Affected landowners question need for West Fayetteville Bypass

The West Fayetteville Bypass is moving closer to reality, as county officials determine the final alignment and hold meetings with the public and permitting agencies.

Not everybody is happy about the prospect of Phase 2 of the bypass project. Some Fayette residents face losing portions of their property to what one called the “road to nowhere.”

Ron Mathis bought his 2.5-acre homesite on Lee’s Mill Road in 1983. Potentially one-third of his property would be affected if one of the proposed Phase 2 routes comes his way. If the road does go onto his property, it would be within 15 feet of his garage and within 60 feet of his house, Mathis said.

“I just don’t believe it’s a necessary project that’s been in the process for 20 years. And they’ve kept the public ill-informed. It’s a road to nowhere. I’ve told the state highway department that. I don’t know whether to believe anything they say because they say something different every time I talk to them,” Mathis said. ”I told the state highway department I wasn’t interested in selling my property. But they said, ‘The government knows what’s best for you sometimes.’”

Talk about building a bypass on the east and west sides of Fayetteville originated in the 1980s and continued into the 1990s. A number of public meetings were held and the issue was incorporated into the 20-year comprehensive plan and land use plans.

The project gained impetus in 2003 and a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) to fund the bypasses and other transportation projects was passed by voters in 2005. Collections will continue until April 2010.

Fayette County Public Works Director Phil Mallon said there was a need for more north/south connectivity and a need to diminish traffic and increase safety in Fayetteville.

Mallon referenced the 2002 travel demand modeling technique report that used Atlanta Regional Commission’s travel demand model to run two future scenarios: year 2025 with improvements currently contained in the adopted regional transportation plan (RTP) and a no-build scenario for 2025.

Based on five tools used to recommend and prioritize projects, figures of anticipated volume to capacity ratios and average daily traffic county showed improvement (less congestion) on most roads with full implementation of the 2003 plan, Mallon said, adding that it would be misleading to attribute the improvements solely to the West Fayetteville Bypass since all the proposed projects were modeled together.

Once all three phases of the west bypass are completed, the results showed the 2025 volume to capacity ratios at 15-60 percent.

Mallon said the specific number of vehicles traveling the bypass will be a function of factors such as the number of lanes and turn lanes and the posted speed limit.

Also of note is Fayette’s projected population growth during the next two decades. Most current projections for 2030 envisions a population 150,000 compared to a 2008 Census estimate of 106,465.

Ginga Smithfield lives on Mallard Creek Road just off Lee’s Mill Road. She and her husband Steve have lived at the residence for nearly 25 years. She said they have a proliferation of wildlife on the property, from turkeys and skunks to deer that eat from her apple trees.

“The entire time we’ve been held hostage by the county to put up the West Fayetteville Bypass through my property. It will come through my property and take up to five of the 20 acres,” she said Saturday morning, as she and several neighbors stood on her driveway talking. “It touches my property with all three phases they have mapped out. We originally bought here so my family could be together so we could take care of each other. Everyone who lives on our little road is family, and if they cut through here, they will split this little neighborhood up, which is all family.”

What has been as many as four possible routes in the Lee’s Mill Road area has now been reduced to two, Mallon said Monday, though those two proposed routes are still not definitive.

Phase 2 of the bypass runs generally north/south from the Sandy Creek Road area to Ga. Highway 92 at Westbridge Road, positioned between Hwy. 92 and Lee’s Lake Road.

In total, the 4-to-4.5-mile Phase 2 portion of the bypass carries a $11.5 million price tag that includes crossing the Whitewater Creek wetlands area.

Regardless of which of the two current options is used, construction of the roadway will impact several homes, Mallon said.

“The routes have been modified many times,” Mallon said, noting the re-working of routes after concerns were presented by various property owners. “Once we have the revised staff alignment, we’ll present it to the public and receive comments.”

Once the final alignment is determined and public meetings are held, the county can begin pre-consultation meetings with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over wetlands issues.

And though timelines are fluid, county Public Works officials said Monday that the alignment should be set to meet with the Corps of Engineers in late spring to begin determining the required wetlands permits.

“We will get all the required permits (such as those from the Corps of Engineers and Georgia Department of Transportation, erosion and sediment control and national pollution discharge and elimination system, or NPDES) and we’ll have a pre-consultation meeting with the Corps of Engineers, but we need the alignment first,” Mallon said.

“Then the engineers will do the design work and prepare the right-of-way plats. Then we’ll know what permits are needed. We may not have all the permits in hand but we will know from the (permit) meetings that we can get them. We won’t acquire land if there’s an unknown pertaining to the permits. We’re not going to spend money that will sidetrack the project,” Mallon said.

Another Lee’s Mill Road resident to potentially be affected is Doug Burcher, whose property has been in his family for four generations. For Burcher, one of his concerns, both conceptually and realistically, is understanding what problems the bypass will solve.

“My great grandmother lived on the property. So it was kind of dear to me. I hate to see it come through and ruin the area that belonged to her,” Burcher said. “I do not understand where the traffic is coming from that will be using this West Fayetteville bypass. Where it comes in at (Hwy.) 54, you’ve got to go through Fayetteville or Peachtree City just to get to it, so where is the bypass? The second thing is, where it comes in to (Hwy.) 92, where does the traffic go from there? If you turn left on 92, you’ve got a problem with 92. If you continue on across Westbridge, you’ve got a problem with the hairpin curve and you also have to go onto (Ga. Highway) 138, which creates a problem. So I don’t see where it solves anything.”

Smithfield’s husband Steve was one of the group of potentially affected residents who had gathered to discuss the impending roadway project. Two of the possible four options they had been told about in previous months would chop his 20-acre property into two parts. Twenty acres or not, his front porch would be far less than 100 feet from from the right-of-way.

“We’ve lived here since 1985. The bypass, as it was originally listed is going to take between three and four acres of our property, with a 120-foot swath. What we’re going to end up with here is useless land remnants that we can’t do much with. I looked at the county records and couldn’t find any rationale for putting a bypass in this area, as to where the traffic is going and what the bypass would do in terms of relieving the traffic,” he said. “I’m hoping the project won’t go through because of all the wetlands that have to be crossed. If there was a need for traffic relief I would have a different outlook.”

Donald Fowler does not have property in the area, but he is concerned about the bypass process and the idea of taking personal property. He has lived near Sandy Creek Road since 1972.

“Even though the county is not proposing to get any of my property now, I don’t like the idea that they can just come out and condemn someone’s property for no apparent reason. They say they’re going to put a road in, but they don’t have the permits yet to do this,” Fowler said. “This whole bypass, I think, was presented to the voters wrong. They saw on the SPLOST that the bypass was to be put around Fayetteville and I don’t understand how you can call this a bypass. Sure we need some traffic elimination around Fayetteville, but if the county can’t justify that this is going to take five cars or 5,000 cars out of Fayetteville, if we spend this kind of money and only let 10 or 50 people bypass Fayetteville, then we’ve wasted this tax money that we could spend on other things.”

Jeff and Sharri Green have lived at the corner of Lee’s Mill and Mallard Creek since August 2008. About a month after the couple moved in, the previous owner brought them a letter from the county on the possibility of cutting off a corner of their yard.

“We did our due diligence before we moved here. We looked in a lot of areas before moving and nothing about the bypass came up,” Sharri Green said. “Even some of our neighbors who have lived here for 20 years didn’t know about it until they found out from us.”

The letter brought by the previous owner indicated that property owners would be contacted on issues pertaining to the bypass, Green said. But that communication has not been forthcoming, she said. From the September meeting and one in November until today there has been no communication from the county, including responses to emails she sent.

“I never heard about any of the forums or open meetings, and this runs through our yard. We’ll be looking out our front window looking at the cars go by,” Green said. “I asked (county representatives) if there was any data or philosophy behind the path of this road, because we might be able to swallow it better if it goes through our front yard if we can say it’s going to be safer, if there is some justification that makes sense.”

Jeff Green said they would hate to lose everything they moved here to gain in Fayette County. Sitting at her kitchen table Saturday morning, his wife reiterated that while they do not want to see the bypass go through their yard, the idea would be more palatable if doing so would benefit the community. But nobody from the county can tell us, she said.

Weighing in on the bypass topic, the taking of private property for the project and its impact on Whitewater Creek wetlands is retired biologist and community activist Dennis Chase.

“A group of citizens, soon to be faced with forced sale of some or all of their property, recently asked for legal advice regarding what they could do to prevent the county from taking what belongs to them. The answer they received is that there is very little protection when road right-of-way is being sought,” Chase said in a recent letter to The Citizen.

“Very soon, Fayette County is going to use many of those SPLOST tax dollars to complete the engineering design for this project and when approved by the commissioners, they will direct the legal branch of the county to activate condemnation proceedings against a group of citizens for a strip of land 120 to 150 feet wide and perhaps six miles long for the bypass,” Chase wrote.

”A large group of property owners will open their mail one day and find that Fayette County now owns part of their property. Shortly after that, the county contractors could enter into front or back yards and clear all those nasty trees that are in the way. Much of this can be done without any approvals from anyone because it uses local tax dollars. It will take at least $1.5 million just for the land, more when the engineering and legal expenses are included. When all of this is complete, they will take the next step toward construction,” Chase wrote.

Referencing a conversation with commissioners in September, Ginga Smithfield came away far from impressed.

“I spoke to them about my well. When they finish this thing, if they go through my front yard on Option A, my house will be on one side and my well will be on the other side. I spoke to one of the commissioners and asked him what would happen about my well. He said I would have to be real careful going across that road with my water bucket. I asked about the runoff from the road going into my well. He said, ‘Well, lady, you’ll have to be careful going across the road with that water bucket.’ That was Mr. Eric Maxwell, and Mr. Herb Frady was standing there next to him,” she said.

Contacted Tuesday about the conversation, Commissioner Eric Maxwell acknowledged that he had made the comment for which he had apologized immediately. He said his statement was inappropriate and that he was embarrassed for having said it. Beyond the conversation with commissioners and looking at the bypass from an overall perspective, Ginga said she is more adamant than ever to have her say and stand her ground.

“I am absolutely broken hearted and I intend to fight this until I can’t fight any longer. When they bring the bulldozers in here I’m afraid I’ll have to lay down in front of them and be arrested,” she said.