Mayor wants to meet with developer for answers

The residential component of Peachtree City’s first large-scale mixed use development is nearing completion.

But the same can’t be said for the commercial part of Lexington Circle, much of which has been pre-graded, leaving an eyesore for nearby residents.

The commercial property has seen some development in the form of a Zaxby’s restaurant, Newnan Coweta Bank, Bruster’s Ice Cream, CVS Pharmacy and the now-vacant Buckhead Brewery restaurant.

However, the zoning for the property still leaves room for much more commercial development to occur. According to City Planner David Rast, the development has enough retail square footage allowed in the zoning to equal roughly the size of the Kedron Village shopping center. So far, only 43,000 of retail and restaurant space has been developed, but the zoning allows up to 225,000 sq. ft. of retail and up to 40,000 sq. ft. of restaurant space.

Part of the problem with the commercial development is that some of the original property owners who bought into the master plan created by consultants have sold their parcels, Rast said. Most of the remaining parcels are controlled by Palm Beach Development.

At a special joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission Monday night, Mayor Harold Logsdon said the city needed to arrange a meeting with Palm Beach Development to see what’s going on.

Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford questioned whether the city should seek to rezone some of the vacant property to accommodate more residential development instead.

A developer that is proposing a three-story complex with retail stores and residential lofts said Monday that he’d like to extend his concept further down the property, but inquiries with Palm Beach Development indicated that the asking price was far too steep for him to consider.

Another problem inhibiting commercial development at Lexington Circle is the western side of the development’s proximity to Holy Trinity Catholic Church and McIntosh High School. That area is too close to those parcels to qualify for a liquor license, it was noted.

According to the current zoning for the property, there can be up to three large retail stores built: one up to 30,000 sq. ft., one up to 40,000 sq. ft. and one up to 50,000 sq. ft.

Rutherford also took umbrage with the construction of the townhomes on the residential portion of the project, saying the concept of having office space on the first floor wasn’t being applied appropriately.

Rutherford said she wanted to know what went wrong so the city didn’t make that same type of mistake again.