Developers

have withdrawn a request for a special exception

to allow a combination car wash, convenience

store, oil change and auto repair shop across Ga.

Highway 85 from the north entrance to Home Depot.

"This

is the least desirable business we could put in

this area," said Fayetteville Planning

Commission member Myron Coxe during discussion of

the proposal at the panel's work session last

week.

The

commission was scheduled to vote on the request

for a special exception to zoning ordinances to

allow a CarSpa facility on the site during its

regular business meeting Tuesday, June 22 at City

Hall, but city planner Todd Miller said the

developers this week withdrew the request.

No

one from CarSpa was present for the work session,

nor from Fayette Promenade, a firm seeking to

develop 55 acres north of the recently approved

Barnes and Noble shopping center at Hwy. 85 and

Pine Trail Road.

Promenade

and Concordia Partners Inc., developers of the

Barnes and Noble, are cooperating in building a

joint access road through their developments,

with hopes of connecting the road to Guthrie

Plaza, to the north of both developments. City

officials pushed for that agreement as part of

their recent approval of the Barnes and Noble,

saying a road connecting the developments is

essential to reduce traffic problems on Hwy. 85.

One

problem with the proposed Car Spa, said

Fayetteville chief planner Jahnee Prince, is that

its site straddles the most logical route for the

access road. She wants to see a master plan for

the entire development before recommending

approval of any single parcel, she said.

Prince

added that the proposed car wash has too much

concrete. City ordinances require that pavement

cover no more than 60 percent of developments

along major highways. "This is more like 90

percent," she said.

For

Planning Commission members, the site is just

plain wrong for a car wash. "I sure wouldn't

want to se this from here to Riverdale,"

said commission member Kevin Bittinger.

Residents

of neighborhoods along Pine Trail Road also

expressed their displeasure with the proposal.

"This

sets a precedent for everything else up

here," said resident Linda Bidez.

Bidez

and resident Pat King were at the forefront of

neighborhood opposition to a 24-hour super

Wal-Mart at Pine Trail and 85. The store

eventually was built in Fayette Pavilion Shopping

Center, and the neighborhood group showed up

regularly to influence decisions as a development

plan for Barnes and Noble was hammered out.

"I

just think the overall C3 [commercial

development] is what we ought to stay with [along

Hwy. 85]," said King. Special exceptions

should be turned down flat, she said.

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