Leaders attend forum on issues for residents 55 and up

Local city and county leaders met en masse Monday night to begin looking at potential changes for Fayette County and its cities so they can adapt to the county’s growing population of older residents.

Currently 41 percent of Fayette residents are 55 or older, and that figure is expected to increase dramatically in coming years, according to officials with the Atlanta Regional Commission.

ARC consultants suggested that the county and cities look at how its zoning restrictions could be change to create neighborhoods that are more “livable” such as allowing small retail uses such as a coffeeshop, for example, in a residential area.

Such ideas are meant to put older residents in walking distance of many necessities, and transportation was one of the key topics discussed.

In a Fall 2006 survey of Fayette residents 55 and over, 63 percent of respondents said they expect to be driven by others in the future when they can’t drive anymore. Another 19 percent didn’t know how they’d get around.

Because of the projected spike in older residents, there will be fewer younger people living in Fayette to take others around, noted Kathryn Lawler, a consultant for ARC’s Area Agency on Aging.

Meanwhile, Fayette lacks a transportation service for seniors. Fayette Senior Services has only one vehicle that has wheelchair access, for example.

But FSS has shown there is a demand for various services, as there are almost 1,500 registered members of the new senior center off Jimmie Mayfield Boulevard in downtown Fayetteville.

ARC representatives also noted that new initiatives should focus on improving health and wellness and in particular access to preventative health services. In most cases, it’s a matter of putting together agencies that have worked separately in the past, said Eve Byrd of the ARC.

Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele said the city has a “medical office” zoning that allows for retail uses such as drug stores to be within walking distance of housing developments built for seniors. Fayetteville City Manager Joe Morton noted that the city has a plan to add sidewalks and walking trails, but added that it’s hard to retrofit such amenities in existing areas of the city ... and the city’s pedestrian plan could take 20 years to complete.

Peachtree City Planner David Rast said one difficult aspect of developers seeking to build senior housing is that they want to build units that aren’t considered affordable. But because of Fayette’s median income being so high, such developers are offering homes priced at $350,000 and beyond, Rast noted.

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