What would have been wrong with having a gas station or a fast food place there? We kind of need both there. With as much stuff is in that area we don't have a single drive thru and the only gas station is pain in the neck to get in and out of.

What other damage to the quality of life in PTC can these 3 do before at least one and hopefully all 3 are voted out of office? Certainly there's something else they haven't inflicted on us yet. With Clayton County so nearby, perhaps they should take a junket to Tara Blvd and see how successfully county planners there have integrated many new pawn shops, title loan stores, and other choice businesses to complete that chic 'urban blight' look that's obviously a good 'next step' to all the terrific city planning & code enforcement this group champions. For those who say its better than a gas station & fast food restaurant, are you always so easily manipulated? Very sad series of events, perfectly orchestrated, but still sad.

The agreement does allow CCD to seek a traffic light permit from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

No doubt he will ultimately win in his bid to get the 7th traffic light installed between 74 and the city limit on the West side, further congesting that stretch of 54.

As it is, many people use the "alternate exit" from Wal-Mart as a bypass. Many of them, who didn't have the patience to stay on 54, drive that stretch at dangerous speeds. Adding an additional light will surely increase the use of that road and it is only a matter of time before a pedestrian gets hit by one of these impatient drivers.

How much of that $500K will be used to ease the additional burden brought on by another traffic light? How about a median on MacDuff so that people who do use the "alternate exit" are forced to turn right onto MacDuff only?

Now I want to be on record as saying that I am as much against a Big Box in that location as anyone. But really, what are our options?
The property is sold and zoned.
Doug McMurrain is going to build something there. He has too much invested and I doubt in this market that anyone else would want to buy it from him and develop something else (besides with all of the road blocks PTC has thrown up why would someone think they would have any better luck getting something approved).
PTC seems passionately against a gas station (not sure why - a QT would help control the local prices) or auto parts store, so why would we not want to get a first class development? Yes, even if it means a "Small" Big Box store.
Hey, here's an option - why don't the citizens of PTC who are so up in arms about defeating the "Evil" McMurrain, band together and purchase the property from Capitol Development and donate it back to the city as a "Gateway Park". Shouldn't cost more than 40 or 50 million bucks.

Sold off streets (and the maintenance that goes along with them) that only serviced the owners property.

And still no big box approval. Anyone is free to seek one under our current ordinances. I see nothing different from any other commercial property in the City here.

The agreement for no gas station/fast food seems good too.

Now back to the regularly scheduled whining.

"Although city officials and CCD attorney Rick Lindsey read aloud many pertinent conditions of the agreement, copies of the agreement were not made available to the public before or during the meeting. City officials said the agreement had only been finalized about an hour and a half before the meeting began."

Doesn't anyone on the City Council have any long term memory? It seems to me that this is exactly how we found ourselves "discovering" that we signed a contract to turn over city owned land to Pathways Communities last year along TDK. Would there have been a downside to postponing the decision until the next scheduled council meeting so us citizens could actually see the terms of the contract that our Mayor and his two council-mates were obligating us into?

Looking forward to the next site plan that comes before the Planning Commission...where we will surely discover what CCD really wants for that site (besides a big-box and another traffic light on 54 West).

From mid-article:

According to the agreement, if Capital City Development fails to get a site plan approved for the parcel withing five years, the property will revert back to the city's possession via a quit claim action by CCD.

Also, if CCD sells any portion of the property, even so much as an outparcel, it must

The agreement does allow CCD to seek a traffic light permit from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

"...Even so much as an outparcel, it must..." WHAT? It must what??

Maybe McBully will have a harder time finding tenents than he did riding roughshod over PTC. He only has five years and it looks like it could be tough.
Retailers Taking Their Medicine and Turning Cautious Over Growth

February 6, 2008
Written by Sasha M Pardy
CoStar Group

Retail Industry Experts Say Closing Stores and Pulling Back is the Right Move in this Market

The past couple months in retail real estate have been laden with more store closing announcements and news of retailers slowing expansion plans than we've seen in a long time. However, two retail real estate strategy executives, a Wall Street retail analyst and a leading Texas retail real estate broker, confide that closing stores and turning cautious over expansion plans may be the best thing for retailers to be doing right now.

Announcements over the last couple months include:

-Movie Gallery closing another 400 stores;
-Charming Shoppes closing 150 stores and cutting expansion plans by 50%;
-Starbucks closing 100 stores and slowing expansion plans by 34%;
-Ann Taylor shuttering 117 stores and slowing store growth;
-Boston Market evaluating its real estate opportunities;
-Buffet Holdings sorting out its underperformers;
-Sprint Nextel closing 125 stores and 4,000 distribution points;
-Cost Plus World Market closing 18 stores;
-Liz Claiborne closing 54 Sigrid Olsen stores;
-New York & Company axing the Jasmine Sola brand and its 32 stores;
-Ethan Allen closing 12 stores;
-PacSun closing all of its 173 demo stores;
-Talbots exiting its kids and men's lines through closure of 78 stores;
-Rite Aid exiting Nevada by closing 28 stores;
-Macy's closing nine stores;
-Krispy Kreme expecting many franchisees to close stores;
-Kirkland's Home likely closing 130 stores;
-CompUSA's remaining 103 stores being disposed of;
-Rent-A-Center closing 280 stores;
-Sofa Express closing 44 stores in bankruptcy;
-84 Lumber closing 12 stores;
-Home Depot closings some call centers;
-Levitz Furniture disposing of 76 stores in bankruptcy;
-Pep Boys closing 31 stores;
-Lifetime Brands closing 30 stores;
-Big A Drugs liquidating its 21 stores.

Thanks to our new council members for sticking to their principles....actually - Thanks for having principles. From the information above, it would appear that if we couldn't stop it - at least we got plenty of conditions, restrictions and stipulations. Now, let's make sure that they are followed and enforced. Let's make sure that PTC remains the "liveable" community it is - changes do not have to be a negative thing.

...and another thing...just like term limits can be enforced with every election - a moratorium can occur with every vote!

"The Cat is loose...."

Sold us down the river again!

Actually I think I would have been disappointed with anything else from these yellow-bellied idiots.

Don and Doug, flip a coin to see which one of you wants to be our next mayor. Also thanks for listening to the "little" people of PTC.