Fayetteville

City Council Monday set the tone for future

development along Ga. Highway 314 north,

approving annexation and rezoning for a 152-home

subdivision and 20-unit office park.

Over

Mayor Mike Wheat's strong objections, council

unanimously approved R-30 zoning (homes on

three-quarter-acre lots) for Argonne Forest, the

127-acre residential portion of the project, and

O&I (office and institutional) zoning for the

17-acre remainder. The residential land straddles

New Hope Road at Hwy. 314, and the office land

faces 314 just north of New Hope.

"It's

a question of inventory in my mind," said

Wheat, citing statistics showing that the city

currently has 1,304 subdivision lots platted but

unbuilt, and an additional 1,201 lots could be

built on existing vacant land under current

zoning.

"We

have existing in the city roughly 2,500 units. We

have, it appears to me, plenty of inventory

available. It impacts the value of property in

the city every time we annex property outside the

city."

But

council members said they see the annexation

request as a chance for the city to exert control

over a key piece of property on the edge of the

city. "If this went back to the county, we

would lose a real quality of life," said

Councilman Glenn Brewer. "We lose a little

control by not doing something now."

Bob

Rolader, who plans to develop the property along

with Brent Scarbrough, painted a scenario in

which some future developer might ask for and

receive commercial or office designation for the

entire parcel after the current council has

retired.

The

development of Fayette Pavilion's 50-acre third

phase in "big box" retail stores set

the tone for the east side of 314, Rolader

argued, adding that his plan for offices on the

west side with homes behind them will insure that

commercial sprawl goes no farther west.

"I

don't think anybody's going to buy a house on

314," agreed Brewer.

"If

you build it, it will be bought," countered

Wheat.

Tom

Marconi, a resident of neighboring Black Rock

Springs, agreed with Wheat. "I don't

understand what benefit is accrued to the city by

this annexation," he said during a public

hearing on the request.

The

city's land use plan calls for one-acre lots or

larger on the outskirts of the city, Marconi

argued. "This is on the edge of the city

boundary, and here we are zoning it below the

one-acre requirement," he said.

"I

don't recall us ever going against the land use

plan," agreed Wheat.

But

the land use plan was written before the heavy

commercial development at the Pavilion, Rolader

said.

In

the end, council members agreed to the annexation

and rezoning with the proviso that if Rolader

doesn't get started within a year, the zoning

changes to R-70, a category requiring larger than

one-acre lots.

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