across the street, Robinson said.

With the discussion continuing, Commissioner Bill Talley said emphatically that Rodriguez had gone a long way to incorporate the suggestions of the Art and Architectural Advisory Committee.

“Fayetteville has to be livable and walkable. We have to give them something to look at, otherwise they’ll just drive through (downtown),” Talley said, his remarks echoed minutes later by Commissioner Derryll Anderson. “The applicant has done everything we asked him to do, so we need to move on it.”

Commission Chair Sarah Murphy responded, saying that city ordinances in the Main Street District must comply with the guidelines. Our job is to enforce the guidelines, she said.

“We have complied with everything,” Rodriguez said to commissioners. “We met with the Art and Architectural Advisory Committee, we agreed on the changes. But at every meeting there are more changes. I just want it to go to a vote.”

The comments by Rodriguez effectively ended the discussion. Talley made a motion to approve the plan, but the vote failed by a 2-3 vote, with Talley and Anderson voting in favor of the approval and commissioners Chet Enigenburg and Mike Menchinger voting in opposition. Murphy broke the tie with a vote against the approval.

Murphy then made a new motion to deny the proposal, with that vote ending in another tie and Murphy voting in favor of the denial. Menchinger and Enigenburg voted to deny. Anderson and Talley against the motion.

Rodriguez said Monday he would appeal the decision to the City Council at the May 3 meeting.

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