The Fayetteville City Council on June 9 will hear the first reading for a proposed independent senior living facility at The Villages at Lafayette on Ga. Highway 54 West.
In an unrelated zoning issue, the council will also hear the second reading of an amendment to allow a residential density exchange for open space in future Planned Community District (PCD) areas in the city. Though The Villages is zoned PCD, the amendment does not apply to that development.
The Lafayette Senior Village proposal that would be situated on 11 acres on the west side of Lafayette Avenue at Hwy. 54 was submitted by the Beverly J. Searles Foundation, owner of several similar facilities in metro Atlanta.
City Senior Planner Linwood Robinson in a recent memo said the plan showed an independent senior living facility developed in three phases that includes a building containing 83 senior apartments in phase one, a second building containing 80 apartments in phase two and, in phase three, a total of 28 cottage-style homes as attached units and contained in several buildings on the north side of the property. All the units will require independent living arrangements, Robinson said.
The 11-acre area immediately to the west of Lafayette Avenue is currently zoned for office use. If rezoned from office to residential, the first phase would include a 120,000 square-foot building of 3-4 stories, depending on topography, that would contain both one and two-bedroom apartments and other amenities. Phase two would include a similar but somewhat smaller building at 106,000 square feet, also outfitted with independent living apartments. The two buildings would be adjacent and would share a large courtyard.
Searles’ representatives at previous meetings said that all the residential units would be deed-restricted with no children allowed. Residents would be allowed to have visitors for a maximum of two weeks, adding that the property would have a renters’ association. Project representatives also noted that Section 8 housing would not be allowed.
The site plan shows parking for 173 vehicles at build-out, with project representatives adding that approximately half the occupants at the other Searles’ developments actively drive their vehicles.
The PCD requirement calls for 20 percent open space. The site plan shows approximately 50 percent open space.
The proposed rezoning was recommended for approval by the Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission on May 24 on a 3-1 vote. Commissioner Allen Feldman was opposed.
Pertaining to the proposed PCD amendment, it would allow “a new 0.1 unit residential bonus per acre for each percent increase above the existing minimum required 20 percent open space for all PCD projects. There would, however, be a one unit per acre maximum included in this formula to control the density,” according to city staff.
The only PCD-zoned area in Fayetteville is located at the Villages at Lafayette residential/commercial development off Ga. Highway 54 on the west side of the city’s historic district. The proposed amendment would only come into play with a newly platted PCD residential component and does not apply to the current Lafayette Senior Village independent living proposal.
Also at the meeting, the council will consider a resolution for right-of-way acquisition for the Ga. Highway 54 Sidewalks Project. The project includes the area between Gwinnett Street and Robinson Drive on the city’s east side and from the cemetery to Burch Road on the west side of town.
City Director of Public Services Don Easterbrook said small strips along the roadway on 19 parcels are included in the project, adding that no structures will be acquired.
Acquisitions for the project is funded by 1-cent sales tax funds while construction will be 80 percent funded by federal funds with the remaining 20 percent of the cost funded through 1-cent sales tax dollars.
