Tyrone endorses Hwy. 74 study

Fri, 03/06/2009 - 3:44pm
By: Ben Nelms

What had been a 2-2 split vote last month on the question of Tyrone’s approval of Fayette County’s Land Use Study for the Ga. Highway 74 North Corridor saw the issue presented again Thursday, with the council this time voting 3-2 in  favor of the proposal. Mayor Don Rehwaldt cast the deciding vote.

Areas in the study include a mix of parcels totaling 480 acres on both sides of the highway north of Sandy Creek Road situated, often alternately, in the town and county. The study recommended establishing a Business Technology Park (BTP) zoning district on the west side of the highway and a Special Development District (SDD) on the east side.

The county’s proposal was presented again this month by Planning & Zoning Director Pete Frisina. As he had stated at the previous council meeting in late February, Frisina said the county, in concert with the town, wanted to have similar goals, objectives, regulations and standards for the corridor area. With Tyrone’s endorsement, the study would be sent to Atlanta Regional Commission for review, a process that takes 60-120 days, Frisina said.

Frisina cited similar efforts by the county earlier this decade with the city of Fayetteville and Piedmont Fayette Hospital in developing the Highway 54 Corridor study in the area north of Hwy. 54 between Sandy Creek Road and Tyrone Road.

Included in the goals for the Hwy 74 study was the efficient flow of traffic, the enhancement of the area that serves as a gateway to Fayette County and the hope having Fayette’s highly educated workforce find employment opportunities in the technology park.

The BTP zoning district situated on tracts north of Kirkley Road would encourage development consisting of high-tech scientific research and development, light manufacturing, and professional offices with a limited amount of commercial space. A proposed inter-parcel service road beginning at Kirkley Road and linking with Hwy. 74 near Fairburn city limits could be extended to intersect with Landrum Road a short distance away inside Fairburn. The area would also be required to have multi-use trails installed. The proposed zoning is similar to that already in place in Tyrone, a condition noted by Frisina in both meetings.

The Land Use Study calls for office development in the SDD on the immediate east side of Hwy. 74 includes narrow parcels approximately 800 feet deep that extend along approximately three-fourths of the frontage between Sandy Creek Road and Fairburn city limits. Incentives would be provided to assemble properties of a minimum of 10 acres with 600 feet of highway frontage. The east side development would also include a service road and multi-use trails. Frisina said the study included no new median cuts.

Council member Gloria Furr asked about the study’s consideration for stormwater runoff in the BTP district. Frisina said the area would be served by retention ponds per state regulations. Responding to a question by Furr on the absence of a wetlands study prior to presenting the proposal, Frisina said county ordinances preclude development in wetlands areas, adding that the county’s watershed ordinance is stricter than state regulations require. The county requires that development be a minimum of 150 feet from the floodplain as opposed to the state’s requirement that setbacks be measured from a waterway.

As she had done at the earlier meeting, Councilwoman Grace Caldwell asked if the proposal was geared to helping balance the tax base. Frisina said that was the case, adding that, “We won’t be producing school kids in a non-residential development.”

Prior to the 3-2 vote, Line Creek Association representative Dennis Chase recommended that Tyrone oppose the Land Use Study, citing concerns such as the disturbance of wetlands areas on the property and suggesting that it is the business of cities, not the county, to oversee the development of property.    

Those voting in favor of endorsing the Land Use Study included council members Eric Dial, Grace Caldwell and Mayor Don Rehwaldt. Council members Gloria Furr and Tracy Young were opposed.

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Submitted by TyroneConfidential on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 8:03am.

Much ado about nothing at this point, with a completely unknowledgeable council trying to make decisions. A study is just a study, not a completed plan. The problems are down the road for another unqualified council to deal with.

Fayette Planner Pete Frisina says, the development is similar to zoning already in place in Tyrone. Oh really? A look at Tyrone’s zoning map shows disjointed parcels of AR, M-I & O&I on the west side. In order to make an organized development, some zoning will have to be changed. Irene Kirkley who own 4 acres on Kirkley Road is not going to want her M-I zoing change to the less valuable O & I which is next door. The O&I property has office buildings on it, and that owner doesn’t want M-I which would devalue his buildings. Tyrone would have to condemned one or the other and pay just compensation. Tyrone has no money to pay just compensation and wouldn’t pay it if they did. Their way of condemning property involves unconstitutionally zoning property owners out of their land uses to force them out of business. This will bring a lawsuit, holding up the development for years.

The land use study on the east side of 74 calls for offices. But Tyrone has only one very large tract of land zoned C-3 Commercial. These owners are not going to stand for their property to be down-zoned to O & I. More lawsuits. And what if these owners decide to do a commercial development in the meantime. Then that just blows the hell out of the plan, doesn’t it?

These are the kind of questions Tyrone’s council should have been asking, instead of Gloria Furr wanting to know about storm water as if the development would have no storm drains. And Tracy Young voted against the plan when he campaigned on a pro-business, change the zoning ordinance platform. All this dumb talk about wetlands. Anyone on council making important decisions ought to know its illegal to disturb or build on wetlands.

Besides, we’re in a depression, and there’s not going to be any investment in Real Estate for at least 10 years. No wonder, we’re in a depression with stupid governments all over America sticking their noses in private business as though they understand free enterprise capitalism. Not a single member of the Tyrone Council has ever run his or her own business. And they never ask the opinion of businesses like Tracy Young said he was going to do at the election forum in 2007.

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Submitted by suggarfoot on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 5:26pm.

I understand how you feel. I sat there and heard people running for Mayor and Council, all with the exception of Eric Dial said they would repeal the law that had prohibits a lot of uses you need to run a business in Tyrone. I could hardly believe when some got in office, how different they felt.

But Gloria was not one of them. She wasn't running then and to her credit, everything she ran on she held fast to come hell or high water.


Submitted by TyroneConfidential on Sat, 03/14/2009 - 4:54pm.

Suggarfoot, you’re only partially right. Gloria Furr attended a private meeting of Tyrone business people in January 2007, for the specific purpose of organizing to repeal the zoning ordinance. Grace Caldwell set up the meeting and invited only those people who wanted to change the ordinance. The President of the Tyrone Business Assoc. was there and threw the full support of the business association behind the effort. Both Grace Caldwell and Gloria Furr said that they could only amend the ordinance if a new council was elected in November because Lee, Letourneau and Smola would not agree to it. After that everyone worked to support only those candidates for office that were in agreement. If Gloria Furr was not in agreement, she should not have PRETENDED to be.

The Citizen Newspaper quoted Eric Dial,

“the ordinance might have gone to far toward inverse condemnation, which he objects, adding that the ordinance be revisited prior to any decision.”

The ordinance was revisited at council in April 2008 with a 41 page amendment proposal. Eric Dial choose to not vote on it, stating that it was a conflict of interest in that the applicant was a client of his organization, the SE Legal Foundation. That was an untrue statement. The applicant was never a client of Eric’s employer. In fact lawyers for SE Legal told the applicant to get back with them after the election, so that the issue of Eric’s employment would not hinder him during the election campaign.

If Mr. Dial had thought that Tyrone might be operating under an unconstitutional zoning ordinance, he had a duty under oath to defend the constitution or at least to discuss the amendment, instead he coped out for political reasons.

Grace Caldwell & Gloria Furr also coped out, voting against the amendment without one word of discussion. It was obviously a predetermined biased decision by all council members to defend the government instead of the constitution and citizens' rights. When elected representatives swear to defend the constitution, ignoring a constitutional issue is not what we need in government.

Submitted by Spyglass on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 10:11am.

Really? Nothing for 10 years...you lost me there.

Submitted by mysteryman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 10:35am.

T.C is factoring in the coming conflict in this great nation, hopefully it will be over quickly.... However like the last Revolution it will take years to rebuild our cities, destroyed by street to street urban warfare, and rise from the ashes....BLESS

Submitted by mysteryman on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 8:49pm.

Lets kick the bullistics here folks, first of all these are some big words for Tyrone to be using, lets explore..

1 Scientific.....hmmm.....There is nothing scientific about Tyrone other than the former Mad Scientist at town hall, ran off established bussiness under the guise of obtaining redevelopement grants, and attracting higher caliber bussiness, other than the ones in question because they did not like how the brown cinder block garages looked...

2 Technology.....i digress.... Tyrone cannot even muster the technology, to fill out a balance sheet.. Hence the town is bankrupt...can you say nyce...

3 Special development district.... While you are special Tyrone, i give you that, most definately yall rode the short bus with the tinted windows back in the day no doubt.. Lets get to the point, of course you would want to endorse this plan so you would be eligible to recieve A.R.C. funding for your pet project. However if you deal with the A.R.C the funding and approvals come with stipulations, such as contingencys for mass transit, can you say MARTA....

4 Land grab..... For this is all that this is, Tyrone and Fayette County talk as if they already own the land in question, hence how are the going to finance this endeavour.... Gee i wonder can you say condemnation, NICE....

5. Efficient traffic flow.....WOW... Get real Tyrone, this is a pipe dream, so how bout put the pipe down and stop smoking what ever it is that has you havin dreams of grandiure.....PEACE...

Submitted by mysteryman on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 1:04am.

AS IF..

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