Information released Aug. 3 by the Coweta County Commission noted that a public hearing will be held Sept. 16 pertaining to a request by the Fischer Crossing Development Group to rezone nearly 35 acres near the northeast corner of Fischer Road and Ga. Highway 34. The request would locate an additional 225,500 square feet of commercial space for Kohl’s and other retailers along with three community soccer fields immediately north of the previously approved Fischer Crossing retail development.
The request by developer Scott Seymour comes in two parts. The first portion involves the request to rezone 20.56 acres immediately to the north of the previously approved commercial development and along Fischer Road. The request would remove two previous conditions attached to the C-7 (Commercial Major Shopping District) zoned property.
Those include the stipulation that access to Wynn Pond Road be prohibited unless requested by the entire Featherston Fishing Club and that a 100-foot buffer along Wynn Pond Road with an additional 50-foot planted buffer be maintained, according to county Planning Director Robert Tolleson.
The 20.56-acre tract is proposed to be the site of 225,500 square feet of commercial space that includes a Kohl’s Department Store serving as anchor along with six outparcels.
The second portion of the request involves a conditional use rezoning of the 14.07-acre tract immediately to the north of the 20-acre tract from Rural Conservation (RC) to C-7. Included in that portion of the request are three proposed soccer fields and a day care facility.
Also in Seymour’s request is the closure of the current portion of Wynn Pond Road where it intersects on the south side of the 20.56-acre tract, a short distance from Fischer Road, and rerouting the road 840 feet along the north side of the tract, then west to intersect with Fischer Road.
The proposed project has received a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) approval with conditions from the Three Rivers Regional Commission along with approval with conditions from the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA).
The Coweta County Planning & Zoning Department has recommended denial of the request.
A public hearing on the rezoning request will be held Sept. 16 in the commission chambers.
Meantime in other areas of the Fischer Crossing retail development, construction on the 136,000 square-foot Sam’s Club store on the northwest corner of Fischer Road and Hwy. 34 is now well underway. Referring to the east Coweta business as its “Peachtree City” store, Walmart representatives said recently that the opening is expected in early 2011.
And on the easternmost portion of the northeast corner of the intersection, the 10-screen NCG Cinemas is also under construction. The theater is expected to open around Thanksgiving.
Regardless the outcome of the upcoming rezoning request that will be considered by Coweta County commissioners in September, there will eventually be several hundred thousand square feet of retail located at the Fischer Crossing development that is likely to span three of the four corners of the Fischer Road/Hwy. 34 intersection.
And with the development’s extremely close proximity to Peachtree City and Tyrone and a substantial portion of the Fayette population, it is inevitable that significant sales tax revenue dollars coming from Fayette residents will be funneled to Coweta County.
