It is just a small piece of property and likely the last remaining unincorporated island inside the corporate limits of Fayetteville.

Up for annexation and rezoning is a 2.5-acre lot at White Road and Ga. Highway 314. Neighbors at the Aug. 16 council meeting said low intensity commercial use would be preferable.

The property is currently zoned R-40 (Residential) in the county. City staff are recommending C-2 (Community Commercial) if the property is annexed.

Property owner W. H. Calloway preferred the lot be developed for use as a convenience store and gas station, but some neighbors present at the meeting objected, saying the area would be more appropriate for other businesses that produce less traffic.

The city has been very successful in protecting the residential uses along Hwy. 314 through careful planning and development decisions, Planning and Zoning Director Eldridge Gunn said in a July 24 memo.

Higher intensive commercial uses have been directed to the east side of Hwy. 314 and a mixture of residential and less intensive commercial and office uses have been encouraged on the west side of Hwy. 314, he said.

The annexation of this property will allow the city to address service delivery issues and preserve the already established development pattern in this area, said Gunn.

Gunn said the city council in 1994 attempted to address this issue by annexing nine properties that were identified as unincorporated islands. The city’s base maps at that time did not identify this property as an unincorporated island, and as such, it was not annexed, Gunn said.

The council will hear the second reading of the annexation and rezoning request at the Sept. 6 meeting.

Also at the meeting, the city’s finance department staff were recognized with a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.

Director Lynn Robinson and department staff have received the award each year for more than a decade.

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