Grading and site preparation work on The Overlook retail center along Ga. Highway 54 West in Peachtree City is picking up steam. Still in the works are decisions on issues such as building signage.
Current site preparation work includes the removal of earth on the east side of the property. City Engineer David Borkowski said the area on the east side of the property that extends from the retail area on the south to Hwy. 54 is being blasted to provide needed space for the RaceTrac Neighborhood Center and Chick-fil-A businesses that will be situated along the highway.
The Chick-fil-A restaurant will total 4,927 sq. ft. with 132 indoor seats and 31 seats outside.
The RaceTrac station will total 5,928 sq. ft. and will be outfitted with 20 pumps.
Pertaining to the layout of the retail area on the south side of the property which is situated at a higher elevation, it consists of two buildings totaling approximately 98,000 sq. ft. of retail. The large building will include a T.J. Maxx and Homegoods as the anchor tenant. Smaller storefronts will house a Michaels arts and crafts, a Versona women’s boutique, an Ulta cosmetics and fragrance salon and two additional businesses.
Several other smaller shops will be located in the small building on the development’s northwest side in a space that totals approximately 10,000 sq. ft.
A facet of the development of The Overlook deals with signage and was an issue taken up by the Peachtree City Council on Oct. 15. The council amended guidelines for monument signs for the Ga. Highway 54 West Overlay District but could not reach a decision on the height of wall signs for area businesses.
The intention was to be able to add additional tenants to monument signs along the roadway and to designate a height for wall signs positioned on the buildings above the stores at The Overlook and the other shopping areas within the overlay district.
The addition of more business names on monument signs received little comment and general approval. It was the height of the signs attached to the buildings that received a great deal of comment and resulted in a difference of opinion among the four council members present. Mayor Vanessa Fleisch was not in attendance.
It was clear that the existing requirement on tenant wall signage, depending on whether the tenant was considered an anchor, primary or in-line tenant, was too small to be easily discerned from a reasonable distance from the store.
By way of example, wall signage for the new Michael’s store would be limited to two feet in height according to the current ordinance. All on the council agreed that such a height was too small. Michaels will be approximately 600 feet from the roadway.
The problem, and subsequent discussion, came when the council tried to agree on what height should be approved. That attempt was futile, with preferences ranging from 3,4 or 5 feet in height while maintaining overall square footage requirements.
Jim Lowe, representative for The Overlook developer Trinity Development, asked for something definitive since leases with national tenants are being held up and contractors need to be paid.
The council requested that city staff in November explain how the amendment would effect a wider range of businesses in the overlay district. With that, a vote could be forthcoming.
Also occurring in the immediate area, construction activities are underway to install a “continuous green T” intersection at Line Creek Drive which will serve as the entrance for The Overlook.
The signalized intersection will allow westbound traffic to flow through continuously without stopping. To accomplish this, traffic on the northern part of the intersection will be restricted to a right-in, right-out while and traffic turning left out of The Overlook shopping center to go west will queue into a merge line that will be constructed in the median.
