The Peachtree City Planning Commission on April 13 will consider coneptual site plans for a Sprouts Farmers Market on Ga. Highway 54 and Walt Banks Road and for the MOBA/USA industrial facility on Ga. Highway 74 South. Commissioners on Monday will also hear a non-voting workshop item on a proposed annexation and zoning request for the 28.3-acre Bradshaw tract on Sumner Road and Ga. Highway 54.
Planning commissioners heard an informal presentation on the Sprouts Farmers Market project in March. Though only a workshop discussion item that did not include a vote, Mirabeland Investments President Terry Taylor presented a concept plan for the retail center that would include a 30,060 sq. ft. specialty grocery store and 12,554 sq. ft. of additional retail space in two buildings designed to accommodate several small shops and restaurants.
The initial plan called for 227 parking spaces.
Taylor noted that he was the only the developer for the project and was not representing Sprouts.
The 4.71-acre site is zoned LUC 16 (limited use commercial) and is situated at the intersection of Walt Banks Road and Hwy. 54. The site abuts Finance Way and Lexington Circle. Access to the property would be from Lexington Circle and Finance Way.
Commenting on the proposal, Senior Planner David Rast said the site comes with 50-foot buffers along Hwy. 54 and along Walt Banks Road.
Planning commissioners at the meeting surfaced a number of potential items, such as the consideration for installing a sidewalk adjacent to Lexington Circle, providing room for golf cart parallel parking near the retail entrance, signage issues, placement of the retail buildings on the property and how the vegetation on the Walt Banks Road buffer area might be addressed.
Rast said the distance of the retail site from McIntosh High School and Holy Trinity Catholic Church meets ordinance requirements for the sale of wine and beer.
Rast noted that several developments had been proposed for the site in past years though none of those had come to fruition.
Sprouts Farmers Market operates full-line grocery stores.
Headquartered in Phoenix, Sprouts operates in 12 states and has five stores in Georgia, all of which are in northeast metro Atlanta. for 227 parking spaces.
Commissioners on April 13 will also consider the conceptual site plan from MOBA/USA for an industrial subdivision on a 50-acre site on Ga. Highway 74 South.
Commissioners in January were told that plans call for an initial phase that includes a two-story building totaling 50,000 sq. ft. to be used for offices and the assembly of electronic equipment and three tournament-size soccer fields on a portion of a 50-acre site across Hwy. 74 from the city’s athletic complex.
MOBA’s only U.S. office is located in Fayetteville. Project representatives said the company needs more space and wants to relocate in Peachtree City. The company currently employs 20-25 people and expects to double that number.
Representatives said the MOBA executive lives in Peachtree City, has children involved with soccer and wants to have a portion of the site dedicated to men’s soccer for local residents and tournaments, adding that soccer played on the site would not compete with the city’s soccer activities.
Rast said the proposal request included two curbs cuts on Hwy. 74 which would provide a connection to an internal street, allowing the property to be subdivided into smaller tracts.
The property is bordered on the west by Hwy. 74 and on the east by the Line Creek Nature Area.
Rast said the proposal would include a path connection to the existing multi-use tunnel under Hwy. 74 which will ultimately allow the path system to interconnect to the athletic complex.
Also at the meeting, commissioners will hear a non-voting workshop item on the proposed annexation and zoning request for the 28.3-acre Bradshaw tract on Sumner Road and Ga. Highway 54.
The first step of the annextion process was approved by the City Council in February.
The request by Bradshaw Family LLLP would have 28 acres between Ga. Highway 54 West and Sumner Road approved for residential, office and retail use.
The proposed development would include the Smokerise Corners commercial and office development on the westernmost portion of the property and the Parkrise Corners residential development on the east side of the 28-acre tract.The commercial portion of the development would front Hwy. 54 while the office space would be located behind it along Sumner Road. Access points would be on both Hwy. 54 and Sumner Road.
Plans call for 28 single-family homes at build-out, each with a fair market value of $450,000, 25,000 sq. ft. of retail and commercial space valued at $3.65 million and 50,000 sq. ft. of office space valued at $8 million.
Pertaining to the residential component, the proposal states that, “There are a considerable number of existing residents in the Smoke Rise neighborhoods that are ready to move out of their large homes on large one- or two-acre lots and simplify their lives, but want very much to stay in the neighborhood.”
Estimated city, county and school taxes at build-out would total $333,197 compared to the $4,289 currently being collected under the A-R zoning.
The property is currently undeveloped and is zoned A-R Agricultural Reserve and designated as Low-density Residential on the Fayette County Future Land Use Map, according to city planning staff.
As proposed, the plan calls for 10.5 acres of residential, eight acres of office space, 5.2 acres for commercial and 3.6 acres of open space.
Neighbors opposed to the annexation at the Feb. 5 meeting cited issues such as the proposal for higher density homes than can be found in the area and increasing traffic on Sumner Road and in adjacent neighborhoods.
Councilman Eric Imker during the discussion said he believed the annexation was potentially viable, though he did not agree portions of the request dealing with increased residential density and an access on Sumner Road.
Prior to the unanimous vote, council members reminded residents that a vote to approve the Step 1 application provided the way to advance the conversation and address aspects of the proposal.
The second phase of the process, Step 2, requires additional and detailed information pertaining to the impact of the potential annexation.
Council’s final word on the annexation request will be considered after the Step 2 portion of the process is complete.
