Developer Bob Rolader’s residential rezoning and annexation proposal for Fayetteville’s south side was tabled at the Jan. 24 meeting of the Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission so that attorneys for the city and neighbors opposing the development can weigh in on the issue.
Planning Director Jahnee Prince near the outset of the item recommended the item be tabled because the city earlier in the day had received a letter from former Fayette County Commission attorney Scott Bennett noting that he is representing a number of neighbors opposed to the proposal. Bennett said he believes the 2003 Southside Master Plan is valid. The property being requested for residential development is situated in the master plan area.
The property is situated immediately south of the Ga. Highway 92 Connector on the city’s south side. What in mid-2016 was an initial annexation and rezoning proposal to construct 285 homes, with 66 of those as townhomes, on nearly 100 acres was denied by planning commissioners in October.
The proposal was downsized to 203 homes and no townhomes. Neighbors remained dissatisfied and hired Bennett.
Prince recommended tabling the item to give the city attorney the opportunity to review Bennett’s letter.
Chairman Sarah Murphy opened the meeting for lengthy series of comments from Bennett and from neighbors.
Bennett told commissioners that Rolader wants the city to intervene in a property rights issue, adding that the Southside Master Plan from 2003 was agreed on by all partners. The plan at the time called for 300,000 sq. ft. of commercial development and 66 townhomes. It is that zoning Rolader is requesting be changed so an all-residential development can be constructed with 203 single-family homes and no townhomes.
Rolader said he is in possession of a letter from the nearby Summit Point commercial development owner stating that retail stores are struggling.
City Attorney David Winkle at a Nov. 16 town hall meeting on the proposal said a city cannot contract for more than one year and one council cannot bind another council in terms of governmental function.
“This is a development agreement. It’s not a declaration of restrictive covenants,” Winkle said. “Zoning can change if (the property) is not economically useable by the owner. It’s been zoned for commercial and multi-family for 15 years.”
Bennett expressed his adamant disagreement with Winkle’s assessment. Meantime, Rolader said he and his family have owned the property for 46 years.
As in several previous meetings on the topic, area neighbors said the prior zoning should be maintained. Doing so would allow the townhomes and a large amount of commercial space to be built along the Hwy. 92 Connector. Neighbors in their opposition cited the need for more businesses and decried the higher density and traffic that Rolader’s proposal would bring.
Their claims of higher traffic for an all-residential development contradicted the city-sponsored traffic study that projected 14,413 vehicle trips per weekday if the area was developed for commercial and 2,656 trips per day if the property was all residential.
After the speakers finished, the commission by unanimous vote tabled the item for 30 days. The proposal was originally heard by planning commissioners in June and was denied in its original form in October.
A town hall meeting on the proposal was conducted by the City Council in November. Once finally decided by the Planning Commission, the item will go before the City Council for a final decision.
