Peachtree City Councilman Don Haddix remains firmly opposed to the concept of approving a new traffic light on Ga. Highway 54 West at Line Creek Drive.

The light would be within short distance of two existing stoplights on Ga. Highway 54: one at MacDuff Parkway and the other at Planterra Way which also is the main entrance to the Wal-Mart and Home Depot shopping center.

The proximity to the existing signals was the reason the Georgia Department of Transportation denied the traffic light application twice.

Now the regional DOT office has reversed course and the City Council is being asked to submit the traffic light application for approval by the state DOT office.

The council may vote on the issue at its Jan. 16 meeting.

The light is being sought by Capital City Development, which wants to build a 175,000-square-foot shopping center on the 14-acre site on the south side of Hwy. 54.

At stake is more than just a traffic light, but also perhaps the entire approval issued to the development. Without the light, the special use permit that allows the extra 25,000 square feet of shops and a store of 42,000 square feet would be kicked back to the City Council for reconsideration.

Also, the city’s agreement to sell a large part of Line Creek Drive to CCD hinges on the ultimate approval of a traffic light there.

The road’s right of way is needed to allow the larger stores to be built; without it the store size would be reduced because of the city’s setback rules from roads and streets.

CCD has agreed to purchase the right of way to the road for at least $500,000 and perhaps more if the appraisal comes in higher than that figure.

The 14-acre site owned by CCD is zoned general commercial, meaning that CCD could build a shopping center up to 150,000 square feet with no store larger than 36,000 square feet without needing approval from the City Council.

CCD’s engineering firm, LAI, has presented information to the city that synchronizing the traffic lights on Hwy. 54 West will improve traffic flow on the highway, Haddix said.

But Haddix says that would degrade traffic flow on side streets such as MacDuff Parkway and Planterra Way because traffic on those streets will be held longer by the traffic lights.

“There is no gain in time,” Haddix said. “It just redistributes it.”

LAI, Haddix said, is “really pushing” to get approval for the traffic light.

Haddix also disputes the idea that the city should be even submitting the permit. The development agreement merely calls for the city to “not oppose” an application for the traffic light that would be submitted by CCD.

Mayor Harold Logsdon has said that the city later found out the DOT requires the matter to be signed off by city officials before it ultimately is considered for a final approval from the state DOT office.

Logsdon contends that not approving the traffic light application is tantamount to opposing the light, which is forbidden by the development agreement CCD entered with the city.

Haddix is hoping to derail the development entirely, saying there’s not a need for another shopping center in the area at this time. Without the traffic light, which would leave a right-in, right-out intersection the only ingress and egress point, no major companies will want to set up shop on CCD’s land, Haddix said.

Haddix cites the vacant retail space along the north side of the highway which he estimates as being one-third of the overall shops there. Then down the street there’s the nearly-complete Shoppes at Village Piazza that will add more retail storefronts to the mix, he said.

“We just don’t need the development,” Haddix said.

A study performed several years ago by the city looked at possible retail development on the south side of Hwy. 54 West from the city limits to Planterra Way. To handle traffic the study recommended a secondary road that would be off the highway but still provide access to retail areas.

That road cannot come to fruition because of a deed restriction that Pathway Communities has refused to waive on a parcel directly west of the CCD site, Haddix said. Also, that road extended all the way to Huddleston Road, he noted.