Planning and Zoning Commission approves part of Walton Communities mixed-use development —
The process that will lead to initial construction of the Walton Communities mixed-use development came with the Oct. 22 approval of the conceptual site plan by the Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission.
The unanimous approval included the apartment and retail area of the development, but not the section east of Beauregard Boulevard or the area near the intersection of Beauregard and Grady Avenue which is expected to include single-family homes.
Representing Walton Communities, David Knight noted that the residential and retail portion of the project, which is adjacent to the upcoming City Hall and City Center Park project, will include seven 3- and 4-story buildings. Those buildings will accommodate 270 apartments and 18,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail and office space.
An internal public and private road network will interconnect the development with Beauregard Boulevard and Ga. Highway 85 to the east and to the City Hall and City Center Park project to the north. A future road will extend to the west and interconnect the Walton and City Hall tracts to the undeveloped property to the west and ultimately to Grady Avenue and/or Ga. Highway 54, city planning staff said.
City staff said parking for residents and visitors would be provided in large parking lots located behind and between the buildings. On-street parking would also be provided for residents, guests and patrons of the retail and office uses.
The varied architectural design of the buildings and the exterior building materials will complement the City Hall complex and assist in extending the historic feel of the downtown district. The development will provide internal paths, sidewalks and park areas and interconnect with the city’s evolving path system to the north, east and south, according to the concept plan.
City staff noted that the buildings have been presented to, and received a favorable recommendation from, the city’s Arts and Architectural Advisory Committee.
The rezoning for the project was approved unanimously by the City Council in February.
No jobs, no Millennials.
There’s plenty of jobs and plenty of people that will live in those apartments.
Two swings, 2 misses Mike and Al.
First up is Al. Fayetteville was never intended to be a suburban community. It was built as a hub or county seat or train depot. It felt suburban only because its growth was stifled by old school southern leadership for 150 years followed by being non-competitive and overshadowed by Peachtree City for almost 50 years after that. When Fayetteville “woke” it supported, built and annexed a hospital and film studio and the suburban slumber was replaced with normal and appropriate growth.
Mike, come on. 270 apartments don’t transform a community with the highest family income into one with the lowest. If there was some effort to force low-income or subsidized housing into the 270 apartments, you might have a point, but so far Fayetteville has dodged that cancer.
Guys, all you are seeing is the continuation and possibly acceleration of Fayetteville shunning its cloak of NIMBY leadership and the emergence of Millennial thinking. If you back away from personal bias and petty neighborhood concerns, it’s a fascinating sociological phenomenon. Easy for me to do as I live on a large lot protected by the bubble that is Peachtree City and its land use plan.
It would behoove Fayetteville (and to a lesser extent Tyrone) and its citizens to educate themselves about the vast differences between the Millennial life style preferences and those of their preceding two generations and to vote people into power (or not) based upon the big picture – long-term planning. In other words, its going to happen eventually, you might as well accept that and work to make it better instead of just delaying what is inevitable.
Looks like it’s getting close to time to bug out. What the heck are the folks on the Fayetteville planning commission thinking?
Fayetteville will become the new Riverdale
So much for being a suburban community. Yuck!