It has been a while in the making, but a final vote on the annexation and rezoning of nearly 1,200 acres on Fayetteville’s west side is expected at the Thursday meeting of the Fayetteville City Council.
The properties requesting annexation extend along Ga. Highway 54 from east of Sandy Creek Road and to the west to Tyrone Road, and along both sides of Veterans Parkway from Hwy. 54 to Sandy Creek Road.
The entire annexation area includes 1,186 acres, of which approximately 576 acres are requesting PCD (Planned Community District) zoning.
Those parcels include the 290-acre Pinewood Atlanta Studios property on Sandy Creek Road/Veterans Parkway, a 97-acre parcel directly to the south owned by Shirley Adams Horton, a 28-acre parcel that includes the former Rivers Elementary School soon to be purchased by Rivers Rock, LLC/Pinewood for use by the studio as an educational component, the adjacent 44-acre property owned by Rivers Rock/Pinewood and a 117-acre parcel on the east side of Veterans Parkway proposed for the Pinewood residential campus.
The remaining parcels requesting annexation and rezoning include approximately 610 acres seeking R-70 large-lot residential zoning. Those parcels are located on the east, west and north sides of Piedmont Fayette Hospital and are situated south of the PCD-requested properties.
Another aspect of the future development of the area is expected to be the proposal in coming weeks that would introduce new zoning categories that would potentially apply to the 610 acres slated to come into the city under the R-70 zoning.
The significance of the annexation, which will increase the size of the city limits by 19 percent, is that it will enable Pinewood Atlanta Studios and several affiliated parcels to have sewer access once city sewer lines are installed in the coming months.
“The need for sewer service at this location necessitates that the property be located within the city limits to have access to the city’s sewer system,” said city Community Development Director Brian Wismer. “Because the studio property is not directly contiguous to the city’s current borders, other parcels must also be annexed to make this direct connection. In addition, the city has received annexation requests from other contiguous property owners.”
If approved by the council, the annexation effective date is expected to be Sept. 1.
The council is also expected to approve an intergovernmental agreement with Fayette County that will assign responsibilities related to aspects of the annexation such as fire and police services, permits and inspections, roadway maintenance and a multi-use path network.
An additional agreement, one aimed at building permits and inspection services, will also be up for a vote Aug. 1. The agreement lays out responsibility for a number of issues relating to the development of Pinewood Atlanta Studios.
Below is a larger file to show the scale of the walls vs. the people working on them. Photo/Ben Nelms.
