Coweta says no to 375 Fischer Crossings senior housing units

0
2985
Looking north toward Sam's Club from intersection of Ga. Highway 34 and Fischer Road.
Looking north toward Sam's Club from intersection of Ga. Highway 34 and Fischer Road.

Development was planned for land just north of Sam’s Club — 

A rezoning request before the Coweta County Commission on Nov. 19 that would have established the Celebration Village active senior complex in the Fischer Crossings area of east Coweta was denied on a 4-1 vote. The site is less than a mile west of the Peachtree City limit line off Ga. Highway 34.

Commissioners voted 4-1 to deny the rezoning, with Commissioner Al Smith the lone opposing vote.

Commissioner Rodney Brooks, who made the motion to deny, said the project came with a density that was too high to accommodate the transition from the retail at Fischer Crossings to the single-family-zoned property immediately north of the Celebration Village property.

The property situated north of Ga. Highway 34, west of Fischer Road and immediately north of Sam’s Club was approved in 2018 for 95 lots under the county’s RRCC (Retirement Community and Care District) zoning.

Applicant Active Senior Concepts was at the Nov. 19 meeting, requesting that the proposed development, Celebration Village, be approved 375 total units, which included 60 independent living apartments, 108 concierge units, 116 assisted living/memory care/personal care home units, 46 attached homes cottages and 45 bungalows.

Project representatives said that, in keeping with the requests of neighbors, the development would be accessible both from Fischer Road and Hwy. 34.

Representatives also noted that, currently, 25 percent of Coweta residents are age 55 and older.

Six people in public comments, of which five of those were neighbors, said they supported the project, adding that the developer was transparent and willing to work with neighbors’ concerns. One speaker said she had received a flyer from a nearby competing facility that included negative, misleading information about the Celebration Village project.

Three people spoke in opposition, with two saying their opposition was a result of Coweta County’s lack of sufficient infrastructure rather than the project itself, and with the third saying that many of his neighbor’s concerns were addressed once Celebration Village representatives agreed to have an access point on Hwy. 34.