A proposal to build an 82-room Fairfield Inn and Suites, followed later by a TownePlace Suites extended-stay hotel, on Wisdom Road near Ga. Highway 74 was informally vetted by the Peachtree City Planning Commission Monday night.
Kassandas Properties is asking for both buildings to be five stories tall with a height of about 53 feet for the Fairfield Inn and Suites building. The height issue requires a rezoning and is of some issue because the site is located next to an apartment complex; as such the developer was urged to contact members of the city council to see if they would even consider a five-story hotel.
Planning Commissioner Lynda Wojcik said she could not support a five-story hotel building, noting that there are other large buildings in the area that approach the city’s maximum height of 60 feet, such as the nearby Delta Community Credit Union.
“I don’t like for the skyline starting to get taller than the trees,” Wojcik said.
Planning Commissioner Frank Destadio said while he agrees with Wojcik, he feels restricting such buildings to this one area of town would help.
The development will be separated from the apartments by a 75-foot buffer required by ordinance, not the 45-foot buffer listed on the site plan, the commission told a representative of Kassandas Properties.
“If I lived there, I would want a 75-foot buffer for my house too,” said Planning Commissioner David Conner.
Kassandas will look into adding more landscaping to the buffer to further screen the hotel from the apartments’ view.
The commission did not vote on the site plan because it was discussed in the informal workshop format designed to allow input from the commission that can help tweak the plan before it gets a final vote. In this case, because a rezoning is necessary, the commission will ultimately recommend whether or not to rezone the property, as the final say rests with the City Council.
City resident Mary Giles, who formerly worked in the hotel industry, said she thought Mariott would be an excellent company to have operating in Peachtree City. She also urged the developer to consider the need for overflow parking for special events, and also due to the presence of more families in town on the weekends attending regional sports tournaments hosted by the city.
Planning Commissioner Frank Destadio said he understands the need for extended stay hotels because they are needed for the film industry doing local shoots in the city, the county and also in nearby Senoia. “Drop Dead Diva,” a hit show for the cable channel Lifetime, is filmed mostly in Peachtree City on sound stages modified from an airplane hanger at Falcon Field Airport.
