The expanding medical alley along Ga. Highway 54 West might get a couple of new additions inside Fayetteville city limits. Planning and Zoning commissioners June 26 voted to recommend annexation and rezoning requests that would put Dogwood Forest assisted living center and a proposed 40,000-square-foot medical office building near Piedmont Fayette Hospital inside the city.

Dogwood Forest is a 46,000-square-foot facility located on 4.87 acres at 1297 Hwy. 54 West. If approved by the city council, the annexation would provide the ability to connect to the city’s sewer system.

Planning and Zoning Director Eldridge Gunn said the facility has no current plans to expand or change the existing use. Dogwood Forest has O-I (Office-Institutional) county zoning and is requesting MO (Medical Office) if annexed.

Group VI, owners of the 3.85-acre site, are proposing to construct a 40,000-square-foot, three-story medical office building at 1231 Hwy. 54 West. The building is expected to serve as tenant space for professional practices wanting to locate near the hospital, Gunn said. The property is currently zoned O-I in the county, with Group VI requesting a designation of MO inside the city.

Although the city's comprehensive plan future land use map designates the Dogwood Forest site for Agricultural Residential development, there presently is a compatible mix of medical, residential and light retail uses, said Gunn.

The retail is not targeted toward a regional market, but rather supports the immediate surrounding uses. The Medical Office zoning district better supports the Dogwood Forest facility and this area in general, he said.

Both annexation and rezoning requests were approved by Highway 54/Hospital Area Study. The Fayette County Commission said it has no objection to the annexations, Gunn said.

Commissioners also voted to recommend a transitional buffer variance for Emory Office Building, a two-story, 13,700-square-foot building located adjacent to Togwatee Village Parkway retail center across Ga. Highway 54 from Piedmont Fayette Hospital.

login to post comments