A dramatic facelift for the was approved by the Peachtree City Planning Commission Monday night.

The Shopping Center Group, which operates and leases the site, will be tearing down and replacing the facade of each store including the anchor Kroger and Big Kmart stores. Included in the design are metal awnings and trellises above storefronts and bricked pillars.

The plan includes bringing some parking spaces to the edge of the main sidewalk that runs in front of the stores. Some of that parking will be for handicapped spaces and golf carts along with regular parking spaces.

Interspersed in those parking areas will also be enhanced landscaping.

The old sidewalks will be ripped out and replaced with stamped, colored concrete as will the breezeways between buildings.

The entrance to Kroger will be extended a bit further onto the sidewalk and the same will happen for the Big Kmart.

There will be additional landscaping in islands in the parking lots, but mature trees will be kept. There are also improvements planned to the flow of traffic around the Kroger fuel center area.

On the sidewalk, a set of steps near the center will be replaced with wider steps, and a ramp will be built around the steps to address the grade change on the main sidewalk, a company representative said.

“What you’ve got in there looks fantastic,” said Planning Commissioner Theo Scott.

Planning Commissioner Patrick Staples suggested installing charging stations for golf carts so residents living on the north end of the city could feel comfortable driving their cart to the shopping center.

The vote to approve the redevelopment plans was unanimous among the three commissioners present: Scott, Staples and Joe Frazar.

At a previous meeting, John Sebring of The Shopping Center Group said one reason for the sweeping changes is to keep current tenants and attract new ones, as there has been a significant problem with stores leaving the facility.

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