The ever-expanding commercial area on Ga. Highway 54 West in Peachtree City is getting another restaurant.

A site plan for an Applebee’s restaurant was approved Monday night by the Peachtree City Planning Commission. The restaurant will be located on the western side of MacDuff Parkway where it intersects with Hwy. 54.

The approval was conditional, however, because the plan includes 96 paved parking spaces and an additional 12 pervious parking spaces. The city’s new parking ordinance would allow a maximum of 71 total parking spaces.

The company may be grandfathered from the new parking ordinance because the first version of the site plan was submitted about a year ago, said City Planner David Rast. That will be decided by the city attorney, Rast said.

If the site plan must comply with the new parking ordinance, the company must then seek a variance from the City Council.

An Applebee’s representative said the building would have up to 192 seats and the extra parking was needed particularly for staff parking.

Wynnmeade resident Wayne Roberts said residents in the area were having difficulty turning left from MacDuff Parkway to get on Hwy. 54. He suggested the city look at reconfiguring the turn lanes so more cars could “stack” at the light to turn left.

Currently the left turn lane is so small it can only handle three cars, Roberts said. The main entrance to the Applebee’s will be just a bit further north on MacDuff Parkway, Roberts noted.

“We’re already bottlenecked as it is,” Roberts said. “If there’s something that could be done about that ... it would kill us.”

Rast said the city could work with Ram Development on the issue. Ram Development is responsible for all the development along the northern side of Hwy. 54 from the railroad bridge just past MacDuff Parkway.

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