On Thursday’s agenda: a 3-month halt to new retail and an update on commercial restrictions

Peachtree City may start the new year off with a bang Thursday night by halting all new retail and commercial development for three months to evaluate further development restrictions.

The moratorium concept is the brainchild of newly elected Peachtree City Councilman Don Haddix, and it’s liable to draw at least some criticism from the development community. It will take three votes on council to approve the moratorium.

The city only has 78.7 acres of undeveloped property left that’s currently zoned for retail/commercial use. Of those parcels, three are spoken for as hotels which already have been approved by the city’s planning commission.

However the city is also theoretically facing a bigger challenge: aging commercial properties that could be sold and redeveloped for other retail uses.

The proposal advanced by city staff would throw the ordinance review first to the city’s Planning Commission, which would report back to council in March on the matter.

That review would encompass the uses permitted in commercial zoning districts, consistency with the city’s comprehensive plan and details such as lot and building size, setbacks, open space and impervious surfaces, according to a resolution drafted by city staff.

The proposal would preclude the city accepting or approving any conceptual site plans that refer or include commercial structures or uses or for property zoned to a commercial zoning classification. Also, it would forbid approval of commercial rezonings.

The moratorium would not apply to commercial building permit applications received by the city as of the resolution’s date or if the conceptual site plan or final site plan has been submitted for approval by that same date.

Haddix has said he wants to require developers to present detailed economic projections, a traffic study and other data that could shed light on the impact of the new store ... all before the decisions is made to approve it.

Such would be a dramatic change from the current process, as the City Council is not directly involved in most commercial development in the city. If the development is on land zoned for general commercial use, a developer within reason can build any new store without going to council, as long as the proposal is approved by the Planning Commission and will adhere to city ordinances.

Haddix also has said he hopes to exempt from the moratorium smaller stores that don’t have significant impact on traffic and other infrastructure. It also would not apply to new stores moving into existing commercial space, he added.

A number of city residents have complained about the number of retail vacancies throughout the city at recent planning meetings. Some of those people have argued the city should not approve any new commercial structures until the vacancies are filled.

In January 2002 the council approved a moratorium on all land development for 90 days to update the city’s land use and zoning ordinances.

It drew a lawsuit from the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia and much criticism from representatives of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and developers, including Pathway Communities and RAM Development, which built the Ga. Highway 54 West retail center known as McIntosh Village that houses Wal-Mart and Home Depot, among other stores.

Thanks to the lawsuit, the moratorium was overturned by Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English Jr. just over a month after it was approved on a 4-1 council vote, with then-Councilman Dan Tennant opposed.

The moratorium banned any new concept plans, new landscape plans and also new plats for subdivisions, though developers were allowed to appeal to council to have their proposals exempted from the moratorium.

In other business, council is expected to consider approving a $224,000 contract to renovate and expand Fire Station 83 in Braelinn Village.

The facility, which originally opened in 1989, would include new sleeping quarters for up to seven personnel with individual partitions as opposed to the beds in a single open space room.

The renovation will also modify space in the kitchen/dining area and make the existing “dormitory” a dayroom for meetings, personal study time and relaxation periods, according to a memo from Fire Marshal John Dailey.

The city had budgeted $127,000 initially for the project and the remaining funds will come from the contingency fund from the 2007 public improvement program, according to the memo.