It should be smooth sailing March 7 when the Fayetteville City Council hears the second reading of a annexation request that would bring a small tract on Ellis Road into the city. Situated along Ga. Highway 85 south of the Fayette Pavilion, the annexation of the half-acre lot will round out the access needed for construction of a Panera Bread Company restaurant.
The council will also hear the first reading of a rezoning request that would lead to the installation of a drive-thru window in the new restaurant at the Waterfall commercial center on Grady Avenue and Ga. Highway 54 West.
Currently situated in unincorporated Fayette County, the Panera Bread property carries a C-H (Highway Commercial) zoning and will fall under the city’s comparable C-3 (Highway Commercial) zoning category. It was noted earlier that the parcel would be developed primarily for the restaurant’s parking and stormwater detention. The remainder of the Panera site is already inside city limits.
The city has shown the property on its zoning and land use maps for a number of years, though the property essentially fell through the cracks when the surrounding property was annexed. The .51-acre property is located at 104 Ellis Road across from Zaxby’s and is situated along Hwy. 85 just south of the Fayette Pavilion.
Panera Bread is requesting the annexation.
The Fayette County Commission on Feb. 14 had no objection to the annexation request. The commission’s unanimous vote not to object to the annexation came with little discussion by the board. Fayette County Planning Director Pete Frisina told commissioners the half-acre lot was a remnant parcel that was inadvertently left off a previous annexation into Fayetteville.
Also at the March 7 meeting, the council will hear the first reading of a rezoning request for the Waterfall commercial development at Hwy. 54 West and Grady Avenue. Specific to the westernmost of the two buildings, the request would have that building rezoned from C-1 (Downtown Commercial) to C-3 to accommodate the installation of a drive-thru at the restaurant site still under construction.
