Mayor: Eastward extension of Lafayette Ave. is unlikely
Developer Steve Gulas (above) was back before the Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission on Nov. 28, requesting three variances and responding to a development condition associated with the construction of a hotel on the east of Lafayette Avenue at Ga. Highway 85 North near downtown.
For his part, Mayor Ed Johnson after the meeting offered a different take on the agenda item.
Variance requests for perimeter landscaping and a building foundation buffer were denied while a parking space variance was approved. A fourth variance pertaining to impervious surface was denied, though Gulas earlier in the presentation said he no longer needed that variance.
A condition that Gulas construct “a private road through the property (and in front of the hotel) with the same materials as a street so that it could be converted to a (city) street at a future date” was adopted by unanimous vote.
For his part, Gulas maintained that he could operate within the ordinance and would not need the variances if he was not being required to make provisions for what might become a city street.
Though not directly addressed at the meeting, the City Council has, for at least a decade, talked sporadically about extending Lafayette Avenue across Hwy. 85 and connecting it to Church Street. To date, no action on the issue has been taken.
Mayor Ed Johnson, who was in attendance at the meeting, was asked later about the postion taken by Gulas and about the recent topic which was recently addressed by the City Council on the potential for extending Lafayette Avenue across Hwy. 85 North.
“There was no decision on extending (Lafayette Avenue) and there is enough opposition that we likely will not,” said Johnson.
In terms of the planning commission’s action on requiring that Gulas construct what would essentially be a city street on the property, Johnson said the City Council “may not take the same position as the commission.”
